How Do You Define Wealth?

[chuenjit]

Everyone has a different idea of what wealth is. Some of these are geographic. A broker in the city will give you a different answer than a subsistence farmer in sub-Saharan Africa.

It doesn’t even have to be that extreme. A Cornish Farmer will give you a different definition than someone in a city.

You know, it may not even have anything to do with money. Good friends and family rank up there in the list that makes life worth living.

So, what is your definition of wealth? How will you know that you’re wealthy

Wealth is ?:

• A million in the bank
  
• Having everything you want
  
• Owning the best car/ nicest house
  
• The power to make change
  
• The power to do what you want
  
• Having friends and family who love you
  
• A weekly paycheck.
  
• Enlightenment
  
• Inner peace
  

[mahtin]

Can you make this a little more Thai-specific?

[chuenjit]

Can you make this a little more Thai-specific?

ok?

"Everyone has a different idea of what wealth is. Some of these are geographic. A broker in the city will give you a different answer than a subsistence rice farmer in Issan."

[DragonQuest]

The power of love defines wealth.

[toptuan]

How do you define wealth? Two submissions:

1) By how satisfied you are with who and what you already have in your life.

2) By the number of things you don't need.

[chuenjit]

"1) By how satisfied you are with who and what you already have in your life.

"

I agree , it is not always greener on the other side - and those that have too much rarely seem to be happy ( M.Jackson for instance ).

[krading]

Living a little better than 'hand to mouth'

[Garry9999]

"Money will buy you a better kind of un-happiness"

Wealth has nothing to do with money.

[sorensen]

How do you define wealth? Two submissions:

1) By how satisfied you are with who and what you already have in your life.

2) By the number of things you don't need.

You are really defining "happiness", the OP asked about wealth. By definition I think wealth will have some sort of monetary component. To use Pareto's 20-80% Principle, a good definition might be that wealth or wealthy is when you have more than 80% of the people in your social stratosphere.

[chuenjit]

The first wealth is health

"Money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed. Health is the most enjoyed, but the least envied."

-- Charles Caleb Colton

[Samuian]

Well I am healthy, wealthy and wouldn't mind a truckload of gold bars, could handle that with ease..

[mahtin]

My FIL is a subsistence rice farmer in Issan.

He is currently visiting his youngest daughter in the UK.

He sounded quite happy when I said hello on the 'phone last night.

I think he plans to stay for the full 6 months of the visa

[Gary A]

Health and contentment has to be number one. Monetarily, looking at all the expensive toys you have that you could easily do without.

[wefearourdespot]

wealth is money and what you can buy with it.

[toptuan]

Living a little better than 'hand to mouth'

Filipinos live that way (hand to mouth), and they are the happiest people on earth. But excuse me, we're talking about wealth, not happiness. Must be a difference. (Time Asia world survey, 2004).

[toptuan]

"1) By how satisfied you are with who and what you already have in your life.

"

I agree , it is not always greener on the other side - and those that have too much rarely seem to be happy ( M.Jackson for instance ).

Good example. Also, Japan and the USA, two of the world's most wealthy nations, scored abysmally low on the HQ (happiness quotient) mentioned in my previous post.

[abdulrahman]

Everyone has a different idea of what wealth is. Some of these are geographic. A broker in the city will give you a different answer than a subsistence farmer in sub-Saharan Africa.

It doesn’t even have to be that extreme. A Cornish Farmer will give you a different definition than someone in a city.

You know, it may not even have anything to do with money. Good friends and family rank up there in the list that makes life worth living.

So, what is your definition of wealth? How will you know that you’re wealthy

Wealth is ?:

• A million in the bank
  
• Having everything you want
  
• Owning the best car/ nicest house
  
• The power to make change
  
• The power to do what you want
  
• Having friends and family who love you
  
• A weekly paycheck.
  
• Enlightenment
  
• Inner peace
  

If the topic is about WHEALTH:

Nr 2 Having everything you want,..........and some more to spare!

[Travel2003]

When one has more than enough.

[CaptHaddock]

You know, it may not even have anything to do with money. Good friends and family rank up there in the list that makes life worth living.

