READING TIME: 3 MINUTES
Most people think the word 'wealth' is related only to finance but this is only one part of what it means to be wealthy. In reality there are four different types of wealth; financial wealth, social wealth, time wealth, physical wealth.
Having as much of your own time as possible and being able to spend it how you want, where you want and with whom you want is freedom. Time wealth is essentially freedom.
There are important philosophical aspects to consider when considering time wealth, aspects which are often ignored.
Cesar Augustus was a wealthy man in all but time, he never ceased to pray for rest and to retire from public affairs. Seneca wrote in On the Shortness of Life about Augustus; "So he longed for leisure, and as his hopes and thoughts dwelt on that he found relief for his labours: this was the prayer of the man who could grant the prayers of mankind."
Even a man of Augustus stature didn't fully enjoy time wealth, he could only but wish for complete freedom. Adjusted for inflation and rough estimations put Cesar Augustus personal fortune at $4.5+ Trillion ($4,500,000,000,000+) at its peak. Compare that fortune to the peak net worth of Bill Gates, adjusted for inflation, $0.15 Trillion ($150,000,000,000).
Most often we are consumed by creating other types of wealth, mainly financial wealth at the expense of freedom and we, as Seneca puts it: hustle our life along, and is troubled by a longing for the future and weariness of the present.
Instead we should spend our time on our own needs, organize our day as though it is our last and thus never long for or be fearful of the future.
This might seem counter-intuitive but there are concepts and models to understand and master in order to have little longing for freedom and be able to live how you please and neither long or fear for tomorrow.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb eloquently put it in the context of wealth; you need to have "Fuck You" money which allows you to spend your time how you want, where you want and with whom you want.
You can achieve gradual increase of time wealth by:
As with financial wealth, time wealth is relative. It can easily be achieved to some degree and can be achieved to a high degree by refraining from being stupid and follow the fundamentals with a strong emphasis on long term goals, growing assets and staying healthy.
A person’s worth is measured by the worth of what he values. - Marcus Aurelius
Financial wealth is relative and varies from person to person based on what you enjoy and how you spend your money. It all boils down to financial freedom and being able to enjoy and spend however you want and when. Normally people outspend their earnings too quickly and increase their spending as they earn more money and effectively makes it more difficult to achieve financial freedom despite improving their chances of achieving it.
Majority of people have too much of the month left at the end of their money. In the US it was reported earlier this year that 78% of workers participating in a survey are living paycheck to paycheck and more than 50% said they manage to save less than $100 per month.
If you outspend your earnings you will never achieve sustainable financial freedom - financial wealth.
It's possible for anyone to achieve a basic level of financial wealth by adjusting their consumption, work on managing money going out and make educated decisions with the money you gain and assets you have.
Financial wealth consists of understanding and mastering the following fundamentals:
If you actively work on these fundamentals you will greatly improve your chances in achieving financial wealth - as a byproduct you are gradually making your life more secure and gradually you will achieve other types of wealth.
The goal is to depend on nothing because you are wealthy while being able to make use of your wealth whenever it's needed.
For the wise man does not consider himself unworthy of any gifts from Fortune’s hands: he does not love wealth but he would rather have it; he does not admit into his heart but into his home; and what wealth is his he does not reject but keeps, wishing it to supply greater scope for him to practice his virtue. - Seneca
Remember financial wealth is relative to your lifestyle. There are plenty of people keeping the same lifestyle year after year even as they make huge leaps in financial gain. There are people with average wages achieving financial security and a degree of financial wealth. Anyone can try to achieve it and be better off because of it.
What these people normally have in common is that they have high integrity, realized that materialistic possession doesn't equal happiness, a plain white $14.99 t-shirt does the same job as a $39.99 branded plain white t-shirt and they are investing money (side projects, stocks, real estate and/or alternative investments) to create more freedom and time to enjoy life; cut down on the 8-to-5, travel, build a home, good food, good drinks, reading or whatever it is you truly enjoy.
