A recent conversation with my son brought up finances. I try to be pretty opened about ours and express the work that goes into keeping them healthy.
As we were talking he says, “I just want to be rich enough to have a steak dinner anytime I want.”
Now the rest of the conversation revolved around being rich and making a lot of money in his startup.
So it got me thinking about the real difference between being rich and being wealthy.
Too often we equate the raw income with ‘the good life’. And while it does make things easier… It’s not the same as financial wealth.
Financial wealth, to me, is having stability even when things are rocky. Having a solid foundation from which the other activities of your life can be built.
When I was young we would often sing the wise man and foolish man during Sunday school. We would sing how the foolish man built his house upon the sand.
And so many times in my life I would fail to equate that to my finances.
To build wealth is to lay a foundation brick by brick which can support the dreams you have. You can’t dream big and put down 1 brick. You need a foundation.
Just like getting rich or winning the lottery won’t make you wealthy. There’s a reason something like 70% of people that win it end up broke a few years later.
So what does a brick look like? For me it starts with setting aside at least 10% of what I earn and investing it in a way that the money continues to work for itself.
A good recommended read would be The Richest Man in Babylon.
If I had started doing this at 19 like I encourage my son to do… My life might be completely different now.
But that’s a story for another day.
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