What is Wealth? Is it More Than Money?

“Aristotle was not Belgian, the principle of Buddhism is not “every man for himself”, and the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up.” – A Fish Called Wanda

This may be the most important philosophical question of our lifetime, especially if you’re haulin’ oats.

The other day I was listening to the radio and the hosts (Walton and Johnson) were discussing wealth.  Since actual radio around Casa Wilder consists of a single AM station broadcasting crop reports and lean cattle futures and an FM station that is “All Hall and Mostly Oates, All the Time!”  Therefore?  We listen to radio stations on the Internet.  Walton and Johnson are out of Houston, but we also lived in Alaska, so we also often listen to a station we like out of Fairbanks.  Obviously, when the radio in the bedroom says it’s -40°F and the kitchen radio says it’s 85°F, there’s likely to be wind and a rainstorm down the hallway.

Maybe I misheard that lyric?

Anyhow, Walton and Johnson were discussing wealth.  They mentioned that a recent study showed that, in Houston, a survey said that to be considered “wealthy” you had to have $2.5 million dollars in net worth.  To be considered “well off” you only needed to have $1.4 million dollars – which is quite a bargain – many people work a whole year and don’t make that much money!

After a bit of research, I found the source of the story:  Charles Schwab®, the investment firm.  You can read the study here (LINK).  In San Francisco (according to Schwab©), it’s even more money than Houston to be considered wealthy:  $4.1 million.

Looking at the best numbers I could find, the median household net worth is about $100,000.  To be in the paltry $2.5 million Houston-wealthy club (versus the expensive San Francisco $4.1 million club), means that your household is in better financial shape than 96% of American households.

But that’s the problem with this survey – since, at most, 4% of the people taking the survey would be considered “wealthy,” most of the people taking it have about as much idea about how much money it requires to be wealthy as a monkey trying to understand Nietzsche.  I mean, apes read philosophy, but they just don’t understand it, Otto.  And I imagine people who aren’t wealthy don’t understand that, either.  The answer is just a bit more complicated . . . .

I’ve done about 70 posts on wealth, but I need to step back and ask that question:  what is wealth?  To say it’s purely a number is to show that you don’t understand wealth.  Money represents not a fixed number, but a possibility.

If you measure wealth in love . . .   

What is wealth?

Wealth is time.  In fact, if you go to the basic equation – your life is made entirely out of time – nothing else.  Your life literally is the sum of the things that you do with your time.  So wealth is doing what you want to do with your time, which means doing what you want to do with your life.  It’s entirely probable that a Wall Street investment banker with $10,000,000 in the bank from a job he hates and shrill wife with more implanted silicon than actual original equipment is less wealthy than a hunting guide who lives in a log cabin in Alaska who has less than $5000 in the bank.

In my case, I’ve traded a LOT of time for money in the past.  My theory was to work hard while I was young so that I could build my career so I could save enough money so that my family would be secure in the future.  You would say that working all the time is not a very wealthy (or in some cases healthy) thing to do, except . . . I loved the job I was doing!  In many cases it was stressful.  Difficult.  Uncertain.  Long hours.  And when I did an awesome job?  Yeah, it was like winning the World Junior Baking Championship.  Not that I can bake, or even that there is a World Junior Baking Championship, but I think you know exactly what I mean.

I watched the documentary Lynyrd Skynyrd:  If I Leave Here Tomorrow this weekend, and those guys simply loved playing music.  They’d do it all day long, even when they weren’t getting paid.  Being a rock star was awesome, sure, but it wasn’t the point.  They were wealthy as soon as they could get paid for playing small clubs.  Arenas were just the gravy.

And, yes, I’ve said in the past (and still maintain) that to support yourself, support your family you might really have to suck it up, buttercup, and work jobs you don’t like because an Alaskan hunting guide has really crappy health insurance and his spouse has neurohemoblastaphobia which can only be cured by a mouse egg (before the baby mice hatch) extract that’s been strained through bigfoot hair and breathed on by an honest politician.  Yes, it’s as expensive as it sounds.  Then you have to work the job you have rather than a job where you play guitar all day.

Wealth is freedom.  Could you quit your job tomorrow without having a new one and still meet all of your obligations?  For most people, the answer is no, either because the obligations are too high or the amount of cash they have is too low – 60% of people in the country live paycheck to paycheck.  However, sometimes it’s self-inflicted.

Some people trade their freedom for a car payment.  I’ve seen people who purchase a $60,000 pickup, and then have to pay $1,200 a month in car payments.  I don’t know about you, but my 4,000 square foot house has a payment of less than $1,000, so it’s not making me freer to be tied to a depreciating asset that I have to pay $14,400 a year for.  Plus insurance.  Plus whatever taxes the state would extract for a $60,000 vehicle.

I have a pickup.  It cost $6,000.  I paid with cash.  It didn’t cost very much because the car dealership was having a hard time selling a stick shift.  The truck runs fine.  Engine is a bit small, but 95% of the time it’s just being driven by a teenager to school and back.

But if your idea of wealth is a $60,000 pickup, I’ll never be wealthy in your eyes.

But I can be free without a $60,000 pickup.

And, no, I’m not a radical get rid of stuff and never buy anything sort of person – I’ve probably got more books on some topics than any library in my state.  And, I’ve bought more than my share of crap in my life, but very little of it has made me happy, and very little of it has made me a better person.  Except for the PEZ®, of course.  And I’ve been on some incredible vacations.

Wealth is time.  Wealth is freedom.  And your wealth is determined by things you “need.”

The less you need?  The wealthier you are, and the more choices you have.