- Tension: We feel financially inadequate despite having more material wealth than most of humanity.
- Noise: Social media and consumer culture distort our perception of what real wealth looks like.
- Direct Message: True wealth isn’t about luxury; it’s about having basic necessities most people lack.
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology.
According to the World Bank, if you make more than $2.15 per day, you’re already wealthier than 700 million people globally.
Yet here you are, scrolling through Instagram, feeling like you’re falling behind because someone just posted their third vacation this year. I get it. I’ve been there too.
The disconnect between our actual wealth and how we feel about it has never been wider. We’re comparing ourselves to curated highlight reels while forgetting that having running water puts us in the global minority.
Today, I want to share five everyday items that, if you own them, place you among the wealthiest people on Earth. These aren’t luxury goods or status symbols. They’re things you probably take for granted every single day.
1. A smartphone (any smartphone)
Remember when having a flip phone was cool? Now we feel embarrassed pulling out an iPhone that’s more than three years old.
But here’s what that “outdated” smartphone represents: instant access to the entire world’s knowledge, the ability to connect with anyone anywhere, and computing power that would have cost millions just decades ago.
Nearly 3 billion people still don’t have access to a smartphone. That’s more than a third of the global population living without what most of us consider essential.
Your phone doesn’t need to be the latest model to be revolutionary. Even a basic smartphone gives you capabilities that the richest people in history could never dream of. You can learn new skills, start a business, access healthcare information, or video call family across the world.
I’ve noticed how quickly we normalize these miracles. Last week, I complained about my phone being slow while simultaneously using it to navigate, listen to a podcast, and check the weather. Three separate devices from twenty years ago, now causing frustration because of a two-second delay.
The wealth isn’t in having the newest phone. It’s in having any phone at all.
2. A personal computer or laptop
Growing up in Sacramento, my parents ran their accounting practice from our home office. That single computer was their lifeline to earning a living. Today, I write these articles from a five-year-old laptop that’s seen better days.
But that laptop? It’s a wealth-generating machine that most of the world can’t access.
Only about 50% of the global population has access to a computer. Think about that. Half the world is locked out of remote work opportunities, online education, and digital creativity tools that we consider baseline requirements for modern life.
During my decade in digital marketing, I watched entire careers built on nothing more than a decent laptop and an internet connection. No office, no commute, no geographic limitations. Just pure opportunity delivered through a screen.
Your computer doesn’t need to be powerful or pretty. It just needs to work. With it, you can learn to code, write a novel, start a YouTube channel, or build an online business. These aren’t just hobbies anymore. They’re legitimate paths to financial freedom that billions of people can’t even attempt.
3. A reliable internet connection
What’s the first thing you ask for when you visit someone’s house? The WiFi password, right?
We treat internet access like oxygen, panicking when we can’t connect. But according to the International Telecommunication Union, 2.7 billion people have never used the internet. That’s one-third of humanity living in complete digital darkness.
A reliable internet connection isn’t just about streaming Netflix or doom-scrolling Twitter. It’s about access to education, healthcare, job opportunities, and human connection. During the pandemic, we saw how quickly “optional” became “essential.”
I remember losing internet for three days during a storm. By day two, I couldn’t work, couldn’t pay bills, couldn’t even check if my family was okay without driving to a coffee shop. It was a stark reminder of how much wealth is wrapped up in those invisible signals flowing through the air.
The internet has democratized learning in ways that still blow my mind. You can take free courses from Harvard, learn languages from native speakers, or master new skills from YouTube tutorials. All for the price of a monthly connection that costs less than a few coffee shop visits.
4. A bank account with any amount of money
Here’s a statistic that stopped me cold: according to the World Bank, 1.4 billion adults don’t have a bank account.
Not a savings account. Not an investment account. Any account at all.
You might be living paycheck to paycheck, watching your balance hover near zero, feeling broke. But having that account means you exist in the financial system. You can receive direct deposits, pay bills online, build credit history, and access financial services that create pathways to greater wealth.
I learned this lesson the hard way when I started freelancing after leaving corporate digital marketing. Even with minimal savings, having established banking relationships meant I could get a business credit card, set up payment processing, and look legitimate to clients. Without that basic financial infrastructure, none of it would have been possible.
Your bank balance might be laughable, but your access to banking isn’t. It’s a foundational piece of wealth that enables everything else to grow.
5. Clean drinking water from a tap
Last but not least, the ultimate overlooked luxury: turning a handle and having clean, drinkable water flow out.
According to UNICEF, 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water at home. That’s one in four humans who can’t do what you did without thinking this morning.
At 30, I had a minor health scare that made me obsessive about hydration for a while. I bought fancy water bottles, tracked my intake, worried about electrolytes. The whole time, I had infinite clean water just sitting there in my kitchen, waiting to keep me alive and healthy.
We complain about water that tastes slightly off or isn’t the perfect temperature. Meanwhile, millions of people walk hours each day just to collect water that might make them sick.
Clean tap water means no waterborne diseases, no daily treks to wells, no rationing during droughts. It means cooking, cleaning, bathing, and basic hygiene are never a question. It’s health, convenience, and time savings that compound into immeasurable wealth.
Putting it all together
I’ve mentioned this before, but comparison is the thief of joy, and social media is comparison on steroids.
We’re so busy looking up at what we don’t have that we forget to look around at what we do. These five items aren’t just possessions. They’re tickets to opportunity, health, connection, and growth that most of humanity still can’t access.
Does this mean you should never want more? Of course not. Ambition and growth are healthy. But recognizing your current wealth changes everything about how you pursue future wealth.
You’re not starting from behind. You’re starting from a position of incredible advantage. You have tools at your disposal that billions of people would trade anything to access.
The next time you feel average or behind, remember this: if you can read this article on your own device with your own internet connection, drink clean water whenever you want, and have even a dollar in a bank account, you’ve already won a lottery most people never get to enter.
Real wealth starts with recognizing what you already have.
