Disclaimer

As we talk about wealth, there are three things I’d like to keep in mind. First, wanting to be wealthy is not a bad thing. However, putting wealth in front of relationships, integrity, and others is a bad thing. Second, wealth can be created. It is not a limited resource. Every $1 I make does not mean that there is $1 less in the world for someone else to make. Third, I believe that having wealth means having more to give. This can be done in the form of charitable donations, compensation to employees you hire, and government aid to the less fortunate through taxes. To whom much is given, much will be required. I hope we can all recognize how fortunate we are, and the responsibility we have to lift others.

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If I Were a Rich Man

Perhaps one of the catchiest show tunes of all time is “If I Were a Rich Man” in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. The main character, Tevye, sings about his wishes for wealth. He’d have a big tall house with rooms by the dozen, he’d fill his yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks, and he’d have time to sit in the synagogue and pray. Unless you have reached the highest levels of self-actualization and no longer care about material things, chances are you wish you were rich too.

And by rich, I mean having big money. Generational wealth. F.U. money. This doesn’t mean just covering your basic needs, but having the freedom to buy and do what you want. Maybe it’s owning a yacht. Maybe it’s visiting every continent in the world. Maybe it’s living modestly but never having to work another day in your life. Maybe it’s the ability to buy a car for the struggling single mother down the street, or tipping the busboy at Texas Roadhouse $1,000 to help pay for his college tuition. Everybody’s version of F.U. money is different.

There are a few fortunate people in the world who have access to education, good healthcare, economic opportunity, and have the chance to be wealthy. If you’re reading this, you are likely one of them.

For those lucky enough to be in this situation, making the decision for how you will earn money is a difficult and complex feat. It’s an amalgam of discovering what you’re good at, determining the type of lifestyle you’d like to live, choosing a major in college, finding a company that’s hiring in a geography you’re happy with, and then optimizing every few years as you gain experience. When it’s all said and done, the career decision boils down to two main drivers: desire and income. What do you want to do, and how much money do you want to make?

Some people can kill two birds with one stone. They can make a ton of money by doing what they love. I’ve found that these people are legitimately motivated by money and power or just really enjoy jobs that are extremely lucrative like sales, medicine, finance, or law. For those of us who don’t fall into this category, we ask ourselves the following question: Do I prioritize wealth, or do I prioritize doing what I want?

I often feel like it’s impossible to both do what I love and become truly wealthy. I think a lot of people early in their careers feel this way too. Do I want to do this crappy job because it pays well? Or am I ok giving up my dream lifestyle so I can work my dream job? Would you work 100 hours a week doing something you hated if it meant you would make $750k a year? Or would you rather work a fulfilling job for $75k a year?

For those of us who desire wealth but don’t want to commit our lives to a career we despise, I’d like to explore a few options, some more serious than others, to optimize for both.

Live within your means and save, save, save

You should be doing this no matter what! Depending on what your long term goals are and what wealth means to you, this may be all you need. However, while this may help you prepare for retirement, it is highly unlikely that this will provide the F.U. money you may be hoping for.

Change your wants to be more realistic

This strategy is pretty simple, but pretty sucky: just settle. 

Do you really want a yacht? Get a fishing boat instead. Do you want to travel to France? The Eiffel Tower in Vegas is pretty similar. Do you really want a Porsche? There’s a ‘03 Boxter for sale on eBay (cue Porsche purist cringe). Do you want to start a nonprofit that provides education to underprivileged 3rd-world countries? Just volunteer at your local soup kitchen.

If your wants and desires truly morph to become attainable, then this isn’t an issue. The real issue with this strategy is that you likely aren’t actually changing your desires, but rather just covering them up. If you are settling and pretending you aren’t. You will always have a voice in the back of your head telling you that you could have achieved something greater.

Marry into wealth

“You can marry into more money in an afternoon than you can make in a lifetime”.

Explore, explore, explore

I believe that we are only aware of an extremely small percentage of opportunities that are available to us. The more we explore the potential paths we can take, the more likely we are to find something that is both personally and financially fulfilling.

Be in the top 0.1% of what you do

Generally speaking, the better you are at something the more you’ll get paid. A great example of this is professional athletes. While the vast majority of athletes will never get paid a dime for what they do, the very best are compensated handsomely.

I had an engineering professor at BYU who was one of the nation’s leading experts of mechanical system design. He told me that he makes more in 2 weeks as an expert witness in engineering lawsuits than he does in an entire year as a professor. If you become insanely good at what you do, better than 99.9% of everyone else, you’ll find a way to be wealthy. 

Be born into a wealthy family

A recent Georgetown University study suggests that a child’s likelihood for success is shaped less by innate talent but more by social standing and life circumstances. There’s not much you can do about this. 

Side hustle

As much as I hate the phrase “side hustle”, generally because it’s so closely associated with MLMs, this is an effective strategy to make more money. One of my mentors started working in college for the corporate side of a garbage company. After a few years, he started taking his savings and buying very small cash-strapped businesses that were close to shutting down. When he was asked to take an executive role at the garbage company and move his family to another state, he quit and bought a few more businesses. His side hustle turned into his only hustle. He now owns almost a dozen tire stores, a power equipment company, a fireplace installation company, and a high-end cabinet manufacturer. He said it best: “The day job pays the bills, the night job makes you rich.”

Suck it up for a few years

Another option is to deal with a crappy but well-paying job for a short period of time. 10-15 years in banking, consulting, or sales and then you can switch to a better gig. In order to do this you need to have a clear understanding of how long you’ll need to go through the wringer before you can jump ship. Since most of these opportunities have an exponential return on investment, what you don’t want is to embark on a path that you can’t finish.

Get equity

Whether it’s a small side hustle or being an early employee at a high-growth company, you want to have equity. When you earn a salary, you are essentially trading your time for money. You can increase your salary by putting in more time or by increasing the value that you provide. Either way, you only get paid when you work. 

When you have equity, you have ownership in something the has value and will hopefully increase in value over time. You get paid even when you aren’t working. Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates aren’t wealthy because of their salaries. They are wealthy because they have equity in Amazon and Microsoft. I’m reminded of a story I originally saw on Reddit:

My boss arrived at work in a brand new Ferrari

I told him: “Wow that’s a nice car”

He replied:

“If you work hard, put all your hours in, and strive for excellence, I’ll get another one next year”

Be the boss, not the employee.

In closing

There is not one path to wealth. I’m sure I missed many other options. While there are no right and wrong options, it is up to you to decide how you will balance the pursuit of wealth and the pursuit of purpose.