Painful
The measure of personal wealth isn't the number of bottles of fine red wine in your cellar, carats of diamond rings, bottles of colognes, figurines from Swarovski, certificates, collectibles, piggy-banks of coins. No, not all these. What are those I define my personal wealth to be then?
To be honest, this is an never-ending, contentious issue. Invadingly-expanding insurance, now re-branding (or "upgraded") to personal financial planners and those good-old, commission-maximising bankers would give the most practical answers: bonds, equity and any financial instruments are the most relevant benchmarks of wealth. As Alex Spanos says "Cash is King".
Hearts-inviting counselors, teeth-gleaming medical-practitioners, retiring sportsmen and even my "ah-ma" would give their pennies worth advice: Wealth is Health. Be it physical, psychiatric or psychological form.
Moving on to subcategories of the above financial and non-financial aspects, attention-captivating advertisements or salespersons with faces tortured by thick layers of powder and concealers would promote and pursue slogans to sell : Status, "worth for money". In other words, come be a slave to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Alleviate yourself to levels of "Belonging" (man, this is so high-school) and "Esteem"!
Certain plots of the most-vicious Hongkong drama presents another lucid perspective: Family love is another parcel of wealth. Some, not all though, purport "faith" as a measure of wealth, spiritually.
Tsk tsk tsk.. just defining the measure wealth is a dizzy-headache. Since we are at it, lemme share my point of view. Hehe. Chin Yu introduced me to a book about "Millionnaire next door". I recall I mentioned it before in my previous blog. Anyway, till today, the principles related to wealth are as follows:
To be wealthy, you need to:
1) Save
2) Make sound investment
3) Be nourished and lifelong learning
Moving on, why need to save? Imagine a pipe with both ends open. input colored liquid through one end. Without having to elaborate further, it flows out the other end. Nothing retains. Nothing accumulated.
To save ain't enough. "Lending", not "saving" your money with banks at a pathetic low interest rate. Jeez.. we are loaning our money and guess what? the banks gets to set the interest rates payable! Let's not diverge, shall we? Make sound investment. Don't just accumulate plainly, accumulate cumulatively!
Investment does not only entail becoming a shareholder. To me, setting up your own business is important. . Online banner might flash "Set up your own company with just $1!!" Well, easier said than done, nothing comes without a price tag, subsequent sustaining costs to keep your business going. Like icing the wedding cake, ingredients and equipment (capital) are inadequate for task accomplishment. You need skills (management of own manpower, finances, customer-relationship) to achieve success. If you ask me, I'd would if I have the right opportunity to seize, right associates to team up with and right amount of consideration to gamble. Haha.
I do agree with money is the medium of trade and exchange. Or figures so to speak. The only and quantifiable medium. Hence, the commonly adopted measure of wealth around the world. This is where I believe, "priceless" derives a meaning.
Increasing focus have been dedicated to other prospects of wealth. This is where continuously upgrading, learning and experience comes in. It's beyond life-long learning and attaining academic knowledge. I feel, the challenge comes from adapting to your environment, capitalise yourself.. most importantly, achieving the equilibrium of life without damaging your wealth unnecessarily. You can't agree more, its tough.
The clear definition of wealth is not what I hold on personal grounds, the majority's stereotyping or edict-ed by dictionaries. Of all the things religious people said, one of the few I hold dear "It's in your heart". If you feel strongly about it, more than never, it is right.
