The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life

Dr. George Vaillant is a Harvard researcher whose long-term study on aging has revealed that positive social relationships are a key factor in life satisfaction and longevity. Bloom uses Vaillant’s research to support his own argument that tending to one’s relationships is the key to living a happy life. Notably, Vaillant’s conclusions downplay the role of material wealth in longevity and suggest that good relationships are even more important to people’s health than the benefits of achieving a higher social class. Bloom cites Vaillant’s work directly in his book, writing:

Dr. Vaillant put it bluntly. ‘The key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.’ The study has found that strong, healthy relationships are the best predictor of life satisfaction, far outpacing other hypothesized predictors, such as social class, wealth, fame, IQ, and genetics. Perhaps even more important, the study found that relationship satisfaction had a direct positive impact on physical health. (137)

Jakob Fugger was a 15th-century investor from what is now Germany. Even today, Fugger is renowned for his contributions to finance, such as double bookkeeping and combining financial statements. As a young merchant, Fugger made deals with royals and aristocrats, and his risks paid off, given that his expertise in finance and lending helped him to amass a fortune worth about $400 billion in modern money. Bloom uses Fugger as an example of someone who made valuable contributions to the world of finance and built a wealthy empire—but at the expense of the rest of his life. By pointing out Fugger’s social isolation and unhappiness, Bloom uses this story as a cautionary tale to remind people that happiness is forged through balance, not extreme wealth.

James Clear is an American author who is best known for his popular book Atomic Habits. Clear also pens a regular newsletter called “3-2-1,” in which he explores topics such as productivity, habit development, overcoming poor choices, and living well. Bloom refers to Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, in his discussion on the ways in which everyday choices contribute to long-term results. Bloom builds on Clear’s concept of daily habits as “systems” that either propel people forward or keep them stuck in a rut. He quotes Clear’s work to emphasize the importance of developing intentional habits to fuel long-term goals. Bloom writes, “James Clear famously wrote, ‘You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems’” (45). By referring to Clear’s work, Bloom provides external evidence for his own thematic focus on The Link Between Habits and Goal Achievement.

Morgan Housel is an American financial writer who penned The Psychology of Money and Same as Ever. Housel’s work focuses on how people perceive and use money, and he examines the biases and social concerns that can lead people astray in their financial decisions. He also coaches people on how to generate real wealth without becoming preoccupied with superficial concerns about status. In The Five Types of Wealth, Bloom cites Housel’s work in his discussions on status and social conditioning, stating that status symbols rarely grant the respect that they are purported to bestow. Bloom also cites Housel’s work in his discussion about the benefits of long-term compounding. Bloom uses Housel’s simple explanation to support his argument that people should make investments when they are young, then allow compounding to generate increasing wealth. He writes, “Morgan Housel […] adds clarity to this point: ‘All compounding is, is returns to the power of time, but time is the exponent. So that’s to me what you want to maximize’” (332).

Robin Dunbar is an evolutionary psychologist and anthropologist from the UK, whose prolific works on primate and human socialization include The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups and Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language. To persuade people that socialization is a crucial aspect of life, Bloom points to Dunbar’s research, which highlighted a correlation between a species’ brain size and its sociability. As Bloom explains, “The human brain is uniquely large relative to body size, which Dunbar attributes to the fact that our species is highly social. Put simply: You are social because you are human, and you are human because you are social” (135).

Bloom also cites Dunbar’s book Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships in his discussion on social wealth. Bloom’s three pillars of social wealth are depth, breadth, and earned status. He uses Dunbar’s “circles of friendship” (153) to show how the layered connections of friendship provide more social and practical opportunities. Bloom writes, “As the circles extend outward to good friends, friends, acquaintances, […] [t]hese relationships […] provide varied support such as networks for career opportunities, enjoyment, warm connections to new romantic partners, and more” (153).