The Four Classes of Wealth

When we think of wealth, we think of money and material possessions. The problem with this thinking of wealth is that it is one dimensional. There are some things money can't buy, but we find them valuable. Similarly, someone who has run up their credit cards may be rich in terms of material possessions but is actually quite poor. It is easy to chastise the greedy wealth seeker as some amoral accumulator of filthy lucre, but I tend to disagree with these sentiments. I think the pursuit of wealth is a fine endeavor. The problem is how we define wealth. We define wealth almost in the purely material sense while overlooking those other things that are just as important and instrumental to a flourishing life. I put wealth into four classes, and here they are.

1. Material wealth.

This is how much money you have in the bank and your investments coupled with the things you own minus whatever you owe. This is what you are worth in the material sense. What I remind people is that money is necessary for happiness, but the amount of money you need to be happy is actually very little. This is why I embrace minimalism and endeavor to practice it. It isn't that I reject material wealth, but I prefer the bulk of my wealth to be in cash and investments instead of a bunch of crap that I don't need like a couple of jet skis. Living a simple lifestyle while having money put away does wonders for the nerves.

2. Intellectual wealth.

Today, education seems valued purely in terms of its moneymaking ability. The result of this mindset is that we have people pursuing ever more degrees at significant cost in terms of tuition and debt while learning less and less. Never before in American history has a college degree cost so much and been worth so little. Yet, that same education is free at the local library. All you need is a library card and the discipline to read a lot of books.

We have lost sight of the fact that education is something we should pursue for its own sake and not merely as decoration for one's resume. This is why I encourage people to become autodidacts. For most people, learning ceases the moment the sheepskin is in hand. But thanks to libraries and the internet, you can learn virtually anything for free. Idiots sneer at this as if paying six figures and spending a lifetime in indentured servitude paying off student loans is the smart thing to do.

Being smart is worth it for its own sake. People should prize intelligence and depth of learning. Knowing things makes your life better.

3. Physical fitness.

They say if you don't have your health, then you don't really have anything. To a certain extent, this is true. But you can do a lot with a messed up body as Steve Jobs and Stephen Hawking have demonstrated. One of my favorite writers is Flannery O'Connor who died at age 39 from lupus. I have already outlived her, yet she has written more and better than I ever have.

Our bodies don't always do what we want them to do, but as far as we can, we should take care of them because ultimately we are corporeal beings in a material universe. The best way to take care of your body is to eat right and exercise. Having a body that is durable and does what you want it to do is always better than the body in rebellion to your wishes. The single best thing you can do for yourself in this regard is to get regular exercise.

4. Personal relationships.

The last class of wealth is personal relationships. You want good people in your life. Good people amplify all the good things in your life already. They make your life better in so many ways. Conversely, bad people make your life worse and drain away your energies, your time, and your money. This is why I tell people to ruthlessly edit out the bad people in their lives. When people fuck up and fuck you over, they need to go. Similarly, when you meet good people and make real friends, you want to hang on to those people.

It isn't the quantity of people in your life but the quality of people in your life that really matters. The best people you can ever have in your life are people that are happy and make you happy as a consequence. The worst people you can have in your life are the ones who use you merely as a means to their end which is usually hedonistic or material pursuits.

Conclusion
The purpose of life is to be happy, and the purpose of wealth is to provide the means to that happiness. Wealth in all its forms is meaningless if it doesn't result in happiness. I have lost count of the number of stories of people who have acquired material wealth but were miserable. If you're rich and unhappy, you want to rethink your relationship to wealth. Happiness doesn't come purely from what you own but from what you do and who you are.

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