To Everyone Who Thinks Our Marriage Is About Money
Written by Anita Wing Lee with Tim Muttoo
August 12, 2025
“Yes, he’s rich. But maybe not in the way you’re thinking.”
The Comments That Started It All
Thousands of comments started rolling in. Strangers insisting that I was “def in it for the money” or that Tim “must be a billionaire.” 💸 💸💸
No hello. No curiosity. Just blunt, dismissive assumptions from people who clearly hadn’t read our love story. They all assumed that I was just with Tim because of his bank account balance.
I wanted to give them a piece of my mind, so I drafted a long, smart caption to put on Instagram in response. I liked it. It was bold, fiery and feisty. The kind of reply that would make them stop in their tracks and realize they shouldn’t have messed with us.
It went something like: How dare you accuse us of being rich when you’re holding an expensive smartphone, you’re educated, literate, have food, water, shelter, and opportunity? Why not do something good with what you have instead of judging us?!
It was satisfying to get that out of my system, but I left it in my Notes and slept on it.
What God Pressed on My Heart
In the days that followed, I felt God nudging me toward a few realizations:
It is a privilege that so many people are paying attention to our story. People pay for this kind of exposure and PR. It’s truly a miracle that our story continues to spread around the world. It’s a gift, and we are to steward it well.
Isn’t that caption a little…mean? There’s probably a kinder way to say it.
Haven’t you judged couples before?
What about using your social media to uplift and encourage? How about giving people hope? Don’t tear people down. Use your words to bless.
Ouch.
Found guilty. Truthfully, there have been times I’ve judged couples too, silently thinking, How could they be together?! And I’d be lying if I said I’ve never daydreamed about being with someone wealthy enough so I wouldn’t have to work a normal job. That hasn’t happened with Tim, but it does make me pause and see my own double standards.
If I was one of the guys who wrote a comment like “def in it for the money,” how would I want someone to speak to me? Anger will only beget anger.
It was my reflex to see the trolls as simply rude and inconsiderate. But then I thought, how would my feisty rebuttal actually make them feel? Empowered? Or talked down to?
Still, I felt that someone needed to give these people a shakedown and stand up to them. I slept on it some more, until one quiet morning I asked God Himself:
God, what would You tell the trolls? The people who assume we’re together because of money?
God’s Words to the Trolls
I would tell them… I love you. I have a great and beautiful destiny for you. I’ve given you spectacular gifts and abilities to bless others in your lifetime.
I am providing for you every moment. I want to expand your life and help you flourish.
I surround you with angels, whispering kind thoughts and gently guiding your steps toward the best path.
I am the CEO, Founder, and Creator of the universe. I can provide anything you need, anything you ask for. Let’s talk. I have incredible plans for you. Will you give me your time? 15 minutes, 30 minutes, maybe an hour? I’ve got it all covered.
I created you to live in abundance. I run every company that exists. I can give you a better job anytime. I’m already working on it. Just listen for My instructions.
I have someone perfectly matched for you. You might not recognize them at first. I’m preparing them, and you, so that when you meet, you’ll both be ready. Be patient. Trust Me. I’m good at this.
Dear one, it’s not about money. Your person will love you for the beauty I’ve crafted in your soul. Income levels can change in an instant.
Life is not about money. Don’t worship it or it will destroy you. Let’s talk about this more.
I love you. I’ve got your back. I have amazing plans for your future, and I can’t wait to tell you about them.
That was God’s response. And it was clearly better than mine. No judgment. No shaming. Only an invitation to something greater.
It shifted my heart. I realized I needed to rewrite my original response, not with sarcasm or defensiveness, but with compassion and perspective.
What Tim says
How rich I (Tim) was or wasn’t was never part of our relationship.
What matters most to us is not money, but how we treat one another, how we give dignity to every person and how we stand beside those whose voices go unheard. True wealth is not found in what we accumulate, but in the lives we impact, the hope we inspire, and the wrongs we work to make right.
Years ago, I made a conscious decision to leave the corporate world to start H2O4ALL, an organization that has now helped 1.2 million people, bringing clean water and hope to the world’s most vulnerable communities.
That decision came at a great personal cost. I walked away from financial security because I couldn’t ignore the injustice I saw, and I have never measured my life by the size of a bank account.
I’ve spent a lot of time in poor villages across the world, and I found that people with nothing were rich in so many ways. They were rich in time spent with family, in community bonds where neighbours truly look out for one another, in gratitude for even the smallest blessings, and in joy that wasn’t tied to possessions.
They showed me that wealth is not about what you have, but about the depth of your relationships, your generosity of spirit, and your sense of purpose.
Anita is someone who has seen this for herself.
She knows that love cannot be bought. She believes in a life built on integrity, service, and compassion. She believes that the measure of one’s success is not wealth, but using our skills, our voice, and resources to make this world better.
This is what Anita saw in me and this is what I saw in her.
To All Who Assume Tim Is Rich
Yes, he’s rich. But maybe not in the way you’re thinking.
Tim is not as financially wealthy as he might have been had he stayed in a corporate career. But if you ask me if he’s had a rich life? He’s a gazillionaire. His sense of purpose, fulfillment, impact, meaning, and community is off the charts.
I (Anita) understand this because I’ve wrestled with the same trade-offs in my career. Neither of us is as financially wealthy as we might be if we’d stayed in traditional corporate paths.
But we’ve both seen poverty in some of the poorest nations on earth. Once you see that, it changes you forever.
You realize that even a modest Canadian income for one year is more than some people will earn in their lifetime.
From a global perspective, Tim and I are “rich” simply because we were born in Canada, hold Canadian passports, speak English fluently, and have master’s degrees. We’ve had the freedom to travel, pursue education, and work decent jobs. We try to live with gratitude and use what we’ve been given to create, contribute, and give back.
Tim and I connected over our shared sense of purpose, wanting to make a difference with what we have.
So, sure, Tim is rich. But so am I, and so are you.
If you’re reading this on a smartphone, you have access to education, technology, and infrastructure. You have food, shelter, and discretionary income. Owning a smartphone with internet access gives you access to knowledge and opportunity.
Sometimes I remind myself that simply being tech-literate enough to use a smartphone is a huge gift. The internet gives you the power to learn countless topics for free, build, create, and maybe change the world.
What It Really Means to Be Rich
Being “rich” can be an excuse to avoid looking inward. It’s a distraction and a way to point the finger. The better, deeper question is:
Are we becoming people of character and kindness?
Are we doing something with what we’ve been given?
When you begin to activate your inner resources, you’ll see how rich life becomes.
(As a side note, please don’t try to get rich to find your dream partner.
1. Women are not that shallow.
2. You don’t want someone who only wants you for your money anyway.)
Find your riches not in your bank account, but in your spiritual strength. Live courageously, kindly, generously, humbly. Help people. See what happens to your heart.
When you’ve become the right person, your person will recognize you, regardless of your material wealth. ✨
And in that moment — when love arrives not because of money, status, or circumstance, but because two souls have been shaped and readied for each other — you’ll realize something far richer than wealth.
You’ll look around, at your life and the person beside you, and know in your bones:
This. This is what it means to be truly rich. ❤️
With Hope & Love,
Anita & Tim
If you haven’t already, you can read our full love story here. How we met, how we connected and how our friendship grew:
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