{"id":72254,"date":"2022-07-05T15:44:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T19:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=72254"},"modified":"2026-05-07T12:15:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T16:15:53","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the difference between money and wealth? Which one should be your focus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, we understand wealth to be the same as net worth, the sum of your assets. However, entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Naval Ravikant sees wealth a bit differently. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant<\/em> shares his definition of wealth and how he distinguishes it from money. Then, it explains why Ravikant believes you should focus on generating wealth rather than money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about this way of looking at money and wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of Shortform\u2019s guide to saving money<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focus on Building Wealth, Not Money<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What is the difference between money and wealth? To Naval Ravikant, wealth is owning assets that grow over time without further input from you<\/strong>. Money, by contrast, is merely the means<\/em> of distributing wealth and time. The equity you own in a growing landscaping company is wealth<\/em>; the cash people pay you for mowing their lawn is money<\/em>. According to Ravikant, it\u2019s more important to focus on generating wealth<\/em> than on generating money<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Ravikant\u2019s definition of wealth differs from the standard understanding of the concept. Wealth is typically understood as net worth<\/em><\/a>: The sum of your assets, such as your savings and your investment accounts, minus your liabilities, such as your mortgage and student loans. Owning assets that grow over time could be considered a part <\/em>of your wealth according to this definition, but it doesn\u2019t encompass all that wealth is.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Ravikant, the best measure of wealth is financial freedom<\/em>. When you achieve financial freedom, you have enough income or assets to cover your expenses for the rest of your life without ever having to work. This, to Ravikant, is why<\/em> you should pursue wealth: By reaching financial freedom, you can spend your time as you please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Although Ravikant says true wealth<\/a> means financial freedom for the rest of your life, other financial experts note that you can aim for financial freedom for a shorter period of time. Financial freedom is merely having enough net worth to cover your expenses for a given amount of time<\/em>. As a measure of wealth, then, some financial experts suggest that financial freedom should be measured in years<\/em>, not money<\/em>. That is, by dividing your net worth by your annual expenditures, you can figure out how many years of financial freedom you have<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the difference between money and wealth? Which one should be your focus? Typically, we understand wealth to be the same as net worth, the sum of your assets. However, entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Naval Ravikant sees wealth a bit differently. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant shares his definition of wealth and how he distinguishes it from money. Then, it explains why Ravikant believes you should focus on generating wealth rather than money. Keep reading to learn about this way of looking at money and wealth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":72256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,31],"tags":[684],"class_list":["post-72254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-money","tag-the-almanack-of-naval-ravikant","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is the difference between money and wealth? Here's how entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Naval Ravikant views the distinction.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What is the difference between money and wealth? Here's how entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Naval Ravikant views the distinction.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-05T19:44:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-07T16:15:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-05T19:44:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-07T16:15:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/\"},\"wordCount\":432,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Almanack of Naval Ravikant\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Economics\",\"Money\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/\",\"name\":\"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth? - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-05T19:44:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-07T16:15:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"What is the difference between money and wealth? Here's how entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Naval Ravikant views the distinction.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth? - Shortform Books","description":"What is the difference between money and wealth? Here's how entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Naval Ravikant views the distinction.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth?","og_description":"What is the difference between money and wealth? Here's how entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Naval Ravikant views the distinction.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-07-05T19:44:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-07T16:15:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth?","datePublished":"2022-07-05T19:44:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-07T16:15:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/"},"wordCount":432,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg","keywords":["The Almanack of Naval Ravikant"],"articleSection":["Economics","Money"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/","name":"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth? - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg","datePublished":"2022-07-05T19:44:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-07T16:15:53+00:00","description":"What is the difference between money and wealth? Here's how entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Naval Ravikant views the distinction.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-is-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Is the Difference Between Money and Wealth?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/money-cash.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72254"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149619,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72254\/revisions\/149619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}