Creating A True Wealth List
Readers suggested a topic on what constitutes wealth. “For holiday discussions, I wouldn’t mind creating a ‘true wealth’ list. I’ve just recovered from 6 weeks of constant pain due to a back injury. Good health and a pain-free life (which I am once again enjoying) are definitely at the top of my wealth meter because there is no amount of money I would be willing to take in exchange for chronic pain.”
“Second on my list is probably my dogs smiling at me when I come home. What’s yours? (And be aware I may steal ideas to create a list for my clients)”
A reply, “True wealth? 1. Good health, for me and for those around me. 2. Close, meaningful, lasting friendships.”
Another said, “True Wealth List: keeping your teeth, a warm place to sleep, food on the table and
plenty of hugs.”
One had this list, “The Wealth List: a dry cigarette, a cup of coffee and nobody shooting at you.”
“The rest is all gravy. ‘Live forever…or die in the attempt’ - Catch-22.”
To which one added, “And don’t buy any real estate, no matter what the broker says.”
True wealth for me is keeping my body in great physical shape so that this 49 year old can match his half mile freestyle (swimming) time that he did at age 32!
For those long time athetes in pain, try mixing in interval swim sprints on alternate days. Get good running shoes for the treadmill - not stiff shoes.
Yoga is pretty good too — it basically boils down to a stretching class. They now have yoga tapes specifically for athletes.
True wealth for me is my kids, who will be my legacy to this world. I wouldn’t trade them for all the real estate, precious metals, oilfields, prestige automobiles and supermodels on the planet. Also having a beautiful, wonderful, intelligent woman as my wife, companion, and mother to my kids.
Sammy, you hit the nail on the head. I don’t have the kids but I do have a warm, young, beautiful wife…AND…she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.
True wealth:
- A quiet Christmas at home with mostly-content family members
- Freedom from financial worries (such as owning a money pit domicile)
- A vision of future peace and harmony in corners of the world where war currently rages
- Optimism that the country will survive the real estate bust to some how realize a brighter and more financially stable future
My true wealth list includes good health, energy, great friends, a stable, peaceful neighborhood, good fishing, clean air and water, decent food, interesting remunerative work, a stable country with a just government for all citizens.
I agree with the poster who said being pain-free has something to do with it. Physically, mentally and spiritually pain free. Also a good night’s sleep is really valuable.
I second your notion on good fishing, particularly if you live in an area where it is safe to eat what you catch. Unfortunately, pristine waters are disappearing on a yearly basis, creating a deficit of wealth for which no amount of money can compensate us for our loss.
Second the fishing. Gimme great bass fishing, 365 days/yr!
I think having good health, great friends and a relatively well paying job with a financially secure company makes me pretty well off. Having a few extra dollars to help those less fortunate is an added bonus.
You can have true wealth even if you are bound to a wheel chair, so while health is a component of true wealth it is not necessary.
True wealth does not depend upon others to maintain its value to you. It is not someone else’s liability.
True wealth is a state of mind where you are grateful for what you have and not longing for what you lack.
“True wealth does not depend upon others to maintain its value to you. It is not someone else’s liability.”
That is the best description I have heard. You are absolutely right.
The value of both gold and fiat currencies depends on other people’s opinions. It is not intrinsic. The same may be said of commodities, as their price fluctuates far more than their use value.
Bonds and stocks are assets to you but liabilities for someone else. Their value depends on someone making good on a promise some time in the future.
Perhaps recessions teach us the stoics had a point.
I spent several years in Chile in the late 70’s and met many people that were “poor” in the worlds standards but who were truly wealthy. Their country had gone through significant financial struggles under communism. The people were largely humble, friendly and concerned about each other. They bore the scars of oppression and had properly focused their lives on the things that matter the most.
Wealth is having the proper focus in life and building true legacies that last. Wealth is the ability to help others in need.
Wealth has very little to do with money or financial security.
“Their country had gone through significant financial struggles under communism.”
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You mean, Nixon and Kissinger along with helms had made the economy scream, right?
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On 15 September 1970, Nixon called a meeting which was attended by (among others) National security Adviser Dr Henry Kissinger, Attorney General John Mitchell and ClA Director Richard Helms.
