Review of “The 5 Types of Wealth” by Sahil Bloom

At Chartered, we use the Wheel of Balance as a guide to a fulfilling life, focusing on eight key areas: work, play, purpose, health, money, relationships, give-back, and learning. There are certainly parallels in Sahil Bloom’s The 5 Types of Wealth. In his book, he proposes that real wealth has five dimensions, and you need to find balance across all of them – time, social, mental, physical, as well as financial wealth. True wealth is not just about what you have in the bank. While the author asserts that all five elements should co-exist, he adds that their relevance fluctuates through life’s seasons.

The book is nearly 400 pages long, so here’s a glimpse at each section:

• Time Wealth: Are you prioritising the people and things that really count, or are you stuck on the treadmill of ‘busyness’? The author is fond of little charts and graphs to illustrate points or research, so expect to encounter a few under Time Wealth.
• Social Wealth: Ask yourself who would be in the front row at your funeral – and nurture those relationships. Strong relationships are the stand-out factor in healthy ageing.
• Mental Wealth: Maintain curiosity, a sense of purpose and lifelong learning. He shares a memorable story of a 90-year-old man who asked to attend an astronomy class at Harvard University in lieu of a birthday gift (wish granted).
• Physical Wealth: He poses the question, “Will you be dancing at your Eightieth Birthday?” I’m sure we all hope to be doing the Salsa and not sitting on the sidelines!

Financial Wealth: Decide what qualifies as “enough”. He offers an overview of ways to grow your money (chat to your Financial Planner) and the wise words “never think twice about investing in yourself” in terms of education, fitness, food, sleep and mental health.

Bloom references books that we’ve reviewed and have in our client library, including James Clear’s Atomic Habits, Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money, Outlive by Dr Peter Attia, and The Good Life study.

Each section concludes with a summary and systems (some inspired by well-known figures) to improve areas needing attention. He reiterates that you should select the tools that are likely to work for you and not try to implement them all. So, here’s to a wealthier you!