This isn’t a Ponzi scheme and I won’t make money off of this, whether you read to the end or not. The application of these ideas may also be a little controversial, so, you know… you’ve been warned and all that. I’m going to ask you to please read all the way to the end even if there are parts of this that you don’t understand. Just stick with me.
Six years ago I doubled down on a wealth building strategy. It’s an approach that I employed in a more cautious way for most of my life, but, something changed that made me go all in.
A little over six years ago I got news of a coming market crash (don’t worry, you don’t need to know anything about investing for this strategy to work for you). This was going to be a big one with devastating consequences. Last year there was another crash. This one, I didn’t see coming. Once again, the consequences were devastating. The losses were huge. Over the years much had been invested and a year later, I’m still recovering and building more wealth than I had previously acquired.
Before I get into what markets I’m talking about and how to invest in them, there is a critical point to be made: this strategy of mine… it only works if you can identify value. I don’t mean that in an objective sense, which is funny, because, if you’ve read anything else I’ve written, you’re probably thinking, “aren’t you always preaching that we should all be MORE objective? That if we could see the world through someone else’s eyes we’ll be better off and blah, blah, blah?” Yes. That is what I am normally “preaching.” I almost always suggest that objectivity is the key to understanding and better “human-ing.” Not this time, however. I know what you’re thinking now: “isn’t identifying market value specifically the time when it is MOST important to be objective?!?” To that, I say, “ease up and stick with me, tiger. I’m getting there. Trust me.” I’m not talking about how someone else values a thing. I’m talking about YOU knowing how YOU value things. More specifically, I’m talking about knowing WHAT it is that you value. In life, that is. You’d think I could tell what you value just by looking at your life. How you allocate your time. What occupies you. What you obsess over. But, I’m willing to bet that with many of you, that isn’t the case. In fact, I think the vast majority of us give little thought to what we are doing in life, what’s next for us and why. Instead, most are following the path of someone else’s expectations, with little thought given to what actually matters to themselves. Why did we buy the car or the house? Was it something that we thought through and, having weighed the pros and cons (as best as we could see them), decided, “yes, this is what I value. This is what I’m working for and willing to invest in.” … or did we do it because it was the next box that needed to be checked on the list labeled, “things that everyone else says I need to accomplish in order to be considered successful (you can substitute whatever word you’d like for successful)?” What do YOU value? Because, I have some tough news for you: you CANNOT have it all. Everything comes at a cost and nothing is gotten without a sacrifice. If you want shiny things like the newest, fastest, car or the biggest house on the block, you’re going to have to work more than if you ride around in that modest car and live in the unassuming house. If you want to be financially set, I believe you can do it. However, it may mean working three jobs and cutting out time with friends and family. If you want to travel the world… well, my friend, you can do this, too… but, it might also mean that you live in a tent (or a friend’s basement, when you are back “home”). You see, the secret to becoming wealthy is being able to define what is valuable, to you. If you possess a great deal of what is valuable, then, you have become wealthy.
However, this doesn’t mean that you will be satisfied with life. There is a second step to evaluate, if you’re going to be so obnoxiously picky as to seek to be both wealthy AND satisfied with life. What you have to sacrifice to acquire what you define as valuable, I can’t say. That really depends on what it is that you want. But, what I can say is that it will cost you… and if you want to be satisfied with life, you need to know the answer to this question: “what am I willing to give up to get this thing which I value and to have enough of it that I feel wealthy?” Failing to ask yourself this question can have catastrophic consequences. The kind where you realize that you gave up way more than you would ever have been willing to give up in the quest to attain wealth. Life is short and there are no “do-overs.” If you wake up one day and realize that you traded the ability to have kids or that you traded all of your time with loved ones in the quest for … well, whatever it is that you are “questing” for, your regret will not buy you a second chance to live life. You can’t go back. So, you can see why it’s best to ask yourself these questions as soon as possible. Re-evaluating from time to time isn’t such a bad idea, either.
Oh, you still want to know about how I built my wealth? Well, there are many types of markets… stocks, currency, commodities. I was speaking metaphorically, though… the market that I found out was set for a crash six years ago? That’s when we found out that my father-in-law had been given less than a year to live. Due to the health problems that he already had, he was living in Florida and we were in New Jersey. I remember my wife telling me and us asking ourselves, “what do we do?” The answer quickly became completely clear to both of us: we go down there. Every single time we amass enough money, we go down there. If that means moving in with relatives, selling everything we own, donating blood plasma (just kidding, we didn’t donate blood plasma), then that’s what we will do. Because, for us, nothing is more valuable than the time that we have together and with our loved ones. This, of course, came at a significant sacrifice. We traded money that we had and money that we could have earned for this time with my father-in-law. He beat the doctors’ expectations by almost two years. Over three years, we traveled to Florida together (along with our three young children) 12 times and usually by car. My law firm was new and didn’t grow nearly as much as it could have. I worked from motels, the car and, eventually, next to a hospital bed; but we were there. Ask me if I’d trade that time for money or a newer car. I wouldn’t trade it for anything that I gave up to get it and that’s for damn sure. I always knew time meant more to me than “things,” but those years and that decision, well, it truly made me double down on the goal of actually LIVING life – which, for me, means time and experiences with the people that I care most about. For me, that can never be something that can be held in my hand, unless it’s the hand of a loved one.
Last year, I lost a man that was like a second father to me. It was tragic and it was unexpected. The devastation was great and it took a year to feel like I wasn’t a punch drunk boxer trying to stay on my feet and simultaneously figure out which of the three versions of my opponent (that opponent being the ever passing moment) was the real one. It also reinforced the idea, for me, that my wealth can be found in my relationships with my loved ones and that this is not something to be bartered away for anything. The obligations of life will not take priority over the reasons for which I live. I don’t live for possessions, or to have the biggest bank account out of all of my friends, and prestige is of no use to me, either. My time isn’t wasted on things that other people find value in (that is where their time should be spent, not mine). It is far too precious for that. It is invested into those things in which I find value and I am a wealthy man because of it.
thereluctantcommentator 