Returning to the Original Meaning of Wealth
The word wealth did not originally mean material possessions.
It comes from the Old English word wela — meaning well-being: to live in a state of wholeness, health, and shared flourishing.
Only over time did wealth become narrowly associated with accumulation.
At Chris Hays Wealth Management LLC, we intentionally return to the original meaning.
We define wealth as well-being, expressed through the integration of three forms of capital:
Human capital — health, character, relationships, and purpose
Intellectual capital — wisdom, learning, values, and judgment
Financial capital — money used intentionally as a tool, not an identity
Values Are the Foundation
All forms of capital are expressions of values.
Human capital reflects what a family prioritizes in health, relationships, and character.
Intellectual capital reflects what a family chooses to learn, preserve, and pass on.
Financial capital reflects how a family turns intention into action.
When values are clear, wealth becomes constructive.
When values are unclear, even significant resources can become destabilizing.
We Begin With Values
Every family has values. Few have taken the time to articulate them clearly, align around them intentionally, and live them consistently.
Our work begins by helping individuals and families slow down and reflect on what matters most:
- What does a good life mean to us?
- What do we want to pass on beyond money?
- What are we responsible for — and to whom?
From there, planning becomes purposeful rather than reactive.
Money matters — but it is never the starting point.
Values are.
Human Capital: Values, Virtue, and the Formation of Character
Human capital begins with values.
Values shape our behavior. Repeated behaviors form habits. Habits, over time, become character.
The ancient philosophers understood this progression clearly. Virtue was not an abstract ideal—it was a practice. Courage, honesty, responsibility, and care for others were cultivated through daily action, guided by what one held to be important.
The original meaning of the word character comes from the Greek kharaktēr—a stamp or engraving. Character is the mark a person leaves through how they live. It is not what someone says they value, but what their actions repeatedly reveal.
From this perspective, developing human capital is not about optimization or performance. It is about formation.
Plato described this process through the idea of telos—an inherent purpose or end. An acorn does not need to be told to become an oak tree. It already carries within it the blueprint of what it is meant to be. What it requires is the right environment, nourishment, and time.
In the same way, each person carries a unique potential. Families play a central role in this process. A family’s responsibility is not to impose a single vision of success, but to create the conditions in which each individual can become the person they are capable of becoming.
This is why human capital sits at the foundation of long-term well-being. Health, emotional maturity, responsibility, resilience, curiosity, and purpose all precede financial decisions. Without them, resources—no matter how abundant—can magnify confusion, dependency, or conflict.
When human capital is intentionally cultivated, families gain something far more durable than financial security:
they gain clarity, stability, and the capacity to steward responsibility across generations.
Intellectual Capital: Learning, Judgment, and Meaning Across Generations
If human capital is about who we become, intellectual capital is about how we think, learn, and make sense of the world.
Intellectual capital is not information for its own sake. It is the capacity for curiosity, discernment, emotional intelligence, and sound judgment—developed over time through experience, reflection, and dialogue.
In stable periods, inherited assumptions often work. In periods of disruption, they do not. This is why intellectual capital becomes especially important during moments of societal transition.
Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe described history as moving through recurring generational cycles, each culminating in a period of profound change—a Fourth Turning. Previous Fourth Turnings reshaped economic systems, institutions, and social norms for generations. Ours is unfolding now, though in different form.
The global liberal order that emerged after World War II is fragmenting. Nations are increasingly practicing economic statecraft, where trade, technology, capital, and energy are guided by strategic and geopolitical priorities rather than pure market efficiency. Economist Michael Every of Rabobank has written extensively about this shift and its implications for global stability and growth.
At the same time, technological change is accelerating. Artificial intelligence, automation, decentralization through tokenization, and entirely new categories of work are reshaping how value is created and how people participate in the economy.
In this environment, intellectual capital is no longer about memorizing answers. It is about learning how to learn, how to adapt, and how to think clearly amid uncertainty.
For families, intellectual capital begins early and grows continuously.
It includes helping each family member—especially the rising generation—understand the fundamentals of earning, saving, spending, and giving. These are not merely financial skills; they are lessons in responsibility, patience, generosity, and stewardship.
Intellectual capital is shaped by stories shared across generations, by thoughtful conversation, and by the willingness to question assumptions rather than inherit them unexamined.
When intellectual capital is cultivated intentionally, families are not destabilized by change. They are prepared to engage with it thoughtfully, ethically, and with confidence—grounded in values rather than driven by fear or imitation.
Financial Capital: A Tool in Service of Well-Being
Financial capital is a means, not an end.
It represents the resources that support life—savings, investments, real assets, and liquidity—but its value is determined entirely by how it is used and what it serves.
When aligned with clearly articulated values, financial capital creates stability, optionality, and the freedom to live intentionally. When disconnected from purpose, it often becomes a source of anxiety, excess, or short-term thinking.
In the world now emerging, the role of financial capital is evolving.
Traditional markets remain important, but they are no longer the sole arena in which value is created. Decentralization, tokenization of assets, real estate, private enterprise, and new forms of ownership are reshaping how capital participates in the economy. These changes will give rise to new opportunities—as well as new responsibilities.
We help families think about financial capital in this broader context.
That includes understanding how capital can support learning, entrepreneurship, and meaningful work; how it can be deployed thoughtfully across generations; and how it can be structured to adapt to a world that is less predictable and more interconnected than the one that came before.
Financial capital is most powerful when it reinforces human development and intellectual growth—when it supports health, education, contribution, and resilience rather than defining success on its own terms.
Used well, it becomes a quiet enabler of a life rooted in values and lived with intention.
Why Families Matter Now
Periods of profound change test institutions, markets, and assumptions. They also clarify what endures.
Across history, families have been the primary place where values are lived, wisdom is transmitted, and responsibility is learned. In times of stability, this role is often taken for granted. In times of transition, it becomes essential.
As the world grows more complex and less predictable, families who invest intentionally in human development, shared understanding, and thoughtful stewardship are better equipped to adapt without losing their sense of direction.
This work does not happen automatically. It requires reflection, conversation, and the willingness to think beyond short-term outcomes. It asks families to move from simply managing resources to cultivating well-being across generations.
Our role is to walk alongside families in this process—helping them clarify what matters, develop the capabilities that sustain a good life, and align their decisions with enduring values in a changing world.
From philosophy flows practice.
How we help families live these ideas is where intention becomes action.