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Time to change your relationship with TIME.

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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Ever sat at a wedding, champagne fizzing in your hand, thinking, "They've got a countdown timer ticking. Three years, max, before divorce blasts this union into smithereens"?



I have. And I've never been wrong.



Don't worry.

This isn't some morose saga about predicting divorces (although in The Great Rat Race Escape , I offer a 3-point plan to make your marriage bulletproof) but rather a story about predicting your fortune.



How? It's simple.

See, your marital status is a dance between you and your partner, much like wealth is a waltz with time.


You ask: is time my nemesis, or can I mold it into my ally? 

Picture this: late 90s, something groundbreaking happens. Time, my arch-nemesis does a complete 180 and becomes my wingman. Like being "on the clock" in a grueling 9-to-5 gig, only this time, my clock never stops ticking. I'm minting money every hour of the day, whether I'm catching Zs or busting my butt in the gym. It's been my reality for over two decades. 

The crux? 

Time. 

The gulf between the filthy rich 1% and the struggling 99% is the role time plays in their lives.

Titans like Taylor Swift are raking in boatloads of cash every minute, whether she's shitting the toilet or belting out hits on stage. She has value. Systems. Content. Products. All of these give her a yield on time investments she made long, long ago.



You want jaw-dropping wealth that doesn't involve choking budgets and decrepit RV living?

Change your dance with time.

Here are SEVEN simple ideas to reshape your tango with time, transforming it from adversary to accomplice.



#1) BREAK FREE FROM YOUR TEMPORAL SHACKLES

Time can't be scaled or leveraged. You can't tweak the 24-hour day or the average 78-year life. Attaching wealth to "hours worked," "years salaried," or "years invested" is like shackling yourself to mediocrity's altar. Wealth will elude you.



And when some so-called "financial guru" peddles time as a crucial wealth partner ("Save $X monthly, you'll be a millionaire by 2070!"), get the hell out. Run! Unfollow!

This is ordinary finance for ordinary people. 



#2) WEALTH WITHOUT TIME IS A DEATH SENTENCE


Wealth without time is death. This simple fact is why using TIME as a partner for wealth is a foolish strategy.

Existential ignorance doesn't change reality, and the devil with thank you. Using TIME as a variable for wealth is akin to selling your vital organs for money.

What good is dying rich with a $2.3M portfolio if you wasted 40 years of your youth to save it and enjoyed none of it? 

Money's a powerful resource, a gateway to experiences, memories, and unfettered choices that the average person can't enjoy. If you're frittering away your prime years in a soul-crushing, time-guzzling saving/investing scheme for an uncertain future predicated on patience and random economic returns, you're underselling your life.



#3) TIME'S UTILITY TANGIBLY DEPRECIATES


Skiing at 30 doesn't pack the same punch as at 75. Hopping on a world cruise when you're fit and 35 doesn't match doing it at 75 on a cocktail of meds.

Time, like money, depreciates.

Everyone harps about money's present value, but no one talks about time's present value. 



Truth: Financial freedom enjoyed in your 30s/40s is FAR MORE valuable than financial freedom in your 70s/80s.You'll have plenty of time to sit home and play checkers when you're 80; doing it as your only form of cheap entertainment while you're 35 is, again, a waste of your most precious resource.

time_utility.png

#4) LEVERAGE PHYSICALITY TO MAKE TIME AN ALLY

You can turn TIME into an ally vs. an adversary with a business that meets the TIME Commandment in the CENTS Framework. This is done through Physicality.


My forum exists 24/7. My publishing company sells books that exist separate from me. My ground transportation company still exists even though I sold it long ago. I have passive ownership investments in over 60 companies worldwide, all make money 24/7. I'm also the co-founder of a productivity system that operates 24/7, no matter what I'm doing. These ventures exist in time, separate from my time, even after I leave this earth!



In essence, Physicality is creating a system that functions independently of your time—products, software, franchises, content. It's never been easier to build something with Physicality while giving yourself the power to uncouple from time. Yes, like most investments, it won't happen fast, but when it does, you'll never go back.



#5) INVEST TIME, DON'T TRADE IT

Millions of resources exist that will show you how to invest your money. But what about time? Can you invest time?

Yup. But don't expect that lesson to be shared by any two-bit guru with an expensive training course to throw your way.


