There's this big "Aha" moment I had while reading a book this vacation; I realised that I wanted to be financially secure since it was the only means available in today's society to be "set" - secure.
If I was to live in a small community where I'd know my neighbours, everyone did the things most valuable to the community - farm, smith, care, socialise, guard - and I knew everyone had each other's back, this would give the same feeling.
Alas, we live in a disconnected society, not even close to having local ties, so we feel we have to earn a ton of money in order to survive by buying our security.