Traditional Chinese teaching (maybe not much of a teaching, but just common (mis-)conception) is that money/asset makes you rich. There is some truth in it, but not the whole truth.

I believe most people remember back in '86, people's salary went up much, but in the same time, price went up as much. Basically a big wave of inflation. What it did was to wipe out much of the savings some people had. I know people have Y10K or more but ended up with not worth mentioning afterward.

Imagine the same scenario, if you have a house that generate 1K/month. The salary went up, price went up, so is your rent. So the inflation would not have much effect on you.

This is the power of cashflow, instead of static asset/savings. Most us will be well served to learn the difference between cashflow and asset.

Of course, without any initial investment, it's not possible to get cashflow. So saving is good, but not the ultimate goal.