When you invest in a business system with Physicality, you're investing time. Not only does it churn out money, but it also buys you free time through passivity. 

Time is a resource we all must judiciously expend. It's your primal fuel. The question is: will you trade it for money like most of humanity or will you invest it in a system that buys you free time later?



In short, a CENTS-based business can transform TIME into an ally and work for you instead of against you. When you wake up in the morning and earn more than most people make all week, then you will understand.

time_utility(3).png

#6) COMPOUNDING IS FUTILE, UNLESS...

Compound interest only flexes its muscles when leveraged with a hefty sum. Passive income from dividends and interest on $10M+ comfortably pays $40k/month. Would $40k/month debt-free enable you to lead a extraordinary life?


Regrettably, compound interest is sold to the commoner as a magical wealth generator when it's not. At lower sums, it keeps time as your parasitic foe. Your $1k investment earns a measly $5 a year unless you patiently wait for decades to roll by.

Compound interest only sparks magic when you go big.



#7) MARRY TIME FREEDOM WITH FINANCIAL FREEDOM
 FOR A HAPPY EMPIRE
Don't conflate TIME freedom with FINANCIAL freedom.


A homeless beggar on the street has just as much TIME freedom as one of these FIRE guys who claim to have "retired early" while living like a broke college coed. The thing is, both the beggar and the FIRE guy are subject to fiscal handcuffs: both have limited financial options, AND both stress about money. 

Anyone who claims they would rather live like a peasant than a king is lying to themselves, and to you.


In life's game of chess, yes, time is king.

But the queen is the most powerful piece on the board, and dismissing her is a huge mistake.

And king without his powerful queen is an empire destined to fail.

~ MJ
 
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Ever sat at a wedding, champagne fizzing in your hand, thinking, "They've got a countdown timer ticking. Three years, max, before divorce blasts this union into smithereens"?



I have. And I've never been wrong.



Don't worry.

This isn't some morose saga about predicting divorces (although in The Great Rat Race Escape , I offer a 3-point plan to make your marriage bulletproof) but rather a story about predicting your fortune.



How? It's simple.

See, your marital status is a dance between you and your partner, much like wealth is a waltz with time.


You ask: is time my nemesis, or can I mold it into my ally? 

Picture this: late 90s, something groundbreaking happens. Time, my arch-nemesis does a complete 180 and becomes my wingman. Like being "on the clock" in a grueling 9-to-5 gig, only this time, my clock never stops ticking. I'm minting money every hour of the day, whether I'm catching Zs or busting my butt in the gym. It's been my reality for over two decades. 

The crux? 

Time. 

The gulf between the filthy rich 1% and the struggling 99% is the role time plays in their lives.

Titans like Taylor Swift are raking in boatloads of cash every minute, whether she's shitting the toilet or belting out hits on stage. She has value. Systems. Content. Products. All of these give her a yield on time investments she made long, long ago.



You want jaw-dropping wealth that doesn't involve choking budgets and decrepit RV living?

Change your dance with time.

Here are SEVEN simple ideas to reshape your tango with time, transforming it from adversary to accomplice.



#1) BREAK FREE FROM YOUR TEMPORAL SHACKLES

Time can't be scaled or leveraged. You can't tweak the 24-hour day or the average 78-year life. Attaching wealth to "hours worked," "years salaried," or "years invested" is like shackling yourself to mediocrity's altar. Wealth will elude you.



And when some so-called "financial guru" peddles time as a crucial wealth partner ("Save $X monthly, you'll be a millionaire by 2070!"), get the hell out. Run! Unfollow!

This is ordinary finance for ordinary people. 



#2) WEALTH WITHOUT TIME IS A DEATH SENTENCE

Wealth without time is death. This simple fact is why using TIME as a partner for wealth is a foolish strategy.

Existential ignorance doesn't change reality, and the devil with thank you. Using TIME as a variable for wealth is akin to selling your vital organs for money.

What good is dying rich with a $2.3M portfolio if you wasted 40 years of your youth to save it and enjoyed none of it? 

Money's a powerful resource, a gateway to experiences, memories, and unfettered choices that the average person can't enjoy. If you're frittering away your prime years in a soul-crushing, time-guzzling saving/investing scheme for an uncertain future predicated on patience and random economic returns, you're underselling your life.