Helms’ notes of that meeting show that the US used its global power over financial institutions, international corporations and aid agencies to throw basic economic factors in the Chilean economy completely out of control and therefore precipitate social and political havoc.
That is what Nixon meant by “make the economy scream”. Because the economic havoc would start after the popular election victory of President Salvador Allende, the people would be made to believe (through massive media propaganda) that the turmoil was being caused by Allende’s “mismanagement” of the economy.
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Guess History is written by those that kill the elected officials and others spout the propaganda.
Even in Christmas I can’t allow such uneducated dribble.
Please take your political views to another blog. This is about real estate.
Not my political views, rather, I was responding to the previous poster with Historical facts.
If these facts offend your sensibilities, misguided patriotism, or challenge whatever illusions you have, that is your problem.
As far as your request goes, I am sorry I cannot oblige.
You are not Ben.
It seems you suffer from too much of your own deluded self importance, my friend.
Funny, how “Their country had gone through significant financial struggles under communism” didn’t offend your orderly view of Internet posting rules.
If someone replying to a posting by Ben on “True Wealth list” sneaks a political view that is a Historical lie but you happen to agree with that political slant, well, then it’s ok.
I did directly reply to Ben’s post on true wealth.
Here’s a suggestion, do the same.
Another Troll Commie Lib spouts off.
Another, ignorant Rush Limbaugh acolyte fascist.
Been in this blog(previous) since 04, and you?
It’s…Rash Limpbaughs…(future owner of the St Louis Pathetic Lambs)…NFL Policy: Build a taxpayer stadium, rob a city of their team, increase hot dogs & beer & parking…get x1 superbowl… then nothing for the next 12 years!
Even in Christmas I can’t allow such uneducated dribble.
While I am far too doped on cookies and bourbon and turkey and chocolate to battle against dribble of any sort, I say good for you, sir.
Huzzah.
I did not want to get involved in the political issues of Communism and who may or may not have funded the pain that the Chileans had experienced. My only point was to say that because of what they had suffered (that occurred during the Communist Regime), they had a proper focus on what is important and were very “wealthy” in my opinion (even living in cardboard houses with tin roofs).
I went back several years afterwards and found that the standard of living had improved. But standard of living has little to do with true wealth (in my opinion).
Having been born under a communist regime, I share no illusions with that brand of utopia, as a matter of fact, when I see a kid with a “Che” t-shirt, I’d like to tackle him to the ground and rip his shirt off.
I’ve read your first post and now your second post, you are ignorant of basic facts, or prefer to remain ignorant to justify whatever business dealings you had.
The irony of the corporatists/fascists who claim to be capitalists belaboring socialism and communism is side splitting hilarious.
I was a missionary for a church that is dedicated to helping people. I had no business dealings at all while there. I deliberately chose not to be involved in the politics but rather to help the people improve their lives. My perspective comes from the fact that as a result of my time there, I found that they helped me far more than I could have ever helped them.
Politics aside. The question was “What is true wealth”. My answer remains the same and it has very little to do with money or politics.
“Politics aside. The question was “What is true wealth”. My answer remains the same and it has very little to do with money or politics.”
It’s a great answer DiSA and thank you for sharing it. Don’t take the above or below personally. Sometimes people get so wrapped up in opinions they forget their talking to real people with real feelings.
they’re
Thanks San Diego RE Bear:
I believe that we don’t have to get into deep discussions to share basic values (or as others put it “Universal Truths”). In fact, there are so many ways to look at the same situation that it often becomes difficult to find common ground in “intellectual” discussions.
The lessons I learned so many years ago about what constitutes true happiness and real “wealth” from an oppressed and impoverished people were well worth the years spent living in Chile.
The irony is of people who enjoy living in a capitalist economy while claiming how wonderful a socialist economy would be for everyone else. I have to wonder why none of those people are eager to move to North Korea or Cuba.
Or Sweden or Norway…
(note the difference between communism and socialism…they are VERY different things)
“…Because the economic havoc would start after the popular election victory of President Salvador Allende, the people would be made to believe (through massive media propaganda) that the turmoil was being caused by Allende’s “mismanagement” of the economy.”
Funny, exactly what I over heard in the “Shadow Gov’t” VP Office of Cheney-Shrub: “We’re the Deciders…and…we have a plan…quick, somebody get Rumsfeld in here!”
