MONEY is primarily a medium of exchange, and a proxy store of value.
WEALTH is an asset based store of value.
You convert wealth to money in order to exchange it for some other good, some other asset, whether it is to be saved (durable) or consumed (non-durable). If you exchange assets without using a medium of exchange, that is called barter.
Many confuse the destruction of wealth with the destruction of money.
If the amount of money grows faster than the net amount of wealth added by non-monetary methods such as productive effort that is inflation. This is not to be confused by price inflation caused by asset specific imbalances in supply and demand.
Some items, such as gold and silver, are both wealth and money, since their value is not narrowly contingent on time and place.
MZM is the best measure of US 'money' that the Federal Reserve provides. It is money in that it is readily available at par value, without time or penalty constraints, excepting inflation.
Still unclear? As they say, one picture is worth a 1000 words.