#3) TIME'S UTILITY TANGIBLY DEPRECIATES

Skiing at 30 doesn't pack the same punch as at 75. Hopping on a world cruise when you're fit and 35 doesn't match doing it at 75 on a cocktail of meds.

Time, like money, depreciates.

Everyone harps about money's present value, but no one talks about time's present value. 



Truth: Financial freedom enjoyed in your 30s/40s is FAR MORE valuable than financial freedom in your 70s/80s.You'll have plenty of time to sit home and play checkers when you're 80; doing it as your only form of cheap entertainment while you're 35 is, again, a waste of your most precious resource.

View attachment 50400

#4) LEVERAGE PHYSICALITY TO MAKE TIME AN ALLY

You can turn TIME into an ally vs. an adversary with a business that meets the TIME Commandment in the CENTS Framework. This is done through Physicality.


My forum exists 24/7. My publishing company sells books that exist separate from me. My ground transportation company still exists even though I sold it long ago. I have passive ownership investments in over 60 companies worldwide, all make money 24/7. I'm also the co-founder of a productivity system that operates 24/7, no matter what I'm doing. These ventures exist in time, separate from my time, even after I leave this earth!



In essence, Physicality is creating a system that functions independently of your time—products, software, franchises, content. It's never been easier to build something with Physicality while giving yourself the power to uncouple from time. Yes, like most investments, it won't happen fast, but when it does, you'll never go back.



#5) INVEST TIME, DON'T TRADE IT

Millions of resources exist that will show you how to invest your money. But what about time? Can you invest time?

Yup. But don't expect that lesson to be shared by any two-bit guru with an expensive training course to throw your way.


When you invest in a business system with Physicality, you're investing time. Not only does it churn out money, but it also buys you free time through passivity. 

Time is a resource we all must judiciously expend. It's your primal fuel. The question is: will you trade it for money like most of humanity or will you invest it in a system that buys you free time later?



In short, a CENTS-based business can transform TIME into an ally and work for you instead of against you. When you wake up in the morning and earn more than most people make all week, then you will understand.

View attachment 50399

#6) COMPOUNDING IS FUTILE, UNLESS...

Compound interest only flexes its muscles when leveraged with a hefty sum. Passive income from dividends and interest on $10M+ comfortably pays $40k/month. Would $40k/month debt-free enable you to lead a extraordinary life?


Regrettably, compound interest is sold to the commoner as a magical wealth generator when it's not. At lower sums, it keeps time as your parasitic foe. Your $1k investment earns a measly $5 a year unless you patiently wait for decades to roll by.

Compound interest only sparks magic when you go big.



#7) MARRY TIME FREEDOM WITH FINANCIAL FREEDOM
 FOR A HAPPY EMPIRE
Don't conflate TIME freedom with FINANCIAL freedom.


A homeless beggar on the street has just as much TIME freedom as one of these FIRE guys who claim to have "retired early" while living like a broke college coed. The thing is, both the beggar and the FIRE guy are subject to fiscal handcuffs: both have limited financial options, AND both stress about money. 

Anyone who claims they would rather live like a peasant than a king is lying to themselves, and to you.


In life's game of chess, yes, time is king.

But the queen is the most powerful piece on the board, and dismissing her is a huge mistake.

And king without his powerful queen is an empire destined to fail.

~ MJ
Awesome reminder! :)

Freedom enjoyed young beats freedom in a wheelchair.

The question to ask ourselves before we invest our time (or money) is: "Will it make me more time?"

Even in simple situations like buying a crockpot to free some time cooking makes those decisions a no-brainer.

The same goes for business divorced from the owner's time.

It's best to own time & money. That's where the freedom starts.
 

Think Expand

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I love how you put it:

The HUMAN works for money vs the SYSTEM works for money.

So, you invest time to create, build or acquire a system that works for money.

Once the system is working for money, EXCLUSIVE OF YOUR TIME, passive income is BORN! Thanks for the clarity!

If the NET FREE passive income, exceeds your monthly expenses, you are not only financially free... you gain time freedom too!
 

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Yes it hit me hard when I stared reading your Books @MJ DeMarco. I wasted a lot of time in my teens and early twenties. Now I'm exrtemely cheap with Time. I've unsubscribed to almost everything that deviates me from my Unscripted Vision. Now I really don't care much about things that chips away my time. I'm focused in process of making my dreams come true fast. But it wasn't easy to shift my brain, sometimes the old habits kicks in but I manage.
 