“…Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal.” D. Rumsfeld
Mission Accomplished!
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/donald_rumsfeld.html
I love you Muir. While I do not necessarily share your views, I do share your concern that many on here do not understand the relationship that circumstance has on their views regarding God, Country and other matters. They do not see their true self enough to know who or what they would be if they were born at a different time, in a different Country, into different minority classifications, etc.
There are others on here, however, that understand and have empathy for the human condition, and try search for universal truths and question everything they are told and believe with an open mind and with an eye towards the common good for all. We are more commonly referred to as “assholes.”
x0×00
The rich give their money away, the poor hoard it.
Ha, this sounds good, but is simply untrue.
What is true is that people who know that money and wealth are not the same are the people who give away their resources to others, while people who think that money and financial freedom equals wealth are the ones who hoard it.
There are rich people and poor people in both categories.
Health is definitely on top of the list.
True wealth?
Peace.
Having earned the trust of those I love.
True Wealth..the blessing of having my family alive and healthy each and every holiday…too sad when parents have to deal with that kind of loss around the holidays..
Love. Deep, lasting, faithful and true.
And children.
Wealth ought to be somehow related to well being, or happiness, right?
Happiness: Watching your kids’ faces light up when they open their dream present, a Nintendo Wii.
Unhappiness: Your wife’s realization come March that she spent over $200 on a gift that is almost never used.
I think the unhappiness part won’t happen for your wife. My kids have loved using their Wii for many months and yours probably will too.
I think there’s something to the Wii. I have several disabled and elderly patients who have a great time competing with it. These are people who are too unsteady to take a walk outdoors but are able to move around with the Wii and enjoy games with their families.
Merry Christmas to everyone here who celebrates it. We here are all full of good food. Hope you all are too.
Good. I am a pessimist, but one who delights in discovering his pessimism was misplaced.
And the “Eyeore” award of the week goes…once again… to Mr. Bear!
Totally agree with this. I bought a Wii not for my 4-1/2 year old son, but for ME! I love it. For me, it’s far superior to the Playstation and Xbox because of the way you play the games. It’s fun!! (Not just thumb action.) No worries, Professor. Your kids will love it. As likely will you and your wife!
Uh, never having to work again if you choose. A McMansion with a Koi pond, and a benz.
Merry Christmas, every one
Yes, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone…and Thanks Again for all you that do and have done Ben
Merry Christmas to you as well, PPvP. I ate you cousin for dinner today!
I got a Wii with a fishing pole and a wand and a bunch of cool games.
I got several dozen beadhead copper johns and pheasant tail nymphs and caddis poopahs. The early season south of Independence opens on March 1. Santa also brought us one yr treasuries at 0.39% and Libor @ 2.09. A friends rate based on the one mo Libor dropped to 1.75%. Shades of Greenspan, again. The Alt-As are saved when they reset. Who would have thought of that? hehehehehehe
Just spent four days on the lower Owens a few weeks ago Pismo….Where are you fishing south of Independence ??
Wealth: fulfilling my purpose in life. Being content with what I have today.
Merry Christmas y’all!
Wonderful family. Good friends. Good food. A warm hearth on a cold night.
The wealthy man is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least. Merry Christmas.
a warm blanket.?
To a starving man, a Saltine cracker is a feast! ~Eddie Murphy
I always wanted to experience what Taleb referred to as ” FU money”
Having enough to say F***Y** , I don’t have to do that anymore.
…Oh yeh, Mom’s Baked Macaroni
FU Money is an illusion.
Education is the key to freedom.
No, F U money is as real as an education. I have some F U money, although not enough, and some education, although not enough. To me, both are worthwhile propositions. I still work at my job like I’ll totally need it tomorrow, which I do.
I’m with Joe.
If you fantasize about giving everyone in your life an FU, you need to get into another profession.
I have plenty of problems at work (nasty customers, incompetent management) but I’m glad to go to work every day because I find it fulfilling. I love my profession and I’m proud of what I do. Sure I’d like to make more money, but I make enough, and I wouldn’t make the switch to make twice as much at something I have no motivation for.
In the sphere of material things, giving means being rich. Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.
Erich Fromm
True wealth: Being poor enough to get everything free from the Government!
And being stupid enough not to mind that other people have total control over your life–?
