Wealth is much more than a high salary or a healthy bank balance. And turning your wealth into a good life is much more complex than going on a spending spree. 

These are some of the interesting topics we investigated in Supermorning Wealth. So, let’s take a quick recap, starting with the obvious. 

Tangible assets

Tangible assets are those things most people would define as wealth: money, real estate, stocks, etc. Building tangible assets needs little more than patience and a basic strategy. 

1. Make it automatic. Set up an automated investment regime using online banking solutions. Occasionally adjust these automated investments to keep yourself off the hedonic treadmill.
2.  Investment horizon is key when positioning your wealth. If you can part with your money for many years, risky investments like stocks become surprisingly safe.
3. Long-term stock market investments yield great returns at very low risk. With an infinite investment horizon and a diversified strategy, your risk is close to zero.
4. Short-term investments need more security. Split your strategy between low-return investments for your near-term financial goals and high-return investments for your long-term freedom. 

Today’s world belongs to those who own capital. Claiming your share of the world makes life a lot better. 

But tangible assets are not the only kind of wealth out there.

Intangible assets

These assets both increase your ability to grow tangible assets and reduce the critical mass of tangible assets you need to claim your freedom.  

1. Skills and track record. The types of skills and track record valued by the world are changing. Recognize these changes and define your purpose to give direction to your skill development. 
2. Heath and inspiration. These assets put your skills and track record to good use. Find your inspiring purpose and gradually eliminate inspiration drains from your life. 
3. Reputation and goodwill. In addition to good skills and track record, a healthy reputation requires integrity, good teamwork habits, and a commitment to quality. The best way to build up goodwill is to develop genuine goodwill towards others.
4. Life efficiency. This is the ultimate intangible asset: the ability to get more life from less consumption. Consumerism and self-sabotage are examples of poor or even negative life efficiency. 

With sound investment strategies in tangible and intangible assets, we can start to derive genuine fulfillment from our wealth. 

Wealth and liberty

Many people have fought and died for personal liberty. Today, we all have liberty in theory, but all too many remain in economic slavery, working jobs they hate. Wealth is the cure for this sad situation. 

1. Why bother building wealth? Wealth, both tangible and intangible assets, gives you genuine control over your own time and enables the faster realization of your initiatives.
2. Building personal wealth makes the world a better place. Aside from granting true personal liberty, a broad focus on wealth building will make the world more sustainable and just.
3. Financial resilience is the best measure of the personal liberty afforded by your wealth. Financial resilience is the number of years your wealth can sustain your lifestyle. 
4. The transition to liberty should be done responsibly. Committing to a gradual transition from a strong base of valuable intangible assets can greatly reduce risk.

Most people instinctively want wealth to claim the freedom to consume whatever they want. But lasting happiness actually comes from the freedom to create what you want. 

And this brings us to the final layer in this wealth-based strategy for lasting fulfillment. 

Managing wealth and liberty

There are several options for deriving liberty from wealth. Choosing yours is an important step in the journey to fulfillment.  

1. Carefully prioritize your investments. There are just so many exciting options out there. Focus on a limited number of enabling investments that can have the greatest knock-on effects.  
2. Buy your own time and energy. One of the best things to do with any surplus income is to buy more of your own time and direct it towards your purpose. 
3. Buy other peoples’ time and energy. Any worthwhile purpose will require more skills, time, and energy than you can ever have. Set up win-win collaborations for pursuing your purpose. 
4. Enjoy sharing your wealth. Giving from a position of abundance is one of the best win-win actions out there. But giving from a position of scarcity can easily backfire. 

So, in conclusion, money can buy happiness – just not in the way our consumerist society has taught us. 

Instead of blowing our wealth chasing happiness through consumption, we should deploy it to liberty and purpose. This is the single best way to turn wealth into lasting life satisfaction.