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Cameraman

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Ever sat at a wedding, champagne fizzing in your hand, thinking, "They've got a countdown timer ticking. Three years, max, before divorce blasts this union into smithereens"?



I have. And I've never been wrong.



Don't worry.

This isn't some morose saga about predicting divorces (although in The Great Rat Race Escape , I offer a 3-point plan to make your marriage bulletproof) but rather a story about predicting your fortune.



How? It's simple.

See, your marital status is a dance between you and your partner, much like wealth is a waltz with time.


You ask: is time my nemesis, or can I mold it into my ally? 

Picture this: late 90s, something groundbreaking happens. Time, my arch-nemesis does a complete 180 and becomes my wingman. Like being "on the clock" in a grueling 9-to-5 gig, only this time, my clock never stops ticking. I'm minting money every hour of the day, whether I'm catching Zs or busting my butt in the gym. It's been my reality for over two decades. 

The crux? 

Time. 

The gulf between the filthy rich 1% and the struggling 99% is the role time plays in their lives.

Titans like Taylor Swift are raking in boatloads of cash every minute, whether she's shitting the toilet or belting out hits on stage. She has value. Systems. Content. Products. All of these give her a yield on time investments she made long, long ago.



You want jaw-dropping wealth that doesn't involve choking budgets and decrepit RV living?

Change your dance with time.

Here are SEVEN simple ideas to reshape your tango with time, transforming it from adversary to accomplice.



#1) BREAK FREE FROM YOUR TEMPORAL SHACKLES

Time can't be scaled or leveraged. You can't tweak the 24-hour day or the average 78-year life. Attaching wealth to "hours worked," "years salaried," or "years invested" is like shackling yourself to mediocrity's altar. Wealth will elude you.



And when some so-called "financial guru" peddles time as a crucial wealth partner ("Save $X monthly, you'll be a millionaire by 2070!"), get the hell out. Run! Unfollow!

This is ordinary finance for ordinary people. 



#2) WEALTH WITHOUT TIME IS A DEATH SENTENCE

Wealth without time is death. This simple fact is why using TIME as a partner for wealth is a foolish strategy.

Existential ignorance doesn't change reality, and the devil with thank you. Using TIME as a variable for wealth is akin to selling your vital organs for money.

What good is dying rich with a $2.3M portfolio if you wasted 40 years of your youth to save it and enjoyed none of it? 

Money's a powerful resource, a gateway to experiences, memories, and unfettered choices that the average person can't enjoy. If you're frittering away your prime years in a soul-crushing, time-guzzling saving/investing scheme for an uncertain future predicated on patience and random economic returns, you're underselling your life.



#3) TIME'S UTILITY TANGIBLY DEPRECIATES

Skiing at 30 doesn't pack the same punch as at 75. Hopping on a world cruise when you're fit and 35 doesn't match doing it at 75 on a cocktail of meds.

Time, like money, depreciates.

Everyone harps about money's present value, but no one talks about time's present value. 



Truth: Financial freedom enjoyed in your 30s/40s is FAR MORE valuable than financial freedom in your 70s/80s.You'll have plenty of time to sit home and play checkers when you're 80; doing it as your only form of cheap entertainment while you're 35 is, again, a waste of your most precious resource.

View attachment 50400

#4) LEVERAGE PHYSICALITY TO MAKE TIME AN ALLY

You can turn TIME into an ally vs. an adversary with a business that meets the TIME Commandment in the CENTS Framework. This is done through Physicality.


My forum exists 24/7. My publishing company sells books that exist separate from me. My ground transportation company still exists even though I sold it long ago. I have passive ownership investments in over 60 companies worldwide, all make money 24/7. I'm also the co-founder of a productivity system that operates 24/7, no matter what I'm doing. These ventures exist in time, separate from my time, even after I leave this earth!



In essence, Physicality is creating a system that functions independently of your time—products, software, franchises, content. It's never been easier to build something with Physicality while giving yourself the power to uncouple from time. Yes, like most investments, it won't happen fast, but when it does, you'll never go back.



#5) INVEST TIME, DON'T TRADE IT

Millions of resources exist that will show you how to invest your money. But what about time? Can you invest time?