I could never live that way, and neither could you.
Kitties to give you a kitty-kiss on the nose before snuggling up for the night.
Also paying cash for a nicer house elsewhere after selling off a tiny stucco box in Sili Valley for way too much in May 2006.
I agree that true wealth increases with health, love and close relationships with friends/family (and a loving dog, if you are so lucky).. I’ll add to that a yearning to learn and share.. oh yes, a good matress ain’t so bad either..
Crush your enemies.
See them driven before you.
Feel the lamentations of the women.
4. Invade Kalifornia.
“…Feel the lamentations of the women”
See, all this dust & noise…and the world still turns (out even more enhancement drugs!)
Allergan Inc, maker of Botox, said on Friday that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved its eyelash-thickening drug Latisse
http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idUKTRE4BP26120081226
What is wealth? I’ll tell you what it’s not.
Debt is not wealth.
Amen! I hope we all learn this simple lesson soon and never forget. Debt is a desease and a curse. Being debt free is freedom. In all it’s forms.
And money created by lending is not real until it is paid back.
Another lesson to be learned. At great expense.
Oh so true, sm landlord. We’re currently foreclosing on a property which we don’t want because my husband lent a good deal of money to an attorney who bought herself an office condo with it, lost her license to practice due to duping him out of the money ( he was a client ), and now, 11 years later, she’s suing us. And our attorney who had to handle our land contract issues with her. And his entire law firm. We have another attorney now to defend us, since our real estate attorney is now part of the lawsuit. All my husband did was lend her money. Like he laments, ” I made a mistake 11 years ago, and I’m STILL paying for it. ” It will take us a solid 13-14 months by the time we’re able to take posession of this stupid office building.
the ability to be happy with what you have
True wealth is the ability to receive responses from God when you talk to him, and know he is communicating back to you. However, if you’ve never experienced it, it will sound like halicination. However, I can attest it is real. Google Yogananda - SRF Self Realization Fellowship if you’re interested. I apologize to anyone offended, I realize this isn’t a religious site.
However, something fellow HBBers can relate to - plenty of money in the bank for liquidity, lot of precious metals to deal with the coming hyperinflation, a fixed rate mortgage payment of $1,237 (27 more years) covered by the steady rental income coming in on our retirement property (20% down payment - I know, unAmerican), and $700 monthly sandrent (double wide with no mortgage) for a small lot in Newport Beach which is easily manageable on our combined income of $110K. And no debt except for the mortgage on the Portland property, which social security will cover (and I don’t worry about the government not printing money to mail the check to me and neither should you - of course, you should worry about how little that check will buy).
Life is good. Thank you God.
I agree mostly with this one. But I’d phrase it as “true wealth = being geniunely happy and content with what you have.”
Amish troll..or …Kansas sodbuster?
A peaceful heart and a curious mind.
True wealth = peace of mind
Wealth is a ski-in condo in Aspen, where your fake-boobied trophy waits by the duraflame.
True wealth; The ability to give to the parent of an underprivileged child, which gives them the dignity to make their child happy.
Police: PSL mom kills 8-year-old son
December 26th, 2008 by Ana Ceron
Eryn Allegra
By ANA X. CERON and ANDREW MARRA
PORT ST. LUCIE — On Christmas morning, Eryn Allegra pushed her son’s little face into a hotel pillow and let go when he stopped kicking.
That’s what Allegra, 31, told police hours after she said she had given 8-year-old Tristan pills to swallow and then smothered him as he slept.
It was all part of a plan she had been contemplating for months, she told investigators. Only she was supposed to end up dead too.
Now Allegra sits in the St. Lucie County jail, where she faces a first-degree murder charge.
Allegra told Port St. Lucie police she had been having financial problems. She thought of ending her life, she said, but didn’t want to leave her son behind.
Parents of underprivileged children are everywhere, they are not hard to find.
Health. You don’t realize how important it is until you or someone close to you loses it.
Also important is having family and friends (and even a dog) that loves you, I re-learned this one just in the last couple of days.
Even though my total debt is only about half my annual income (all mortgage) I don’t have too much confidence in money, and when I start to think I should I get really depressed and mean. It’s all funny money, I try to make sure my trust is only in God and family, not some pieces of paper or bits on a bank server.
