This is a dumb blog

Yes this is a dumb blog.
It does not give you a quick fix method of becoming rich.
It is not possible to become rich overnight.
Some people may become rich - temporarily - because of sheer dumb, luck.
Others might inherit wealth beyond imagination.
If you are one such I congratulate you.
You are an exception.
For the rest of us, we have no choice but to build wealth by applying our skill and industry.

How do you define rich?

We have been talking about getting rich. This is the 18th post on this subject. I think it is now time to define what 'being rich' actually means. In one of the earlier post I have quoted Buckminster Fuller that links wealth and the duration that the wealth can sustain you if you quit working today. In my mind, that definiteion is a recipe for post-retirement. And makes lot of sense.

However, the definition of 'being rich' has a social angle to it too. You need to appear rich too. How much you wish to appear rich depends on the people you work and socialize with. It is an entirely an external factor and very few can totally resist it. It is all very well to say that you should not succumb to peer pressure. Most do. To a small or large extent.

And then there is this personal desire. My personal desire to is to have two one-week holidays every year and that these holidays should be spent in comfort. That would mean staying in a 5 star hotel / resort. If I manage to pull this off year after year then I am doing fine.

So, what is this becoming rich thing. Let's sum it up ...

a) Enough money to fulfil your (and your family's) desires.
b) Enough money to conform to your peer group
c) Enough money to ensure that when you retire your standard of living does not drop off.

Now, you may say that there is no limit to desires or that conforming to your neighbour's expectation could spiral your expenses.
Exactly!
The word 'enough' is to be determined by you.
The limits too areto be defined by you.
Once you decide your limits you know how rich you need to be.

Everyone does not have to be as rich as Bill Gates. It is sufficient if you become as rich as you want to be.
Work towards your definition of becoming rich.

Definition of wealth

You say you are rich. You are wealthy.
You may be well off, but are you really wealthy?
There is a distinction, you know?

Wealth is a person's ability to survive so many number of days forward ... or if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?

The above extract is from Rich Dad, Poor Dad and attributed to Buckminster Fuller.

When I read this line for the first time, it scared me. I can just imagine how long I will be able to survive without a job. And more importantly, how well will I be able to survive? So today I may be better off that I was 10 years ago. But I am definitely not wealthy.

Are you?

The rich are not bad

Flip through up any language text book.
You will notice that the rich are
(i) cunning
(ii) cruel
(iii) exploitative

Most of my childhood, teens and early adult life, we can visualize only one path to become rich. You need to exploit the poor farmer or the trader mercilessly and grab opportunities with scant regards to humanity to become rich. The rich has his vault full of pawned goods that the poor farmer deposits in lieu of money to buy seeds. The rains fail. The rich insists on his money., Where would the farmer get the money from. His land is usurped by the rich. You get the idea!

So who are the heroes of Indian tales - the educated man who impresses the king with his wisdom, the poor brahmin who earns name and fame because he is learned, and the cunning housewife who saves the day by fooling the cruel carnivore. Yes there are benevolent kings and kind moneylenders. Yes, the good always triumph in the end, but you come away with a bitter taste in your mind for the rich.

It did not help that early independent India plunged headlong into socialism. Since the rich exploit, the state would step in to save the day. Thank goodness for the givernment otherwise the profiteers would have sucked India dry.

The divide between the haves and the have-nots in India is accentuated by another factor: the varna (incorrectly translated as caste) system. You could either be a learned brahmin or others. The educated could not be rich; the rich could not be a learned brahmin. Indian mythology supports this to the core. The two sisters, Saraswati - the godess of learning - and Lakshmi - the godess of wealth - cannot see eye to eye. Any one of them will stay in your house. You got to choose between Saraswati or Lakshmi. 'Running after money' is as great an insult as any. The only honorable means of earning money is to get educated and go about earning money honestly.

It was not until early adulthood that I realized that the businessman is the driver of any economy and the resultant prosperity. They create jobs. They create opportunities. They create wealth. But this knowledge came in a bit too late for me. Even today, and I am 44, my initial reaction is that of shock when I read that high court and the supreme court judges - nor all of them fortunately - are involved in scams. It takes me a while to recover from news of corruption in India's defence forces. I have to hello-anybody-home? myself before I can proceed.

So what is the lesson?
The rich are not bad people. Seeking and exploiting opportunities is not the same as exploiting people. Stories are just that, stories.