Real Wealth

All this reading about global warming, peak oil and the impending end of the world as we know it has me thinking about the meaning of wealth.

The way I was trained by my parents, by my favourite authors (Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Allen), and as a financial advisor, being wealthy involves having enough money invested so that you can live on the income it generates. It can be invested in the bank, in the stock market, in mutual funds, in real estate, or in business. It doesn't really matter, so long as the income it generates is enough for you to live on. If your investments generate 10% return per year, and your lifestyle costs $50,000 per year, then you need $500,000 invested. You can tinker with the formula by either reducing the cost of your lifestyle or improving your investment returns. You can fiddle with it endlessly by playing with tax rules and tax shelters and so on, but that is the essential formula for achieving financial independence.

Of course, there are other kinds of assets, and it helps a lot if you can keep those at the top of your mind. Examples include physical health, mental health, spiritual faith, family, and friendships. I also rely on my personal assets, like strength, creativity, resourcefulness, adaptability, and grace under pressure. I frequently remind myself that it wouldn't matter one tiny bit if I lost everything I own, as long as I still had my family, my health, and my
"inner resources." Everything else can be replaced, and probably isn't all that important anyway.

I've been reading a blog about peak oil and reducing your dependence on oil, and becoming more self-sufficient in general. It's at: http://casaubonsbook.blogspot.com/index.html

Those ideas really turn the whole idea of wealth on its head. If oil and gas become so expensive that ordinary people cannot afford to heat their homes, and the price of everything (like food) skyrockets as a result, and massive poverty and civil unrest follow, then it really won't matter how much money you have in the bank. If inflation is out of control, or currencies are crashing, money in the bank becomes irrelevant. The new measures of wealth will relate to how self-sufficient you are: having a yard that's big enough to grow your own food, having a house that is off-grid or able to generate some of its own power, old-fashioned skills in gardening, canning, making your own, and doing without, and most importantly, strong community
connections so that sharing and helping and supporting each other can take place.

This really has me thinking about wealth in general. If it is possible to live very simply, to grow most of your own food, to get by without much electricity, without a car, to make your own products (lotions, soaps, candles), and to make your own fun (card games, singing, walking, cycling), then you don't really need $500,000 in the bank. Theoretically, it should be possible for almost everyone to be self-sufficient. Mind you, in that situation, it would be important for families and communities to work together to meet everyone's needs. Oh my god, that could actually be an IMPROVEMENT!