(Was unable to locate the original via google, my memory is proactively gathering debt synapses)
From Anonymous:
When I was young and very young, at seventeen or so…
I said I’d sail the seven seas and every port I’d know
I’d seek for gold, I’d seek for fame, I’d hoard & pile it high
And I was young and very young, at seventeen said I
But now I am old and very old and this is what I say:
Fame will dim and gold will fade, and glory pass away
And love alone of all I sought… a hearth fire burning bright
A roof that holds a robin song is what comforts me tonight
So all ye lads who sail the seven seas, put into port today
And hear the words that wisdom speaks, for these are the words I say:
build ye roof beneath the trees, with a full moon flying high
And kiss your love and latch the door…And let the damn world go by
Health is so important in my opinion ,but life goes on even if you don’t have the greatest health . I remember when I was young I saw a dog running down the beach with only three legs . The Dog was running back and forward playing with the waves and having a gay old time .It was a lesson for me at a young age .
Many people are suffering ,but many will pick themselves up and learn to live in spite of limitations, or learn to live with less .
Hbb holiday season humor:
“All that is fat is not …gold!” aLadinsane (just kidding)
A former Beverly Hills, Calif. liposuction doctor claimed to have the environment’s best interests at heart when he began fueling his and his girlfriend’s SUVs with human fat sucked out of his patients
It is believed that one gallon of gas is equal to one gallon of fat in terms of having the power to run cars.
http://www.dbtechno.com/science/2008/12/26/surgeon-in-us-takes-fat-from-patients-to-power-his-car/
Nice dig!
I did the whole biodiesel thing for a few years, and I still have a couple hundred gallons of raw filtered WVO in storage. That stuff stores well for years.
Without all the facts I’d say this guy is probably doing the whole conversion process using lye and methyl alcohol to convert the long chain fatty acids to usable polymers. Most animal fats are far too heavy or thick to be used without extensive chemical modification.
I greatly preferred the route of using waste veggie oil. I’d mix in regular baking soda to kill the acidity and absorb out water, then filter it to 1 micron before putting it in the tank of my diesel truck. During the summer it burned nearly identical to diesel. During winter months I’d add 10% regular unleaded gas to the mix to thin it out.
Wow, those were good times, it makes me want to fix my truck and get back at it!
So, instead of “Ass or gas”, it becomes “Ass is the gas”?
Good health and time.
True wealth for me is my family. I love my sisters, my brother, my mom, my nieces and nephews. I am truly wealthy that they love me in return.
I also have a great brother-in-law and sister-in-law that I love very much. They are another brother and sister to me.
True wealth comes from good timing and irreverent curiosity.
Peace of mind
True wealth = granite countertops, crown molding, and a sweet HE line of credit! At least that’s what David Lereah told me.
True wealth is a wonderful daughter teaching underprivileged 7th grade children in a country school, a loving husband who is willing to give me a backrub night or day, a mind that loves a good yarn or an interesting bit of history equally, a job that is secure and where I’m appreciated, health that allows me to walk around, sing, hear, see, and think, enough money in the bank to tide us over, a nice house to live in, a peaceful, paid-for house which we can retire in, a rescue poodle who is always happy to see us, and a trip to Disney World with my 83 year-old father and stepmother. His mind is good enough to be firing all sorts of questions at the Ph.D physicist we spent part of Christmas Day with. And true wealth is having a sense of humor, even if others don’t always “get” it. Above all, gratefulness for the blessings God has bestowed upon me
Above all, gratefulness for the blessings God has bestowed upon me
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Amen!
True wealth:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
“Behold that which I have seen:it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him; for it is his portion.
“Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to tke his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.”
Ecclesiastes 5:18-19
I would also add, ” Glory be unto God “, although not all here would appreciate the sentiment. I find that living in a state of gratefulness has not only made me a happier person, but seems to allow me to receive more blessings.
You can be grateful without being a theist. Kind of like the end of the movie “American Beauty” but without getting shot … you know?
If you’re going to quote Ecclesiastes, it helps to look at the end of the book:
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Dan wrote: “True wealth is a state of mind where you are grateful for what you have and not longing for what you lack.”
Well said, Dan. My mantra on this has always run something like:
“He is wealthy, not who has most, but who needs least.”
I think you said it better though…