Marcus Aurelius was obviously extremely wealthy. He was wealthy before he was emperor—coming from one of Rome’s great families–and he would become even more wealthy by dawning the purple. And yet, his definition of wealth had very little to do with money. 

In Meditations, Marcus writes that he’s fortunate not due to his palaces or the treasury. Sure, his wife had silken and embroidered robes and they possessed many silver goblets and beautiful emeralds, but to Marcus the true measure of his wealth was that whenever he saw someone in need of help, he could provide it. Moreover, that wealth afforded him a unique luxury: he would never have to ask for such a favor in return. 

Marcus cared, and he worked hard to be self-sufficient, so he could show his care even more. 

Ramit Sethi, who we had on a great episode of the Daily Stoic podcast recently, has talked about his definition of the “rich life.” Part of the rich life for him is being able to travel, being able to reduce hassle, to work on what he wants to work on. We would call these the ‘creature comforts.’ But another important part of his rich life? The part that arguably sustains him morally and spiritually? Using his time and money to help other people. 

“When something outrages you or inspires you,” he said, “when something makes you MAD or SAD or THRILLED, that’s an opportunity to lean into it and use your time and money to improve it.” If you can’t do that—because you’re too busy, because you’re too selfish, because whatever—then you are not rich…no matter how many digits are the left of the decimal point in your bank balance. Indeed, you can be quite wealthy, but you will never be rich. 

The point of this life, Marcus says, is to possess good character and do acts for the common good. This is also the point of wealth and success. To be a positive difference maker. To be able to help when someone needs it, to be able to hop on a flight and show up for a friend who reached out in a time of crisis. To be able to forgive a debt, to be able to pick up a tab, to be able to spend a few hours furthering a cause. 

That’s true wealth. It has very little to do with how much you save for yourself, and everything to do with how much you spend for others..