â 13 money lessons that pay BIG dividends â Hey Contrarians, Anyone who works with me knows Iâm a stickler for taking notes. Case in point: 15 years ago, I started collecting lessons on money from people who had more of it than me. The list is great, but itâs 129 bullets long and this isnât a coffee table book. So I narrowed it down for ya. Todayâs piece isnât inspirational. No storyline. No zero to hero. Just 13 lessons on money that have helped me make more of it. I wish I had known these earlier... â
Today in 5 minutes or less, youâll learn: âï¸ Contratrian framework: The Get Rich Tripod âï¸ 13 of my favorite money lessons âï¸ Archimedesâ lever â
Contrarian Framework: The Get Rich Tripod Ever had to check your bank account when buying lunch to make sure you didnât end up with overdraft fees you couldnât afford? I have. Not fun. But I also think saying âit takes money to make moneyâ is a bit lazy. Sure, you need to start with something. Sure, the best way to create money is to invest money. BUT, letâs say you werenât birthed with a golden spoon (makes two of us), the good news is you may not need it. Thatâs because there are 3 legs to the tripod of wealth building, not 1⦠â
Leg #1: Yes, money Do you have money now that you can leverage to do the work for you? If the answer is yes, stand on this leg. If not, move along. Leg #2: Expertise No money? Lean on your mind. Trade insights for opportunities. It can be as little as the right questions, connections, or ideas, and not a large time commitment. I know how to buy businesses, so I use that expertise to help others buy businesses. Leg #3: Time When you donât have money or donât know sh*t, offer your time. Pair your sweat equity with somebody elseâs expertise or cash. Use it to gain your own. Weâll drop some inappropriate commentary on this in a bit... â
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- More diversification, inflation resistance, shorter-term investments, low minimums ($500 to start), and a welcome bonus (up to $500) Iâm so interested in the idea, Iâve invested in Percent itself. [Visit Percent here]( to check out their offerings and create a free account. 13 of my favorite money lessons 1. Passive Income is a myth Anyone who says to focus your time on making âpassive incomeâ is talking out of their ass. Itâs a 21st-century fallacy told to us by a bunch of 12-year-olds on TikTok and YouTube. Everything takes something. 2. Speak the language of money When I was at Goldman, I remember someone asking a partner what EBITDA meant. The partner kind of looked at the person and said, âI donât know how you got a job at this firm without speaking the language of money.â That always stuck with me. Financial literacy is the foundation of financial well-being. 3. people before profit The right relationships are better leverage than money AND they compound. Walk into rooms with the simple goal of bringing value to others. If you live by that and pay it forward, man do you get paid out more on the back end. 4. Donât wear your money As you grow up, you learn thereâs a huge difference between the people who try to LOOK rich and the people who actually are. I like to make money loudly and teach from my failures and wins, but Iâve always admired the quiet ones. My dad always said he âsold marble and granite.â He never used the words entrepreneur, founder, or owner. Thereâs a lesson there. (Throwback to the good old days when Jeff Bezos only had a $10B net worth and [drove a Honda Accord](=).) 5. Leverage + expertise + time This is the Get Rich Tripod from earlier but with 1 more (wildly inappropriate) pointer... And yes, this one comes from my husband: âYou f*ck with the dick you got, not the one you want.â Determine the leg of the tripod that you actually have and use it. 6. Painkillers vs. vitamins One of the first CEOs I really admired once said this rhetorically: âAre you selling the pain or the potential?â â At the time, I sold investment products to large funds. I couldâve gone to them saying, âHey, if you do this, you could make more money because X, Y, and Z.â But those are vitamins, not needs. The better approach: âYou have a risk in your portfolio that our products fill.â Thatâs called selling the painkiller. 7. You don't want to be rich You want to be free, and thatâs what money gets you. The question is: Do you want to save your way there or earn your way there? If youâre into saving, check out: - The book [Your Money or Your Life]()â
- The [FIRE movement]( (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and its [350k-person]( Reddit community
- The [FatFIRE]( movement (an extra hefty version of FIRE)
- And yes, the [DINKWAD](=) and DINKWADACS movement I prefer owning and earning, but neither is perfect. 8. Your job isnât safe Most think having a job is safer than owning a business. But any moment you can be escorted out of a building with a box full of years of hard work. Thatâs what I watched happen to my friends during the 2008 financial crisis. Itâs also why Iâve grown to love small, boring bizâs. They donât have to grow 50% annually or raise massive capital in volatile markets. They can kind of just grow like this⦠â ⦠Beat the rate of inflation, and maybe a little more. Plus, owning a business gives you the freedom to answer to yourself. 9. Develop grit When it comes to entrepreneurship, I tell people itâs 5% timing, 5% idea, 10% talent, and 80% grit. Many successful people will tell you they often find that the amount of âpainâ people tolerate is a key predictor of their potential. It turns out, [researchers have noticed](=) this, too. 10. Time + focus + consistency I learned this on a plane sitting next to Geoffrey Kent, who built one of the worldâs most prolific luxury travel companies. I asked him, âHow many times have you thought about quitting or giving up?â âThis week?â, he asked. (He was being sarcastic, but the point was clear.) The ability to [slowly bang the drum]( for a long period of time leads many people to outsized returns. 11. Track your $$$ Money is a cruel mistress. Sheâll leave you if you donât show her some attention. If you donât have a clear idea of your financial state or goals, youâll never get where you want to be. My trainer Jess once told me you donât get a six-pack by accident, and I think itâs the same with money. 12. Get in rooms you donât fit in By that I mean get in rooms where your dreams are othersâ realities. It becomes much more reasonable to think you can achieve something if you spend time around people doing it. Choose your tribe wisely, and the effect will [compound](. 13. Master negotiation You have to learn to ask for things in life, and any ask involves a give and take. Become good at getting people to give you what you want. â
Archimedesâ lever The single best explanation that Iâve heard on the power of leverage is this: âGive me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I can move the world.â A tripod is just a 3-pronged lever. Heck, any of these lessons can be, and they donât have to MOVE the whole world... Just tip you in the right direction. Adelante = always moving forward
â - Codie
â â â â ð Food for thought: How US soybeans influence [global economics](). ðï¸ Word on the street is Microsoft owes the IRS [$28.9B in unpaid taxes](=)... ð¤ Open for business: OpenAIâs revenue is tracking at [$1.3B annually](... ð¦ Anyone else catch that ridiculously cool [sandbag pitch]() on Shark Tank? 𧱠Will 1B people ever play Roblox? CEO David Baszucki [hopes so](=). â
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