My new favorite movie is Other People’s Money with Danny DeVito. Despite being an old flick, it has some ageless sage advice about the nature of welth.
In the movie, DeVito’s character, Larry Garfield, AKA “Larry the Liquidator”, is a much maligned financier.
He buys up dead and dying companies and sells them off for a profit.
During the movie, he talks a lot about the green stuff but… astute viewers will note he is always yammering on about the value of what the businesses actually make.
For example, one of the businesses he buys is a failing wire and cable company. He makes a big deal about how they produce things no one wants anymore because the future of telecommunications is fiber optics.
He does mention dollars and cents but… oddly enough… he rounds all figures to the nearest million.
His speeches are all about the actual things these businesses produce and… what they’re worth.
It’s in direct opposition to the way many people think about munny.
Even popular and well-known economists are quick to tell the general public that money is synonymous with wealth.
But, let’s be real. If money = wealth then Venezuela should be the most prosperous country in the entire world right now.
Have you seen how many bolivars there are floating around in that country?
Meanwhile, back in reality, John Stuart Mill told us what real wealth consisted of in Principles of Political Economy:
“Money, as money, satisfies no want; its worth to any one, consists in its being a convenient shape in which to receive his incomings of all sorts.”
Duh.
Those dolla-dollas in your wallet are placeholders for actually-existing (and unconsumed) goods and services — AKA wealth.
When you sell your products or services or collect a paycheck, you don’t really want money. You want eggs, a car, a comfy home, and maybe a dog.
And… the cashola for your services is an all-purpose gift card for these things, which you can use at any time, anywhere.
Speaking of which, when you’re 70, 80, or 90 years old, you be needin’ lots of them thar dollars for everything from healthcare costs to housing to gifts for your grandkids to winter vacations.
You might even need it for the unpleasant stuff like nursing home care and… of course… your funeral.
Which is why savings is so important.
If you’re ready to get serious about growing your savings, hop on my email list and I’ll show you how easy it can be.
1-2-3… GO!