06-07-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
MONEY THOUGHTS: Work, worth, value and victory
THE Austrian-American author and consultant Peter Ferdinand Drucker died almost 20 years ago. He was a genius of the first water (meaning of the highest calibre).
Even today, Drucker casts a long shadow upon the rough terrain that billions of us workers traverse daily — to, in and from — our jobs.
For instance, back in 1974, the year I turned 10, Drucker wrote: "Work is an extension of personality. It is achievement. It is one of the ways in which a person defines himself, measures his worth and his humanity."
This is always true, but much more so when we enjoy our work. So, tell me: Do you?
Apple founder and business visionary Steve Jobs said: "The only way to do great work is to love what you do."
For what it's worth, I love my work as a licensed financial planner specialising in crafting private pension-funding portfolios for clients.
I appreciate the flexibility my professional practice grants me to do my work for cherished clients in a way that dovetails with my personality.
INVEST IN SELF
It should come as no surprise to you that most of us derive our sense of value to others and our internal self-worth from the contributions we make to society. Yet we need to be careful not to have so much of our self-identity wrapped up in our career that we risk becoming psychologically untethered should we lose our jobs. It's a fine line to tread.
On the one hand, it is true our work doesn't just make us a living, it also crafts our life.
However, in this age of rapid job changes and creeping career obsolescence often caused by the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI type 1) for business cost reductions that threaten our active income (AI type 2), we need to keep investing — IN ourselves and FOR ourselves.
There will always be high-paying jobs around. That is the nature of economic expansion. But to be able to snag them, we must invest IN ourselves so we are selected for — or promoted to — them. The way we elevate our worth and value to the marketplace for jobs is by studying, innovating, streamlining and networking.
Accomplishing all that requires personal investments of time, focus, effort and money. The potential payout is worth it.
But as the world keeps swirling around us, the possibility of losing our jobs to younger (read: cheaper) hires or to AI type 1 engines grows. So, we must stay nimble to land elsewhere on our feet to derive higher levels of AI type 2 earnings in the form of salaries or business revenue.
BUILD STEADILY
With rising longevity, it is generally better to choose to work longer rather than shorter. This prospect is depressing for those who hate their jobs, yet liberating for those who love their professions. So, if you barely tolerate the work you do, then "work" on yourself to boost your odds of securing a better job or starting a different business down the road.
Also, do remember that with the number of centenarians worldwide growing about 20 times faster than the general human population, there is an ever-higher probability that you will live much longer than previous generations of your family did. That's the good news.
The bad news is that your money will run out long before you run out of breath. Unless you wisely:
1. Restructure your career to do work you genuinely love;
2. Commit to a CANI philosophy of work and life, which stands for "constant and never-ending improvement";
3. As your AI type 2 earnings grow with your age, fixate on saving and investing for two different purposes: capital gains and passive income (PI).
Read (or reread) this foundational 2023 Money Thoughts column for my elaborations on both those worthy goals:
Inasmuch as it's important to work hard, smart, long and profitably, never forget whom you work for: your family and yourself. Remember whom you value above your career, and take care of them all.
FINANCIAL FREEDOM
To do so, economically, shift your ratio of lifetime income (TI or total income) from AI type 2 (reminder: active income) reliance toward PI dependence. A cool form of mathematical shorthand to help you never forget this truth is:
TI = AI + PI
When we're young, all our income stems from AI (type 2). As we mature, we derive income both from that type of AI, and from PI.
Later in life, when we retire, by definition AI (type 2) ceases to flow into our bank accounts, and PI becomes essential. So, to attain economic victory in retirement, focus on steadily building PI throughout your working years.
Then, when you have enough PI to meet all normal expenses, you will have achieved the ambitious, coveted state of Financial Freedom.
In closing, I urge you to work well with and for others, build your self-worth, steadily ratchet up your value to the world, and focus on one day reaching the Finish Line of your life an unassailable victor — loved, cherished and respected by those whom you yourself love, cherish and respect.
© 2025 Rajen Devadason
