Money vs. Wealth

After reading a post titled “Why I Don’t Wear a Suit“, I challenged myself to figure out how much salary I would sacrifice for never having to wear a tie.

Every year I pass up $15,000 and I am wealthier for it.

It is commonly misunderstood that money and wealth are the same thing. The reality of money is that it exists as a measurement tool, the same goes for inches, hours, or grams. Money is a way of measuring wealth but is not wealth itself. As explained in the book Does It Matter?:

A chest of gold coins or a fat wallet is of no use whatsoever to a wrecked sailor alone on a raft. He needs ‘real’ wealth, in the form of a fishing rod, a compass, an outboard motor with gas, and a female companion. – Alan Watts

Personally, not wearing uncomfortable slacks is a single act of enrichment; thus wealth. Everyday I use up-to-date software development practices (Agile, SCRUM, TDD, etc) with people I consider friends. I work at a wealthy company.

Other companies compensate their lack of wealth by providing more money. Which reasons am I willing to sell out on? If I was to break this down:

• $15,000 – Not having to wear a tie
• $10,000 – Develop without Continuous Integration
• $15,000 – Develop without unit tests
• $40,000 – Develop without source control

So for an extra $80,000 a year, I will code without honor while wearing a tie. Until then, my wealth will come in the form of working with friends, purity to the software process, and wearing my PJs to work.