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Exploring income vs wealth, room for new thinking, and second level thinking
Logan
September 04, 2025
In partnership with
Exploring income vs wealth, room for new thinking, and second level thinking
Happy Thursday! Thanks for reading Intentional Dollar — where we look at old money ideas through a new perspective.
What’s inside?
One idea to experiment with
Two quotes from others
Three questions to dig deeper
Four lines of poetry for the point
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. These weekly posts represent my simple thoughts, a few quotes, and some questions — for educational purposes only.
Thousands are flocking to 2025’s “It Card”
This leading card now offers 0% interest on balance transfers and purchases until nearly 2027. That’s almost two years to pay off your balance, sans interest. So the only question is, what are you waiting for?
One idea to experiment with:
Income vs Wealth:
If I told you someone makes $250,000 a year, would you think they’re wealthy?
Probably, right? It’s natural to equate a flashy salary with financial success. But income is very different from wealth.
What if that $250,000 bought a couple of luxury cars, carried a million-dollar mortgage, and fueled a life of fine dining and designer clothes? What if every paycheck was spent—and then some? Would you still call that person wealthy?
Here’s the distinction worth understanding: income is a flow; wealth is a store.
Income is like water rushing through a pipe. You might have a wide pipe with a strong flow, but if it all pours straight out the other side, there’s nothing left. Wealth is the reservoir that builds when some of that water is captured and kept.
Yes, a big income can lead to wealth—but it’s a poor proxy. More often, high income brings bigger houses, extra cars, and lavish vacations. Lifestyle rises with paychecks, and the flow never becomes a store.
Meanwhile, someone earning $70,000 might live modestly, invest diligently, and quietly build more wealth than our $250,000 friend. That’s hard to conceptualize because we conflate purchasing power with prudence.
Income answers the question: How much comes in?
Wealth answers the more important one: What remains?
the dimensions of the pipe to the wealth store are in your control
Two quotes on room for new thinking:
Creative solutions are available with a little silent thinking time. The calculator and spreadsheet might have to be taken out of the toolbox to free up original, productive thought.
“People calculate too much and think too little.”
“The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a building filled with archaic furniture. Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it.”
Three questions on second level thinking:
If this decision works out exactly as expected, what unintended consequences (good or bad) might follow next?
What assumptions am I making that everyone else is also making, and what happens if those assumptions are wrong?
If most people react to this situation in the same way, how does that change the outcome—and what could I do differently?
Which question stuck with you? Questions like these are spotlights for the mind. Reply to this email and let me know which one shined light on a previously dark cave.
Four lines of poetry for the point:
Wealth’s a store
Of flows come through
Though through flows themselves
Wealth won’t accrue
Contact Me:
Content ideas, questions? Reply to this email or reach out to me at [email protected]
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. These weekly posts represent my simple thoughts, a few quotes, and some questions — for educational purposes only.
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