I've come to learn that there are 3 types of wealth a person can and must acquire to be comfortable in life and to make sure they leave a legacy and good starting point for their children. This is the absolute necessity for comfort in modern life. Anything more is arbitrary.
- Capital (Material) Wealth - This one is obvious, of course. Money, Assets, Bonds, Properties, Businesses, basically everything material that has value, preferably one that appreciates over time. Capital is the lubricant of society, Money is stored energy, as explained by none other than our @stellabelle from Steemit here ;
https://steemit.com/money/@stellabelle/money-is-just-stored-energy
There is a point of capital wealth accumulation where having more capital isn't going to improve your life further. Find that point, and reach it. Depending on where you live and what is your life goals, that number is different to each person. For me, it's owning a few pieces of lands, a business where i don't have to manage on the daily, enough money to invest passively with is more than enough.
- Intellectual Wealth - It's widely known that being rich is temporary if one doesn't know to manage ones wealth. There was a 2005 Documentary titled "Reversal of Fortune" where a social experiment was done to see how an average sane non-addict homeless person would do with $100,000. Predictably, by the turn of the year, he was back to where he was before the Fortune.
Being smart is as important if not more important than being rich, that is why education is very much a smart investment done right. The stereotype of rich people being knowledgeable in obsolete stuff like classical history or philosophy is very grounded in reality. We live in a Capitalist society, people are rewarded in proportional to the value they output. It's natural that a smart person gets wealthier than someone less smart.
- Social Wealth - It's all about being around the right people. Again, all the rich people in the world intimately understands this. You can be the best carpenter in the city, but if the other guy's dad's friend is the local billionaire, he's more likely to get the commission to make those fine furniture. Humans are social creatures, it's in our DNA to look for a tribe to fit in. Social Wealth is about fitting on the right tribe (the rich people tribe) that everyone in the tribe will benefit from each other.
The other side of the coin (in case people scream "aristocracy!") is would you rather be around people who befriends you solely to scalp you off or be those around you that brings value to each other?
Conclusion
I feel that the 3 wealth are intricately tied to each other that only by having all 3 in equal measure determines your overall wealth in the long run. Pursuing any one of them too disproportionately to the others and that's where i think misery starts to seep into one's life.