Yup. But don't expect that lesson to be shared by any two-bit guru with an expensive training course to throw your way.


When you invest in a business system with Physicality, you're investing time. Not only does it churn out money, but it also buys you free time through passivity. 

Time is a resource we all must judiciously expend. It's your primal fuel. The question is: will you trade it for money like most of humanity or will you invest it in a system that buys you free time later?



In short, a CENTS-based business can transform TIME into an ally and work for you instead of against you. When you wake up in the morning and earn more than most people make all week, then you will understand.

View attachment 50399

#6) COMPOUNDING IS FUTILE, UNLESS...

Compound interest only flexes its muscles when leveraged with a hefty sum. Passive income from dividends and interest on $10M+ comfortably pays $40k/month. Would $40k/month debt-free enable you to lead a extraordinary life?


Regrettably, compound interest is sold to the commoner as a magical wealth generator when it's not. At lower sums, it keeps time as your parasitic foe. Your $1k investment earns a measly $5 a year unless you patiently wait for decades to roll by.

Compound interest only sparks magic when you go big.



#7) MARRY TIME FREEDOM WITH FINANCIAL FREEDOM
 FOR A HAPPY EMPIRE
Don't conflate TIME freedom with FINANCIAL freedom.


A homeless beggar on the street has just as much TIME freedom as one of these FIRE guys who claim to have "retired early" while living like a broke college coed. The thing is, both the beggar and the FIRE guy are subject to fiscal handcuffs: both have limited financial options, AND both stress about money. 

Anyone who claims they would rather live like a peasant than a king is lying to themselves, and to you.


In life's game of chess, yes, time is king.

But the queen is the most powerful piece on the board, and dismissing her is a huge mistake.

And king without his powerful queen is an empire destined to fail.

~ MJ
I read this last night in my emails and came directly here this morning to read it again. It's yet more "timeless" advice that has great value.

Thank you for publishing these pieces. I always look forward to reading and finding ways to use them. I still find myself thinking about your story of the grandmother, artwork and valuations and what it teaches.
 

Robdavis

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Skiing at 30 doesn't pack the same punch as at 75. Hopping on a world cruise when you're fit and 35 doesn't match doing it at 75 on a cocktail of meds.

Time, like money, depreciates.

Everyone harps about money's present value, but no one talks about time's present value. 


Maybe I 've got this wrong, but whilst we can't get back time we've spent, am I right in thinking that we can increase the utility value of time by looking after ourselves better?

So we could re-draw the Utility Value of Time chart to look something like this:
time - health.jpg
If this is the case then it gives us more power to control our time, particularly in the case where someone makes a health improvement? That is, by raising your Utility Value of Time Freedom curve you might be able to flatline the curve you experience, rather than just being a victim of time all the time?

So for example, someone who made a health transformation at age 25 might experience a curve that looks like this:
time - health2.jpg
Or am I just being overoptimistic and over-complicating things?
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Or am I just being overoptimistic and over-complicating things?

No, not at all. You are correct, health definitely can change the descent of the lines.
 
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Isaac Odongo

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("Save $X monthly, you'll be a millionaire by 2070!"),
God!!!! I will be 74 by then. Financial gurus gtfo my way.
Time, like money, depreciates.
Inflation of time. As the numbers grow, their value decreases and plummets.
, like most investments, it won't happen fast, but when it does, you'll never go back.
I love this. Thank you.
When you wake up in the morning and earn more than most people make all week, then you will understand.
I envision. Amen.
 

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Thank you for such a strong conviction and reminder. Gratefully, we’re celebrating 25 years in August, and fortunately, I have time freedom and income through a digital agency I started in 2017 to enjoy a nice anniversary celebration.
 
G

Guest-5ty5s4

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Maybe I 've got this wrong, but whilst we can't get back time we've spent, am I right in thinking that we can increase the utility value of time by looking after ourselves better?

So we could re-draw the Utility Value of Time chart to look something like this:
View attachment 50422
If this is the case then it gives us more power to control our time, particularly in the case where someone makes a health improvement? That is, by raising your Utility Value of Time Freedom curve you might be able to flatline the curve you experience, rather than just being a victim of time all the time?

