The Crash Course, Revised Edition

CHAPTER 31Build Up Your Capital!

None are so poor as those who only have money.

The road toward becoming more resilient begins with broadening your definition of “capital.” If you can build up the four forms of capital outlined in this chapter, you'll be far more resilient than you were before, and way ahead of someone who is rich in just one of them.

You are probably already well acquainted with financial capital. That's money in the bank, it's stocks and bonds and other representations of currency and asset ownership. Nearly 100% of Wall Street, academia, and media's efforts are spent keeping you squarely focused on financial capital to the exclusion of all other forms of capital. Their messages are clear: “Money is the only thing that matters!”

But aren't your time and your health also forms of capital you “own”? Yes, they really are. And so are anything and everything that brings you joy and happiness and contentment to your life. By this definition, you have many different types of assets and forms of capital, and each of them needs to be tended to if you want them to increase, which at this point you really, really should.

If you are rich across multiple forms of capital, then you are more resilient than someone who may be stupendously well‐endowed in one form of capital. For example, someone who has a billion dollars is as rich as Croesus (well, not actually, his wealth would have been if all you have is financial capital), but even if you have millions to your name, ...