For 11 years, while I built startups, I paid myself minimum wage. I've never been a big spender, but it was bare bones. So my strategy was simple: save, then invest what I saved.
My own rule was never sell, always hold. I broke it. Those investments were my top-up income, and over the 11 years I sold every last one to pay for life. First Covid, then closing Music Health last year.
So I did the tally. About €30K in, small bets but ahead of the curve. Held to today, they'd be worth about €250K. More than eight times what I put in, from the little I could spare on minimum wage. A shame to sell it all, but I don't regret it. Someone much smarter than me once told me never to feel bad about selling something that made you a profit.
I believe owning things outside your income is the single biggest way to build wealth in a lifetime. A salary tops out at the hours you can sell. What you own doesn't have that ceiling. Your income alone will never make you super rich, unless you're an AI researcher. Meta has offered some of them up to $300 million over four years, and even there, most of it comes in shares.
People fear what they don't understand, so most never start. I'm only now getting ready to go back in.
This time, I'm not selling.
🎵 Barrett Strong — Money (That's What I Want) Motown's first hit. Barrett Strong sang it, then his name came off the copyright. Earning doesn't compound, owning does. Full playlist and archive at niccjohnson.com/drop.