Like a bird migrating south for winter, in November 2020, I flew from New York City to Miami with two suitcases in hand and with the intention of staying for three months. Three months turned into six months, six months turned into nine months, and nine months turned into twelve months, and counting. Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine living in Miami all the while working my New York City job. I also never imagined many of my friends would also make the same migration, placing familiar faces in unfamiliar places. It took me nearly a year to decide whether I migrated or, in fact, moved. One compelling consideration in my decision to stay—and officially move to Miami—was Mayor Francis Suarez's motto “How can I help?”, which reverberates throughout the sunny city.

During this transition from migration to move, from temporary to permanent, I was forced to get crystal clear on what I value. To begin with, I was living with less because all my belongings (save for two suitcases) were in storage back in New York City. I was maxing out minimalism and finding it quite liberating. As it turns out, having fewer things didn't negatively impact my life—in fact, it improved it. This is just one obvious example of me rethinking and getting clear on what I value. What was more meaningful was the rethinking and reimagining of my finances, health, quality of life, knowledge, status, influence, time, energy, experiences, and relationships. It led me to ask what was truly important for experiencing life to the fullest? What resources are most valuable, and how to best attain, maintain, and grow these resources? Circumstances required me to ask these questions while looking at myself in the proverbial mirror.

And the funny thing is, this wasn't my first rodeo. I moved 10 times by the age of 20, and yet never thought so deeply about my values, and by extension, my concept of wealth. But this migration turned move, coupled with the current paradigm shift, had me facing facts head on—as many of us are.

I lived out my own Great Migration, and in the process, underwent a metaphysical transformation—one that redefined my values. This transformation, when layered on top of my experiences as an immigrant, my nomadic upbringing, life as a millennial woman, and the insights collected over the years as a wealth adviser, all led me to new ideas on how to reconceptualize wealth. Through this process, the concept of Invisible Wealth took shape, and along with it, the five principles that embody this concept.

“A person's worth is measured by the worth of what he values.”

—Marcus Aurelius

While recharacterizing and reprioritizing what I value, I started to notice that this transformation was taking place for others, too. This reprioritization didn't start with the pandemic, but it certainly was accelerated by it.

We, individually and collectively, are living in interesting times, experiencing a paradigm shift in wealth, money, and in the economy. We're unlocking utility and monetizing in new ways within the arena of intangible assets, although this is not unprecedented. A well‐recognized example of intangible assets is the concept of intellectual property. Many are familiar with the value of intangible creations, born from the mind, which are claimed and protected through copyrights, patents, and trademarks. The notion of intangible value is scaling into new arenas, because of our increasing comfort level with; the invisible makers and markers of wealth.

Despite the inability to touch intangibles, such as ideas, we do see the consequential manifestation of these invisible forces, and they're powerful! When we actualize our ideas, we receive a return on that investment. A return on investment can come in the form of increased value, whether that be money or lessons learned.

To ground this point in business terms, consider this example: an entrepreneur thinks of an idea and wants to actualize the idea into a lucrative business. The entrepreneur researches, home in on product–market fit, creates a prototype, and develops a go‐to‐market strategy. This venture could be lucrative, or it could be a flop; regardless, it will yield lessons learned. Either way, there is value creation. While at Fidelity, I developed a proof of concept and a prototype for an enterprise solution. After pitching this idea to the leadership team, it was advanced into early incubation. From there, I partnered with a sharp‐witted team to further develop the concept, product–market fit, and prototype. Ultimately, the concept didn't progress into advanced incubation, but I gained valuable insights and lessons that will contribute to future endeavors.

As a society, we acknowledge and celebrate the tangible and visible markers of wealth. Think: big homes, new cars, and designer shoes. Although, in portfolio construction terms, many are reallocating from an overweight in tangible wealth to an overweight in intangible wealth. The concept of Invisible Wealth provides the opportune framework to help us explore what it means to be wealthy.

In my estimation, true wealth is invisible.

“The real measure of our wealth is how much we'd be worth if we lost all our money.”

