The Real Measure of Your Wealth

I watched a TED Talk recently given by Graham Hill, one of nine talks on the subject, What Makes Us Happy? In his talk, “Less Stuff, More Happiness,” Graham says that Americans have three times the space we had 50 years ago, and yet we still don’t have enough room to store everything. We spend $22 billion a year on personal storage.

Graham lives in a 420-square-foot apartment and speaks about how the” joys of less” gives us so much more, including freedom, time, and many other things.

This talk reminded me of a gentleman I spoke with at one of the seminars I give entitled “Beyond Wealth: A Quest for Happiness.” I speak about the barriers to enjoying wealth, one of which includes anxiety about money. As part of the learning process, at every seminar, I ask the participants what they are worried about when it comes to their financial situation. One gentleman said that he was concerned that he couldn’t maintain his lifestyle for the rest of his life.

This is a fairly common response. Many of the people who attend the seminar have worked hard to be successful and usually are accustomed to enjoying that success by purchasing nice homes, luxury cars and traveling in first-class style. They fear feeling deprived if they had to take a step back to live a more modest lifestyle.

But the truth is if we need to adjust our lifestyle, we quickly adapt.  Many of us encounter financial difficulties during our lives.  For example, our business may suffer a short term decline, we might lose a job, or we might be confronted with an unexpected medical expense. 

Has that happened to you? If so, how did you respond to your new situation? My hunch is dealing with the real issue (business decline, loss of the job, or medical emergency) was tough; adjusting to a more modest lifestyle was not such a big deal.  In fact, you might have come to appreciate the joy of less.

The truth is man is an adaptable and resilient creature. The philosopher Bernard Williams said, “Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.”

Imagine the following two scenarios.  In the first one, you live in the home of your dreams in a place you always dreamed about living.  You drive a high-end luxury car, and you travel via private jet while staying in the most exclusive hotels and eating at the world’s finest restaurants.  The challenge is you do all of this alone while working at a job that is not fulfilling. 

In the second one, you live in a small house, drive a 5-year-old car, and travel quite modestly. In this scenario, you have close supportive relationships with your spouse, children, siblings, and friends.  You love your job that allows you to use your Signature Talents ™ every day, and you are actively involved in a charity you feel passionate about.

Which scenario would you choose?

My guess is most of us would choose the second scenario.  It is not that we don’t want the nice home, nice car, and wonderful trips.  We do.  We just understand that what really matters is about the quality of our most important relationships, our ability to engage in activities that grab our complete attention, and our ability to make a positive difference in the world. 

That’s the good stuff.

As financial advisors, we do everything we can to help our clients avoid a financial reversal.  But sometimes, things beyond anyone’s control adversely impact our lives. We strive to help our clients understand that they are resilient and have everything they really need: enough money to support their families, the people they love and the ability to make a difference in the world.

As a wise person once said, “The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.”

David Geller is the author of Wealth & Happiness: Using Your Wealth to Create a Better Life.  He is the CEO of Atlanta-based GV Financial Advisors and is available for professional speaking engagements.