Since I quit my job, I have learned a lot about how the world of money works, and how sometimes it seems like the rich operate by a separate set of rules than the rest of us. For generations, the rich have kept these rules to themselves, but in recent times people like myself have carefully observed how and why they make and invest their money, and have cracked the code. All this week on my blog, I will be sharing some of the shocking lessons I learned about making money and what I did about it.
Are you ready to learn the secret of the wealthy? It might surprise you in its simplicity. The secret of the wealthy is Forever Cash and Forever Cash Flow! Truly wealthy people don’t live off what their work pays; they don’t rely on a job or even their businesses. Truly wealthy people live from the ongoing (forever) cash flow that their investments provide for them. They focus on creating such investments and then keeping them, preferably forever.
People who are already generationally wealthy don’t work for money. They work just because they are passionate about something. They might work in a for-profit business, but their drive is not to make more money, but perhaps more influence or maybe it’s something as basic as personal satisfaction. Some might work in nonprofits. Others might work to help the world be a better place. One thing is for certain, though: they don’t work to make the money they need to live on. That part is taken care of forever and at a high level.
Look at Warren Buffett. He doesn’t work for money anymore. He is actively giving his money away. For him, his work is his passion. As he famously said in 2008 when talking to business students from Emory
and the University of Texas at Austin: “I enjoy what I do. I tap dance to work every day.”
Where does the money come from for these generationally wealthy people? It comes from cash that gets deposited in their bank accounts each month year-in, year-out— without them having to work for it. Some of it might be invested in businesses (like Buffett does), but the point is that the wealthy people don’t have to operate these businesses to make that money. The money comes in, no matter what they do day in and day out.
Even Warren Buffett doesn’t operate any of the many businesses that his company Berkshire Hathaway owns. His “job” is to take the money these businesses throw off and reinvest it in the best possible way. While that sounds far-fetched for most people if they are drowning in bills and don’t know where their money is going at the end of the month, it is possible for anyone to get to a place in life where all your ordinary—and even your extraordinary—expenses are covered by ongoing cash flow.
All you have to do is to see how simple it is.