—John Henry Jowett

In the chapters that follow, we'll delve into the 5 Principles of Invisible Wealth, which are:

1. P1: Wealth of Money and Investment
2. P2: Wealth of Health and Quality of Life
3. P3: Wealth of Knowledge, Status, and Influence
4. P4: Wealth of Time, Energy, and Experiences
5. P5: Wealth of Relationships, with Self and Others

These five principles are well‐known concepts, but they absolutely require revisiting and redefining, because of the technological innovations and societal shifts underway (impacting how we make, spend, and invest money).

Money is a resource; health is a resource; knowledge is a resource; status is a resource; influence is a resource; time is a resource; energy is a resource; experiences are resources, and relationships are resources. That said, wealth can be defined as an abundance of resources, including but not limited to, the resource of money. All these resources have the potential to compound over time. The compounding of invested money is a, concept we are familiar with, yet we don't talk often enough about the compounding potential (and therefore increased quantity and quality) of these other resources.

Plus, the biggest financial decisions you'll ever make, likely won't relate directly to money and investment, but instead to what you eat, what information you consume, who you spend your time with, and if/who you marry. Here’s a peek behind the curtain, as a preview of the 5 Principles of Invisible Wealth, which we will explore more fully in the following chapters.

The Wealth of Money and Investment

Principle 1 (P1) addresses the reality that money is a necessity that affords us security, freedom, and choice. The more money we have, the more safety, flexibility, and optionality we have. Although the book focuses on the qualitative nature of wealth, I do acknowledge and encourage the attainment of financial wealth. As a certified wealth advisor, I thoroughly understand how the accumulation of financial wealth provides safety, independence, and opens doors to rich potential. Plus, money enhances the most important things in life.

In this chapter, we'll discuss the wealth journey and how the wealth of money and investment are interconnected. The best way to grow your money is by keeping it “invisible” or, in other words, invested; to have and to hold is greater than to show and to tell. When money remains invisible, or invested, it has the potential to grow and compound. Compounding interest is the money you earn from your investment's interest. Sounds appealing, right? And it is; so much so that many credit Albert Einstein with calling it the eighth wonder of the world.

Thereafter, we'll double tap into a broader interpretation of the compounding interest concept by highlighting that not only does the account holder benefit from exponential financial growth, but also perhaps others do, too—truly drawing on compounding interests, by many (versus one).

The Wealth of Health and Quality of Life

Principle 2 (P2) embraces the fact that health is foundational to both creating and enjoying wealth. The pandemic's forced pressures and pauses put health front and center for us all. With health top of mind, we dove into the treasure trove of research and insight available, relating to the optimization of health. In our search for optimal health, experts and intuition let us know that physical health is important, but so is mental and spiritual health. While there are visible indications of health (e.g., weight), what's often more telling are the invisible indications of health (e.g., microbiome, blood sugar, and stress levels). Advancements in healthcare technology are providing visibility into the invisible markers of health, through wearable technology such as smart watches, fitness trackers, and clothing with built‐in tech for health monitoring. There's now a wealth of big data available to predict and prevent ailments. Therefore, we'll highlight and discuss the ways we are reimagining our health practices, and how these practices are tightly correlated to quality of life.

Thereafter, we'll expand the conversation from quantitative health insights to qualitative daily practices, which ultimately create the story of your life. This requires placing thoughtful attention on the way life has completely changed due to technological advancements and societal shifts. Much of our life has replatformed online, where business and social now take place virtually, too. Business is not only possible but also productive via Zoom. And social media enables countless more social interactions. Given that much of our lives are now online, this changes how we live in the day‐to‐day, providing much more autonomy over how we manage our time. On the opposite side of the coin, addiction to technology is a real threat, which is why considering a media diet should be part of everyone's daily practice.

This shift online has huge implications, including the fact that it allows us to become location agnostic. Being location agnostic means that talent and relationships have the potential to live anywhere (beyond just the mega‐metropolis areas). Therefore, people now consider living in locations that previously were not on their radars, and optimizing quality of life as a result. Further, as we reorganize ourselves across the globe, it's worth mentioning the interest in our collective health, in addition to our individual health. Since March 2020, we are much more concerned with how others are tending to their health, realizing that the health of others can influence and impact the health of self—this includes physical, mental, and spiritual health.

