I saw something on social media recently that got me thinking about the way we portray wealth.
It was the usual stuff. An expensive car. A conversation about money. And the suggestion that if you're truly wealthy, you shouldn't care very much about depreciation or resale value.
After spending much of my career working with successful families, business owners and retirees, I've come to see wealth very differently.
Visible consumption is a terrible measure of financial success.
Social media shows us the car. It doesn't show us the balance sheet.
It shows us the house. It doesn't show us the mortgage.
It shows us the vacation. It doesn't show us the retirement plan.
And it certainly doesn't show us the years of saving, investing, sacrifice, risk, mistakes and discipline that often sit behind real financial independence.
That's what concerns me about the way wealth is portrayed online.
We're constantly exposed to exceptional levels of consumption presented as though they're normal. A young person can scroll through Instagram for 20 minutes and see exotic cars, private aviation, luxury watches and multimillion-dollar homes. Eventually, it's easy to start wondering: Why doesn't my life look like that?
That's a terrible measuring stick.
I've had the privilege of getting to know some very successful people over the years. There isn't one way that wealthy people live. Some enjoy expensive cars. Some drive ordinary ones. Some spend freely on travel. Others hate spending money. Some live in enormous homes. Others have stayed in the same house for decades.
But there is one lesson I've learned repeatedly:
What someone spends tells you remarkably little about what someone has.
And perhaps more importantly, what someone else has tells you absolutely nothing about how well you're doing.
Financial success isn't a photograph.
It's having choices. It's being prepared when life doesn't go according to plan. It's being able to help the people and causes you care about. It's having control over your time. And eventually, it's reaching a point where money gives you freedom rather than demanding your attention.
Enjoy the car if you can afford the car.
Enjoy the vacation.
Enjoy the house.
You've worked for it.
But don't mistake consumption for wealth. And please don't let somebody else's highlight reel become the scoreboard for your own life.
The most important parts of wealth rarely make it into the picture.
