I learned how to grind. What nobody taught me: how to make my money grind for me.
Most people who start earning well do one of two things: hoard it like they're still broke, or blow it on lifestyle inflation that impresses nobody. Both are losing strategies. The third option? Make your money work as hard as you did.
Growing up in an asian household, I was always taught to be conservative with money. Even though we were middle class, we don't eat out often (food isn't expensive where I grew up), we don't have a car, we opt for free activities over paid entertainment and we never pay for services that we can do ourselves. This stuck with me even more as our finances got tighter.
However, once you grow up and start to accumulate some wealth of your own, you don't know how to use it to your advantage. You did everything right, you've got an emergency fund saved up, sacrificing a portion of your income for retirement, now you have extra cash just sitting there. When you are no longer in survival mode, money becomes capital that you can deploy.
I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it.
This article is for those who just escaped the underclass, but feel lost in their way to the high table.
Most people will skim this and do nothing. If that's you, close the tab now.
Still here? Bookmark, share and actually follow through for once.
Let's begin.
1. Stop hoarding. Start deploying.
Congrats, you're not broke. Now stop acting like you still are.
You've got money locked away for emergency and retirement. Good, don't touch it. Everything beyond that? Put it to work or watch it rot.
Make other people grow it for you. The difference between the high income and the wealthy is one earns money when they work, the other makes it even when they sleep.
The stock market is the obvious first move. Easy to start, easy to exit, and you can dial the risk up or down depending on how much you trust yourself. Literally rich people casino except you win along with the house.
Don't know where to start? $VOO. 100% of your excess capital. It tracks the 500 biggest US companies and has returned ~10% annually for decades. Set it, forget it, let it compound while you sleep. You can get fancy later.
The next step up in risk/reward is making concentrated bets on an industry sector or individual stocks. If you have strong conviction a particular sector or company will outperform the broader market, you allocate a portion or even your entire portfolio to it.
For those looking for maximum upside, there are no other investments as asymmetric risk/reward as starting your own startup.
If the stock market is a casino, startup founding is the lottery that you have a hand rigging. Most likely you will crash and burn, but in the rare case it succeeds it will bring generational wealth.
The expected returns from a startup are so much higher than working a job that it makes little sense to not try it. You had the skills and agency to reach your current status. Use it to build your own empire.
Pick your lane. VOO and chill if you want the slow climb. Startups if you want to engage warp drive. Just don't let it rot in a savings account like a coward.
2. Frugality is expensive now
Time is money, but you already knew that. What you haven't internalized: your time is worth more than it was two years ago, and you're still spending it like it isn't.
Frugality that costs time is no longer frugal at this stage. If you earn $70/hour and spend 5 hours on something you could pay $100 for, you're losing money.
Your living situation:
- Pay more rent to live closer to work. No more 2+ hours of commute daily
- Get a professional cleaner for your home instead of wasting multiple hours a week. They will do a better job than you
- Pay for movers instead of begging friends and destroying your back
Your tools:
- Max out your computer, 4k 120hz OLED monitor, ergonomic chair. You use these 8+ hours daily
- Pay for the $200 Claude Max plan instead of waiting for quota resets
- Pay for premium tools instead of wrestling with half-baked free alternatives
Convenience spending:
- Pay for premium subscriptions (YouTube, Spotify) instead of spending hours through ads
- Pay for the direct flight instead of the cheap one with a 10-hour layover
- Go to the high-end gym next to your home vs the cheap one 30 mins away (you'll actually go)
If life is a video game, paying money past roadblocks switches the difficulty from ultra hard to easy. Suddenly you have time for things that actually matter.
Pay people. That's it. That's the cheat code.
3. This isn't even my final form
You've upgraded your environment. Now upgrade the machine that operates in it: you.
The four horsemen of personal upgrades are education, sleep, diet and exercise.
Education - Your degree was a ticket to the job. It wasn't an education, it was a transaction. Now that you have money, learn what you actually want to know. Languages, skills, industries you're curious about, not because a syllabus told you to. And skip the "but I can learn this free on YouTube" cope. You won't. A $2k course with a schedule and a tutor creates accountability. Free content creates 47 open browser tabs you'll never finish.
Sleep - You now make money while you sleep, so you better sleep like a caveman. (I would like to say sleep like a king but castles have terrible sleep hygiene). Money means nothing if you are grumpy because of bad sleep every night. Get temperature controlled mattress, full blackout curtains, whatever it takes to maximise your sleep quality for improved body recovery and reduced brain ageing.
Diet - Have you ever wondered how all those celebrities get so jacked so quick? Sure, steroids are the primary contributor, but you can't out-inject a bad diet. Instead of buying low quality, frozen food in bulk, invest in higher quality, fresh and whole food. Stop going to budget supermarkets or getting food delivery. That's food that fills your belly, not fuel for those hungry to reach the next level.
Exercise - If you want to lose the belly fat and become jacked, diet fixes the first part, exercise delivers the second. Getting a fitness coach is the shortcut out of the maze of gym bro advice. Instead of watching endless youtube videos for motivation and form check, a professional gives you immediate and real results. Shouting "Lightweight, baby!!" in your head doesn't push you as hard as a personal trainer breathing down your neck making you hit that 225 lbs benchpress PR. Who knows, you might even out lift that girl hip thrusting three plates one day.
Congrats, you reached the end.
This isn't motivation porn. There's nothing left to learn here. Either you do it or you admit you like being comfortable more than you like winning.
You have the agency to escape the underclass and now caught a glimpse of the high table. Most people keep staring, dreaming, and do nothing. Be the exception.