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Merit has a ceiling unless you are an outlier.

That ceiling is around $150,000 per year.

In Indian context, that means around ₹50,00,000.

That gives a terminal value of something below $2 million using Gordon’s growth model with zero growth and 8% discount rate.

Or ₹ 6.25 crores in Indian context.

That means in Indian context even if you worked forever you will be worth money equivalent to a good 2bhk in Mumbai, a car and life expenses to support yourself and your family.

This number is not random or vague.

It reflects the function that merit serves.

To understand this, first ask:

What is merit?

Merit means you have skill and capability or at least display some potential that you can do something well on demand.

So you are useful for getting things done.

You can paint, write, code, analyze, or operate.

Your skill is why someone hires you.

Because they have something they want executed.

That is the problem.

You are hired to execute.

You are part of an existing machine.

You are not deciding the direction either.

You are doing your job inside a structure.

This is why merit only goes so far.

Merit gives access to execution roles.

Execution is the base layer in any pyramid.

Above it sits management and strategic ownership.

Those layers do not operate on merit.

They operate through communication and connections.

They string together vision, funding, and direction.

They are in human business, the social animal stuff.

And those two layers capture almost all of the output the system generates.

The execution layer receives just enough to not quit or halt the system.

You cannot cross this gap with merit alone.

If merit were enough, everyone would rise upward.

That is why high merit does not equal high wealth.

High wealth comes from owning execution at scale.

And that ownership does not require personal merit.

It requires knowing people who hold resources.

It requires the ability to communicate clearly.

So that your system is created and operated for you.

Once that happens, execution becomes modular.

You can assemble a team with money quickly.

You can secure leases, licenses, and software.

You can launch a structured operation under a few million.

If you keep it running, profits can keep rolling in.

But building it needs the ability to connect.

It needs the ability to speak to stakeholders.

So if you are chasing wealth, shift your focus.

Do not try to win with merit alone.

Start meeting people who hold real power.

Learn to communicate so systems move as you intend.

You hire the people who hold the skill.

You become the node that connects moving parts.

Your wealth grows because you assemble the machine.

That is how this world truly functions.

Through connection, communication, and assembly.

Merit gives you a place.

But it does not give you control.

If you want scalable wealth, think in systems.

Own the engine.

Do not become the piston.

And the worst part about merit is that it usually means trading hours for money.

According to a recent report I read, the average person will spend around 100,000 hours of life working.

So anyone at the execution level is just a capital block

100,000 multiplied by their hourly wage over life.

That’s their range. That’s their cap.

But above execution level, things work differently.

There, your worth is measured by your connections and your ability to communicate.

That’s it.

And there is no hard ceiling on that.

You can imagine this with the analogy of an old kingdom.

A peasant is just there because he can grow food.

That’s his function, and that’s why he exists in the system.

That’s all the peasant gets awarded with.

But the nobles have their true wealth decided by who they know and how they communicate.

Their power depends on their allies in foreign kingdoms.

If they have strong friendships, they get better trade.

They get better security.

And during wars, this difference becomes even clearer.

With good connections and proper communication, they can hold alliances.

They can keep partners close when things are unstable.

And when they win, they are in position to broker better deals.

They can claim more territory, extract more resources, and secure better outcomes.

Because at that level, it’s all a social game.

Even if you are a small power, if you have strong connections and know how to talk, that’s enough.

That’s all you need.

The worst part of merit is that you can only earn for yourself and current family.

If you have a kid and if that kid has no merit then its bad life for them.

In such scenario the kid’s life will be good only if they go for communication and connections.

You won’t have money to support them in life lived off just merit.

Your kids will be at risk of falling into a lower economic tier.

You are risking your kid’s life just living off merit.

You have to build wealth and security for your kid.

So that the quality of their life is be good regardless of their merit and inclination towards communication and connections.

Relying on merit alone is like building a house with no foundation for the next generation.

The whole structure can cave in on itself.