#3 Don't Work for Money — Work for Assets!

Hi, my dears. How was your day? What adventures did you get up to today? I'm curious what season it is outside when you'll read these lines. Right now, here in Colmar, it's summer, early August, with temperatures around 30 degrees. In a few days you'll both get to enjoy the sandy beach in Spain, and Laura, you'll finally be able to get into the pool you've missed so much. Luca, you're still little, you still need some time before you can go in the water.

Today, my dears, I want to talk to you about the social classes that exist in a normal society. Historically, there should be 3 classes: upper — made up of people with money; middle — made up of people who don't lack essential things but also can't afford whatever they want; and lower class — made up of people who can't even afford the essentials. Picture all your kindergarten classmates you have now, and imagine what they'll look like in 20 years. Why do so many social classes have to exist? All children should be born equal. You all play the same, eat the same, and poop the same, and yet each one's path turns out a little different. For some of them it's easier, while for others it's harder.

I don't know what your own future holds, I hope you have a beautiful life, but given that your parents are both doctors, which social layer do you think you're growing up in? All the things you're spoiled with now — do you think you'll be able to afford them for your own children too? What impact does it have on you that, in a relative sense, we have enough money that you won't lack anything? Will you grow up spoiled, or will you manage to keep a good upbringing? We'll live and see.

Coming back to our social classes and inequality in society. I want you both to reflect deeply, right now, as you read this, on the inequality of opportunity between children. Do you know anyone from a disadvantaged background? How can you help them?

Does it seem unfair to you that so many classes exist? It does to me too! What makes me any better than a mechanic who fixes my car, or a gardener who plants a tree for me? What makes me different as a person? Any ideas? That's right, correct! Nothing! We're all equal! Whenever I see you being arrogant, I'm going to punish you by taking away your toys and no longer giving you the treats you're used to. If there's one single lesson in this world I want you to learn, it's that we're all equal! And I can even prove it to you!

Each of us holds a kind of monopoly thanks to the skills we've acquired. A doctor, for example, enjoys a reputation that grows among the patients who need him. Even though a job like mechanic or plumber isn't seen as being as attractive, just wait until you get your first flat tire or your first burst pipe at home. You definitely won't care about the doctor anymore then, and your heroes will become the mechanic and the plumber. Each of us performs, in a certain context, a function that matters to society. None of us can do everything alone, which is why we always have to rely on others. That's why each of us is very important within the particular ecosystem we move in. For you, Laura, for example, the teachers at your kindergarten are very important to me and mommy. When we moved from Germany to France, you had some trouble settling in. Their help here was so critical that, to us, they matter more than a doctor.

If the differences between different jobs aren't actually that obvious, then why are they seen differently? There's only one answer. Let's see... can you find it? Because every job earns different amounts of money. Because the society we live in is broken, it hasn't worked properly in a long time. Because of inflation and other issues, social classes are derived from how much money each person earns, and by extension, what each person can afford. Most of the time, basic needs turn into ego battles completely detached from reality. Picture a small Renault Clio that gets you from A to B. The same trip can be made in a Ferrari. Is there any practical difference between the two ways of getting there? Essentially, no — both cars got you where you needed to go. The only real difference is what these two cars separate: social classes. That doesn't mean people in these classes are necessarily better than one another — not at all.

If we update these 3 social classes, though, we see they're actually two: poor and rich. The middle class hasn't really existed for a long time. Now we can add some nuance — there are different kinds of poor, and not being able to afford a Ferrari is a very different thing from not being able to afford a piece of bread. The reality remains that the middle social layer is starting to disappear, starting to exist only as a theoretical concept.

I think what matters for you isn't fixating on these classes, but on how you belong to one of them. And it all depends on how much work you're willing to put in. And when I say work, I don't mean working for someone, at a company, for money — I mean working for yourselves. I'd rather you belonged to the poor layer but had a healthy understanding of the world around you, than belonged to the rich and were only there because your mother and I allowed you to be there. If you're poor and hardworking, you'll get the chance to understand the world around you much better.

Laura, right now you have 112 euros in your piggy bank, for example. You're always happy thinking you have your own money, but you didn't do anything for it. You received it for no particular reason. Whenever you say you want to buy this or that with it, I support you. I always tell you it sounds like a good idea, because I want you to lose it. I want you to see how the money you didn't work for — money that might put you in a good spot right now — can disappear faster than you think. That's my goal right now: to make you lose the money, so you understand that you have to work and struggle to earn it back. Once you win it back through work, I'm sure you won't throw it away on nothing so easily again.

So then, how do we make you belong to the rich layer? How do you make enough money? And how do I shape you into adults full of compassion for the people around you? First of all, I think you've both heard the phrase "the rich don't work for money." Yes, it's a nice phrase, but if you practically want to change something in your life, or in the path you're on since childhood, this simple phrase won't help you understand the problem. It never helped me, either, until the moment I realized it's incomplete. The full phrase is "the rich don't work for money, they work for assets." In other words, whenever you work, try to be paid in assets too, not just in money.

We've established that there are two social classes, made up of people who aren't very different, who are born into similar conditions, and who go to the same kindergarten for a long time. The only difference in the path they take is that some are paid in money, and they mostly stay poor, while others choose to have their work paid in assets. Now, these assets can be shares in the companies where they work, or they can mean laying the foundations of your own business, where your work, where your time, gets turned into assets over time. Why does this matter, my dears? The money you save aside will always be subject to inflation. Laura, today you can use your 112 euros to celebrate your birthday or go to Europa Park with one of your parents. In 20 years, you probably won't be able to buy a loaf of bread with it. But if you had assets worth 112 euros — say, owning 0.0001% of a building — that value would grow over time.

Can you figure out the ending for yourselves, or do you need me to explain it? Money is subject to inflation in a negative way — if you work for money, that money will always keep losing value. An asset is subject to inflation in a positive way, and will gain value. The stronger the inflation, the more its value will grow.

So the only real difference between people is that some choose to work for money, while others work for assets. Remember that, for it to mean anything, you have to finish this sentence: "I don't work for money... I do work for assets." If you don't add the second half, it's just a cheap cliché you haven't actually understood.

I love you both!