Detachment is the Secret of Wealth

Most of us say we want to be rich, but in truth, we don’t.
We just want money to spend — to buy a car, a flat, a phone, jewellery, or a vacation. We want to feel rich and look rich, not actually be rich.

Being truly money‑rich means having a large amount of money that we don’t need to spend.
If we keep earning and spending the same amount, our bank balance stays near zero.
How can we become wealthy if, every time money comes in, it immediately goes out?

Two Types of People

Imagine someone wins ₹1 crore.
If you ask them what they’ll do with it, most will list purchases:

• A new car
• A flat or a bigger house
• A luxury phone
• Gold or jewellery

They’ll spend it all, and their bank balance will be back to zero. They feel rich for a while, but they’re not actually richer in net worth.

Now imagine a second person who also gets ₹1 crore.

• They don’t rush to buy anything.
• They keep the ₹1 crore in their account, untouched.
• They still have ₹1 crore, while the first person has zero.

If that second person knows how to invest, trade, or grow capital, they can turn that ₹1 crore into ₹10 crore, ₹50 crore, or even ₹100 crore over time.
They become 10x, 50x, or 100x richer than the first person — not because they earned more, but because they didn’t spend it.

The First Condition of Wealth

In my view, the first condition for making money is this: You must not have a need for that money.

It sounds strange, even contradictory, but it’s true. The more we need money, the more likely we are to lose it. The more emotionally attached we are to money, the more fear and greed will control your decisions and we are likely to make poor investment decisions and lose money instead of increasing it.

If we love money too much, or if we’re desperate for it, we’ll:

• Make impulsive trades or investments
• Jump from one idea to another when things go down
• Panic when your portfolio drops and sell at a loss
• Keep chasing “quick returns” instead of long‑term growth

Because you’re emotionally attached, every loss feels like a personal failure. We can’t stay patient. We become easily swayed by our convictions and switch from one investment to another, often due to the perceived time-consuming nature of the first one.

We can’t wait for compounding. We’re not investing; We’re gambling with fear. 

Think of three people:

The Farmer

• Farming is his life.
• If the crop fails due to rain or drought, he’s in deep trouble.
• He may have no extra capital for the next season, so he sells land cheap or takes high‑interest loans.
• Even if the harvest is good, prices crash because everyone has surplus.
• He’s forced to sell below cost, dump crops, or burn them.

This is like a trader who depends on profits to survive. One bad trade or a losing streak can break him. He can’t afford to wait, so he sells early and loses. sometimes he take's margin/leverage like farmer takes loan on high interest. 

The Carpenter

• He has tools: hammer, saw, chisel.
• If he’s too attached to his tools, he’ll never use them.
• He’ll keep them clean and shiny, but never take up a job.
• Result: no income, no experience, no growth.

Money is like a tool, If you’re too afraid to use it, it’s useless. You must be willing to “damage” or lose a little to learn, earn, and grow.

The Fishing enthusiasts

• He fishes not because he needs to eat fish, but because he enjoys fishing.
• He can spend hours waiting, trying, failing, and still come back the next day.
• He doesn’t use all his bait at once.
• Sometimes he loses his hook, breaks his line, or catches nothing for days.
• But he knows it’s part of the game.
• He gains experience, enjoys the process, and keeps his peace of mind.

This is the ideal Trader/investor: Money is bait, not food. He invests bit by bit, not all at once.
He doesn’t panic if a trade fails.He keeps learning, keeps playing, and keeps growing.

The Real Moral

Being rich doesn’t mean spending a lot.
It means having money that you don’t need to spend.

Emotional attachment to money leads to fear, impatience, and bad decisions.
A detached mindset — seeing money as a tool, not a need — leads to patience, discipline, and long‑term wealth.

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Practical Lessons from the Story

1. Enjoy the process, not just the result

   • Learn investing and trading as a skill, not just a way to make quick money.

   • Don’t be in a hurry; compounding works slowly but powerfully.

2. Separate your bread & butter from your wealth creation

   • Have a stable income (job, business, rental, etc.) to cover your needs.

   • Don’t depend on trading/investment profits to pay bills or buy luxuries.

3. Don’t use all your bait at once

   • Don’t invest all your capital in one stock or one trade.

   • Use position sizing and diversification to protect yourself.

4. Put your tools to work

   • Don’t be afraid of losing capital.

   • Use it to learn, to gain experience, and to earn.

   • Even small losses are tuition fees for a bigger future.

5. Don’t eat the fish; use it to grow your bait

   • Don’t spend your profits on desires.

   • Reinvest them to grow your principal.

   • A bigger capital base = bigger future returns.

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Final Thought

True wealth is not about how much you spend, but how much you don’t need to spend.
When money becomes a tool, not an emotion, that’s when you stop chasing wealth — and start actually building it.