Affluence and the New Luxury
Once wealth has created freedom, its greatest value may lie not in what it allows us to own, but in who it allows us to become. See how affluent families are redefining luxury.
In 2022, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard gave away the company that had made him a billionaire.1 He and his family transferred ownership to a trust and non-profit structure designed to protect Patagonia’s values and direct its future profits towards environmental causes.
Explaining the decision, Chouinard wrote that he had never wanted to be a businessman. Business had simply become a means of supporting the things he cared about.
Few families will make a choice as dramatic as his. Yet the question behind it is increasingly relevant to anyone whose wealth has created genuine freedom: Once security and choice have been achieved, what should wealth make possible?
For many affluent families, the answer is changing. Luxury is increasingly measured by the health, time, relationships and experiences that wealth makes possible. The deeper aspiration is a life in which financial success supports what matters most.
Investing in a Longer, Healthier Life
One of the clearest expressions of this shift is the growing emphasis on health. Affluent families are devoting greater resources to preventive medicine, advanced diagnostics, nutrition, fitness, sleep, and longevity research, not simply to extend life, but to improve the quality of the years ahead.
These decisions reflect a broader understanding of wealth. Financial assets create opportunity, but good health determines how fully those opportunities can be enjoyed. For many families, investing in wellbeing has become as important as investing for retirement.
Time Has Become a Luxury
Many traditional luxury purchases were designed to signal success. Affluent families are now emphasising experiences that create something even more valuable: time.
Private aviation offers one example. Often regarded simply as a symbol of exclusivity, it can also allow families to spend less time navigating commercial travel and more time together. Its real value may lie not in the prestige of the experience, but in the hours it returns.
The same principle applies to concierge services that remove everyday demands, second homes that make meaningful time together easier to arrange, and bespoke travel that replaces logistics with experience. In each case, luxury is valuable not only for what it provides, but for the time and attention it gives back.
The question is no longer simply, “Can we afford this?” It is, “Does this help us live the life we want?”
The Search for Belonging
Wealth can create extraordinary independence, yet it can also create distance. For many families, a richer life therefore depends on relationships that cannot be delegated or purchased: time with children and grandchildren, enduring friendships, participation in a community, and traditions that give family life continuity.
Bonding experiences can strengthen a family’s shared sense of identity because they become part of its collective memory. Travel creates stories that are retold for years. Learning and cultural experiences deepen common interests. Charitable work builds shared purpose, while traditions create continuity across generations.
Thoughtfully creating these experiences offers far more than enjoyment in the moment. It creates the memories, stories and sense of belonging that endure.
Planning for a Life Well Lived
As priorities become clearer, financial decisions begin to express them. Spending, investing, philanthropy, estate planning and family governance can either reinforce a shared vision of a worthwhile life or pull the family in different directions.
That is why alignment matters. Wealth is most powerful when the choices surrounding it support one another and reflect the convictions of the people it is meant to serve. A Corient Wealth Adviser can help weave those aspirations into the decisions that shape the family’s financial life.
Yvon Chouinard chose an extraordinary path, but the question he posed is one every affluent family eventually faces. Once wealth has created freedom, its greatest value may lie not in what it allows us to own, but in who it allows us to become.
1 Patagonia, Earth Is Now Our Only Shareholder, https://www.patagonia.com/ownership/.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Priyanka Hindocha
Priyanka is a Partner based in our London office. She coordinates the financial affairs of high-net-worth families and entrepreneurs around the world—focusing specifically on developing governance and succession plans designed to drive intergenerational success. Her experience includes positions with Stonehage Fleming and Deloitte. Priyanka holds a first-class Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Modern Languages (French & Italian) from University College London and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ACA) and Tax Adviser (CTA).
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