The Wealth of Knowledge, Status, and Influence

Principle 3 (P3) dives into knowledge, and specifically the use of knowledge, which has a powerful relationship with wealth, status, and influence. This we intuitively know, but it deserves further discovery. Knowledge is a tool to accumulate wealth; wealth and status are interlinked, because you can pay your way into status, and monetize it. Further, influence is often a byproduct of status. Therefore, fundamentally speaking, it all starts with knowledge. As unicorn entrepreneur and Impact Theory founder Tom Bilyeu said: “Knowledge isn’t power. Used knowledge is power.”

The way we access and acquire knowledge these days is radically different from times past. Plus, the way we establish status and influence is also radically different from times past, thanks to social media platforms and the like. People can now establish an online presence at warp speed. It’s important to consider what you do with your knowledge, status, and influence especially since it’s faster and easier to acquire each.

These aspects of wealth are also incredibly important to consider in the age where the “company” takes on the archetype of an individual and the “individual” takes on the archetype of a company. Personal branding, naturally, invites us to analyze ourselves and what we present to the world. In this, there is a responsibility to model a meaningful life versus a superficial life. This idea is reflected in the Latin phrase Praesis ut prosis re ut imperes, which translates to “lead in order to serve, not in order to rule.” The world is changed by the examples of others.

At this point, you may be thinking, where does power fold into all of this? We will discuss power, too, while highlighting the importance of personal power, which enables the accumulation of knowledge and unlocks the potential for status and influence, in order to serve. Along this thread, it's worth mentioning the movement away from the theatrics of power (the good ole peacock mentality) toward invisible, personal power that can be used to advance society forward in stealth mode.

“Bragging about yourself violates norms of modesty and politeness—and if you were really competent, your work would speak for itself.”

—Adam Grant

The Wealth of Time, Energy, and Experiences

Principle 4 (P4) emphasizes the parallel between investing money during economic cycles and investing time and energy throughout life. Often, both as an investor and as an individual, we seek the peaks. In other words, we seek the market highs and peak experiences, but the market lows and mundane moments deserve equal emphasis, too. A savvy investor knows how to optimize market dips, just the same as a savvy individual knows how to optimize mundane moments. Finding opportunity in both the ups and downs allows one to fully invest their time and energy, appreciating the totality of life. After all, time plus energy equals your life.

Time, many would say, is the most important asset we have. Miami's mayor, Francis Suarez, summarized it well: “the rarest asset we have is time … and the most important investment decision you will make in your life is not what you do with your money, it's what you do with your time.” I heard these words at a pivotal time in my life when I was deciding whether to stay in Miami or move back to New York City. While my decision on where to live remained in suspension, it was Mayor Suarez's words that inspired me to stay in Miami. It was time to make a decision and forge forward, walking away from wasting time and energy in indecision.

“Trade money for time, not time for money. You're going to run out of time first.”

—Naval Ravikant

The Wealth of Relationships, with Self and Others

Finally, Principle 5 (P5) explores the wealth of relationships, with self and others. The principle explores how we all desire intimate, meaningful relationships with family and friends; more so today than ever before, people are willing to set aside work to carve out time for their relationships, and thereby redefining their relational priorities in the process. This is a good thing, because interpersonal relationships are a necessary vehicle for personal growth. We're constantly revisiting, reimagining, and redefining who we are by virtue of our interactions with others, and vice versa. We're also reimagining who we interreact with, in the digital age, because we can now connect with others based on relevancy instead of just proximity. I firmly believe this is more profound than we currently realize.

That said, P5 also addresses the evolving value of relationships and the focus on surrounding yourself with people who inspire and improve you. It's okay to be selective with the company you keep. By surrounding yourself with people who inspire you, you expand your thinking and challenge your beliefs. Without others, there's no feedback loop, and we risk stagnation of self‐evolution. It's also critical to consider relationship capital. A wealth of business relationships can lead to better career opportunities, and a wealth of personal relationships can lead to people being there for you in good times and in bad. As Margaret Walker said, “Friends and good manners will carry you where money won't go.”

These 5 Principles of Invisible Wealth are distinct, stand‐alone conversations, but they are also interrelated, coming together to embody the expanded concept of wealth.