Which person are you?

I used to live in Australia (one of the best places to live in the world when it comes to weather!) and one day whilst visiting a friend's family I noticed a printed cartoon on the household fridge.

This was back in the late 2000s and what a time that was.  Free from social media garbage and all the other mind distractions of today.

Anyway this cartoon deeply resonated with me, it's never left my subconscious.  This cartoon talks about net worth.  Which is totally invisible.

Let me prescribe a very realistic scenario.

Today you're going to go around work, minding your own business.  And perhaps you'll see something like this along the street.  A bunch of normal looking people.

Another day in paradise..?

Why are salaries not equal?

 As an employed worker, you must be wondering at some point why are some jobs paid more than others.  The following questions may have been in your head at some point.

Why are some salaries so low?  And some so high?  Is it because a company is willing to pay them more money?  Is it due to some magic formula conjured up by wizards?  Is it that some companies are just cheap and unwilling to fork over money (How dare they eh, these damn profit seekers!)?  And why is it that salaries can vary differently from different countries even though the roles can be exactly the same?

Gold at 4.5K USD, what does this mean?

Gold

One of my favourite topics to discuss of all time is money.  Just what is money anyway?  

Growing up, I knew nothing about money.  To me as a kid it was the 50 cent coin that I put in my pocket and took with me to the tuckshop to buy my lunch in primary school.  That was all I know.  For a while.  But as I got opportunities to live and work in many nations.  I had to deal with different currencies, notes, coins, with different images of people, places and things.  All of them have different shapes, colours, fancy watermarks, to avoid being forged, but worth nothing if I take them to another country.  Just why isn't there a single thing that's accepted everywhere?  Turns out there is, and has been.

Humans are the only creature on Earth that need money to survive.  It ties to every facet of the living experience.  Therefore it is pivotal to understand it.  And yet, most people do not understand it.  It is never taught in schools.  Think about it.  Most people have a job and earn a wage, and call it a day without understanding what are they actually saving.  To someone in Australian, Australian dollars is money.  To an American, the US dollar is money.  To a Swedish person, the Swedish krona is money.  But really, what is it exactly?  Are these currencies really "money"?  If I take my Swedish kroner to Singapore, why is it not accepted then?  If something is truly reliable money, it should hold its value across borders, even if it isn’t directly accepted everywhere.  To understand the importance of money, real money, cannot be understated enough.  Let me start from the beginning.

Historically, for thousands of years, money has been different things.  But over time, societies converged on one thing as the most reliable form of money.