Most people are terrible at predicting the future.
Not because they lack intelligence, but because they predict with their wishes, not their brains. They think housing prices will keep rising because they own a house. They think stocks will rebound because they bought at the top. That’s not prediction. That’s self-hypnosis.
If you want to make money in the next three years, you have to put aside what you want to be true, and look at what is actually likely to happen.
Here’s my very biased list of the 5 assets that will appreciate the most for ordinary families in the next three years. And I mean appreciate in the most practical sense: they will make your life better, your financial situation stronger, and your future more solid.
1. Your Own Earning Power
This one sounds cliché. You’ve heard it a thousand times. But here’s why it’s number one: almost everything else is fake.
Let’s be real. Most people don’t have enough money to buy assets that truly appreciate. A house in a tier-3 city that loses value every year is not an asset. A car that depreciates 20% the moment you drive it off the lot is a liability. Gold is a hedge, not a growth investment.
So what actually grows? Your ability to earn more money next year than you did this year.
That means learning a new skill that the market values. It means getting better at negotiation, at sales, at managing people. It means switching jobs for a 30% raise instead of waiting for a 5% promotion at your current company. Your salary is the most predictable, controllable, and scalable asset you have. And most people treat it like an afterthought.
2. Physical and Mental Health
This is another one people nod at but don’t actually act on. But here’s the ugly truth: if you’re in bad shape, you can’t earn.
In the next three years, the cost of poor health will only go up. Medical inflation in China is real. A single hospitalization can wipe out a year of savings. And the opportunity cost of being sick—missing work, missing opportunities, not being able to grind when others are—is huge.
Being healthy is not about vanity. It’s about having a higher capacity for output. It’s about waking up every day with energy, focus, and drive. That’s an asset that compounds.
3. Quality Relationships
I know, I know. This sounds like a fortune cookie. But stick with me.
I’m not talking about having 500 WeChat friends or attending every dinner party. I’m talking about having 5 people who genuinely have your back. People who can offer you a job when you’re down, introduce you to a mentor, or give you honest feedback that hurts but helps.
In the next three years, as the economy slows down, the value of these relationships will skyrocket. Opportunities will not be posted on job boards. They’ll come through introductions. Deals will not be signed in boardrooms. They’ll be closed over a casual dinner.
You want to know who’s going to win? People who invested in relationships when they had nothing to offer. Not because they were transactional, but because they were genuine.
4. Liquid Cash
This is the most counterintuitive one, because everyone wants to tell you that cash is trash. Inflation is eating it. You have to invest it.
But here’s the thing: in a downturn, cash is king.
When everyone else is desperate, the person with cash picks up the bargains. When the stock market crashes, you buy. When a friend’s business is struggling, you invest. When a property is being sold under distress, you pay cash and get a deal.
Most people make the mistake of being fully invested all the time. They have no buffer. So when a crisis hits, they’re forced to sell low. That’s how you lose money.
In the next three years, volatility is almost certain. Having 10-20% of your net worth in cash is not stupid. It’s strategic. It’s the option to act when others can’t.
5. A Quiet Mind
This one sounds the most abstract, but it’s the most real.
In a world that’s getting louder, faster, and more distracting, the ability to focus is becoming a superpower. The ability to say “no” to things that don’t matter, to avoid the noise, to not get swept up in the panic—that’s an asset that pays dividends every single day.
Most people are terrible at this. They check their phone 100 times a day. They read 20 hot takes on the economy and feel anxious. They react emotionally to every piece of news.
The people who will make money in the next three years are the ones who can sit quietly, think clearly, and make one good decision after another. They are not trading. They are not gambling. They are executing a plan they thought about when nobody was watching.
So there you go. Five assets. None of them require you to have a lot of money right now. All of them require you to think differently.
Most people will read this list, nod, and then go back to their old habits. That’s fine. Someone has to be buying the things that don’t appreciate.
Just make sure it’s not you.