YOU NO DOUBT remember Peter Lynch, the celebrated manager of Fidelity Magellan Fund. He quit Magellan’s helm when he was just 46 years old. His comment at the time: “You remind yourself that nobody on his deathbed ever said, ‘I wish I’d spent more time at the office’.”
Nothing brings more clarity to money’s limitations than consideration of our mortality. A few weeks ago, I thought about this truth as I lay awake all night, waiting to hear from my son. He and his wife had checked into a hospital to give birth to their first child. The plan was that we would receive regular text updates, regardless of the time. But the hours passed and no updates arrived.
My wife and I had an ominous feeling that something was wrong. As we agonized and prayed, we struggled to contain our fears, imagining all the things that could be going wrong. Why hadn’t our son kept us updated? Were mother and baby okay? Finally, a call came at 3:30 a.m.
Our fears were not unfounded. It was a traumatic birth—the baby initially had trouble breathing. But I’m happy to report that, thanks to incredibly talented medical personnel, our new grandson and daughter-in-law are doing fine.
For me, the difficult birth has triggered a time of introspection. Has my life been too focused on the accumulation of things that won’t last—or have I have been building true wealth? The word “wealth” comes from an old English word. Its meaning is closely related to happiness and to the wholeness that comes from a well-balanced life.
As we each examine our life, what traits should we look for if our goal is true wealth, rather than just lots of money in the bank? Here are eight things I view as valid metrics for measuring true wealth:
I’m not against success and riches. But we should all ask ourselves, “How am I using my riches to bring true wealth into my life and the lives of others?” It is, I believe, a crucial question—and it took a family crisis to jolt me into giving it the serious thought it deserves.
Joe Kesler is the author of Smart Money with Purpose and the founder of a website with the same name, which is where a version of this article first appeared. He spent 40 years in community banking, assisting small businesses and consumers. Joe served as chief executive of banks in Illinois and Montana. He currently lives with his wife in Missoula, Montana, spending his time writing on personal finance, serving on two bank boards and hiking in the Rocky Mountains. Joe’s previous article was Life as a Loan Shark.
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