What Counts as Wealth: A Talk at the Kitchen Table
Picture a couple named Mariana and Tom, planning a retirement abroad, who reach an argument they did not expect. Mariana’s grandfather left her a plot of farmland worth about $120,000. Tom thinks they should sell it and put the money where it will send them a payment every month. Mariana does not want to sell.
They raise their voices a little. Tom says land pays nothing. Mariana says it was never meant to.
Then they each finish a sentence out loud: wealth is.
Tom grew up with a father who asked of everything, what does it pay? For Tom, wealth is knowing the bills are covered on the first of the month, and he sleeps better when the number is steady.
Mariana grew up in a family where land was the one thing nobody could take away. For her, wealth is a place that belongs to the family, and a promise to a grandfather. The plot is where she learned to ride a bicycle.
Neither of them is wrong. They are using one word for two different things. One is income, which is money that arrives. The other is a store of value, which is something that keeps its worth while it waits. Many families and many cultures have kept their wealth in a store of value for generations, and for good reasons.
They decide not to settle which word is right. They sort instead. The land stays, and it goes on the list as safety and family, not as income. The monthly payments will come from the rest of their money, and they work out how much of the lump sum has to send a payment each month.
Then Tom has an idea. A neighbor farms the next plot over. They offer to rent the land for $300 a month. It is a modest 3 percent a year, and the land stays in the family. Mariana says yes.
They write on an index card: land stays, income from the rest, rent the plot. They tape it inside a kitchen cupboard.
You could ask each person in your household to finish the sentence wealth is, and write the answers down before talking. The differences might be about words more than values.
Then you could sort what you own into two lists, what sends money and what keeps its worth. A retirement abroad needs the first list to cover the monthly bills. The second list can be there for other reasons.
How does your family define wealth, and who taught you? Tell us in the comments. Someone reading may be about to finish that sentence out loud.
Tell us in the comments