REAL WEALTH

A guide reflects on the nature of life’s various material and spiritual treasures.

In his book, Smith acknowledges the significance of material prosperity. In fact, he offers all manner of counsel regarding the navigation of readers’ practical affairs, from careers to home ownership. He even pauses to reflect on the advantages and disadvantages of receiving a considerable inheritance, and advocates for the importance of teenagers gaining some “financial literacy.” But the accumulation of money and property is only one aspect of wealth, a recognition that often arises later in life: “Only through practical experiences in middle-age or older is it recognized that money is not the most significant characteristic of wealth. In fact, they were most wealthy when they were in a stable situation with loving parents and childhood friends and pets—a stage of life that once passed can never be recaptured.” He sensibly reflects on several types of nonmaterial wealth, including the spiritual kind comprised of beliefs that, if nothing else, can be “psychologically comforting.” In addition, he discusses the significance of an “intangible cultural inheritance” passed on by an individual’s elders. This brief mediation—the book is under 90 pages—has the warm timbre of an avuncular lesson delivered to younger readers in need of advice while approaching the threshold of adulthood. The author’s tone is confidently knowing as well as gently solicitous. In addition, Smith offers many tidbits of thoughtful and helpful counsel. But the book meanders widely across an uneven terrain of topics—the author discusses the costs of keeping a pet, home security, and the process of buying a computer. In the spirit of comprehensiveness, he attempts to trace “life events from birth to death.” As a result, readers will get the impression that Smith is thinking out loud, leaping somewhat randomly from one lily pad of discussion to another, down a roiling stream of consciousness. This peripatetic style eventually proves a bit exasperating, and some readers may not make it to the book’s finish line.

A useful but rambling assemblage of advice about the myriad types of wealth.