Stock and flow
Money in an account is a stock. Income, expenses, assets, skills, relationships and the capacity to create value form a flow. A stock can disappear quickly when no system supports it; a strong flow can rebuild a stock after a loss.
This does not make liquidity unimportant. A reserve buys time and reduces dependence on urgent decisions. But a reserve without a mechanism of renewal remains a finite resource.
Capital is wider than money
Capital can include assets, professional competence, reputation, market access, technological tools or a network of trust. Not all of these are easy to price, yet each can affect the capacity to generate future opportunity.
A useful question follows: if the current balance disappeared tomorrow, what would remain that could rebuild income? The answer often describes the structure of wealth more accurately than a single number.
Freedom as a reserve of time
Financial resources are especially valuable when they allow a person to reject a poor offer instead of accepting it through urgency. In this sense, wealth can be converted partly into a reserve of time and choice.
Freedom does not rise without limit with spending. If lifestyle expands faster than the resource system, dependence can increase even at a high income. Durability therefore matters more than visible scale.