So, what is your definition of wealth? How will you know that you're wealthy

It helps to think clearly. Wealth refers to money. Money is not the only important thing in life, but when you ask about wealth that is what you are asking about.

In my opinion, to be wealthy means to be able to live at a first-world middle-class standard of consumption without working. Wealth can be achieved in numerous ways including moving to a country where that standard of living costs enough less to qualify you.

Now, if I had grown up in Chad, for example, I would probably define wealth as 2000 calories per day, but there you have it.

[doggie888888]

When one has more than enough.

Therein lies the problem. "Enough" seems to be a moving target for a lot of people, myself included. And for others, it seems "it is never enough". So if you never reach "enough" whatever that may be, you'd never consider yourself wealthy?

[G54]

Agree, wealth is about money.

How much money you need to be satisfied with your lot. So if we are talking about pure wealth then enough to get by on, a roof over my head, enough food so as not to be hungry and enough for those little extras does me.

If we are talking about satisfaction in life, that has to be another matter.

A good partner to share life with. Same goes for family and friends. It does not have to be love.

Enough interest in life and its surroundings to stop me from going crazy and the above regarding wealth.

I never asked for a lot and have seen many with more who have been unhappier in life and far more stressed out.

[geriatrickid]

Having common sense, useful skills, intelligence and being in the right place at the right time, position one to amass whatever one needs and wants.

Having a rich parent soon to be making the journey across the Styx helps

[AndyBlueEyes]

IMO tangible wealth is having sufficient resources which will allow you to live your life in a way that you can do 'whatever' you want-- 'whenever' you want. "Time", whether measured by a clock or by heartbeats, is one of the most important and irreplaceable things in life because when it is gone it is gone forever. Being able to utilize this 'time' we have here to the maximum is my definition of having attained the benefits of true intangible wealth.

[beerchang]

Everyone has a different idea of what wealth is. Some of these are geographic. A broker in the city will give you a different answer than a subsistence farmer in sub-Saharan Africa.

It doesn't even have to be that extreme. A Cornish Farmer will give you a different definition than someone in a city.

You know, it may not even have anything to do with money. Good friends and family rank up there in the list that makes life worth living.

So, what is your definition of wealth? How will you know that you're wealthy

Wealth is ?:

• A million in the bank
  
• Having everything you want
  
• Owning the best car/ nicest house
  
• The power to make change
  
• The power to do what you want
  
• Having friends and family who love you
  
• A weekly paycheck.
  
• Enlightenment
  
• Inner peace
  

If you noticed, the OP has a list of things from 'million in the bank' to 'inner peace'. So no need to talk about money alone is there? I feel very 'wealthy' with what I have here in Thailand, although i'm not wealthy compared to......there are millionares who are not wealthy compared to..... I'll take the inner peace any day. Contentment with whatever you have over comparison to any other person defines my 'wealth'. Just my opinion.

[mahtin]

• The power to make change
  
• The power to do what you want
  
• Having friends and family who love you
  

I have been lucky enough to be able to make significant changes in my extended family, specifically in allowing kids to enjoy secondary education that the family's poverty would otherwise have denied them.

Sometimes money is not the root of all evil.

[Carib]

Wealth doesn't really exist, but it is where others are jealous of....

[lioness]

Wealth - richness, a wealth of experience etc etc

I am rich, I have freedom, to me this is everything Freedom of thought, of spirit, freedom to make my own decisions, to make my own friends, freedom to live my life as I want to, take away my freedom and I have nothing.

Money is material wealth.

[doggie888888]

Wealth - richness, a wealth of experience etc etc

I am rich, I have freedom, to me this is everything Freedom of thought, of spirit, freedom to make my own decisions, to make my own friends, freedom to live my life as I want to, take away my freedom and I have nothing.

Money is material wealth.

"Freedom is just another word for nothing else to lose" - Janis Joplin from the song Bobby McGee.

[smokie36]

Wealth can be expessed in many ways.

Sharing this wealth creates happiness.

[steelepulse]

When anything your friends, family and loved ones spend your money and it doesn't even phase you.  Doesn't matter what your socio=economic stats is, the fact is they can spend your money and it won't affect your standing or status with them.