So for example, someone who made a health transformation at age 25 might experience a curve that looks like this:
View attachment 50423
Or am I just being overoptimistic and over-complicating things?
Being 27 now, this is very optimistic, thank you. Gold post @MJ DeMarco of course. Going to keep referencing this one.
 
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Kivuyo

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Awesome reminder! :)

Freedom enjoyed young beats freedom in a wheelchair.

The question to ask ourselves before we invest our time (or money) is: "Will it make me more time?"

Even in simple situations like buying a crockpot to free some time cooking makes those decisions a no-brainer.

The same goes for business divorced from the owner's time.

It's best to own time & money. That's where the freedom starts.
I think Instant gratification is what makes most people trade time for money. But when you start thinking about long time gratification, then you must first thing about being a producer first rather than a consumer.

However being a producer is a bit horrifying thing since it requires both hard working and perseverance. Only few people are ready for these two words; HARD WORKING & PERSEVERANCE.

Cheers to you all!
 

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Being 27 now, this is very optimistic, thank you. Gold post @MJ DeMarco of course. Going to keep referencing this one.
I'm 28, old enough to have major regrets but still young enough to fix my lines!
 

MJ DeMarco

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Updated picture, thanx to @Robdavis for a more clearer understanding.

time_utility(6).png
 
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Excellent thread as usual, @MJ DeMarco . That being said, while it's absolutely true that compound interest is woefully ineffective with small numbers, people should still save and invest as much as they can. This for two reasons:

1) $1,000 invested, while not much, is still better than nothing, and it's something to build on later.
2) Starting to invest when you don't yet have much to invest will give you valuable experience in investing, which will help you avoid making investment mistakes in the future. Indeed, if you cannot invest $1,000 wisely, you won't be able to invest $1,000,000 correctly.
 

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Excellent thread as usual, @MJ DeMarco . That being said, while it's absolutely true that compound interest is woefully ineffective with small numbers, people should still save and invest as much as they can. This for two reasons:

1) $1,000 invested, while not much, is still better than nothing, and it's something to build on later.
2) Starting to invest when you don't yet have much to invest will give you valuable experience in investing, which will help you avoid making investment mistakes in the future. Indeed, if you cannot invest $1,000 wisely, you won't be able to invest $1,000,000 correctly.
$1,000 invested in a business has much more leverage and payoff than stocks.
Same for $1,000 in educational courses/certification tests, and heck $1,000 in trading cards/commodities has a much bigger upside..
 

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$1,000 invested in a business has much more leverage and payoff than stocks.
Same for $1,000 in educational courses/certification tests, and heck $1,000 in trading cards/commodities has a much bigger upside..
Of course! By far the best investment you can make is in yourself/your own skills and health. No doubt about that.

And the second best investment you can make is in your own business.

We agree perfectly on that. :)
 
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Of course! By far the best investment you can make is in yourself/your own skills and health. No doubt about that.

And the second best investment you can make is in your own business.

We agree perfectly on that. :)
And i agree, investment education is very important!
 

Chrisrod2597

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Ever sat at a wedding, champagne fizzing in your hand, thinking, "They've got a countdown timer ticking. Three years, max, before divorce blasts this union into smithereens"?



I have. And I've never been wrong.



Don't worry.

This isn't some morose saga about predicting divorces (although in The Great Rat Race Escape , I offer a 3-point plan to make your marriage bulletproof) but rather a story about predicting your fortune.



How? It's simple.

See, your marital status is a dance between you and your partner, much like wealth is a waltz with time.


You ask: is time my nemesis, or can I mold it into my ally? 

Picture this: late 90s, something groundbreaking happens. Time, my arch-nemesis does a complete 180 and becomes my wingman. Like being "on the clock" in a grueling 9-to-5 gig, only this time, my clock never stops ticking. I'm minting money every hour of the day, whether I'm catching Zs or busting my butt in the gym. It's been my reality for over two decades. 

The crux? 

Time. 

The gulf between the filthy rich 1% and the struggling 99% is the role time plays in their lives.

Titans like Taylor Swift are raking in boatloads of cash every minute, whether she's shitting the toilet or belting out hits on stage. She has value. Systems. Content. Products. All of these give her a yield on time investments she made long, long ago.



You want jaw-dropping wealth that doesn't involve choking budgets and decrepit RV living?

Change your dance with time.

Here are SEVEN simple ideas to reshape your tango with time, transforming it from adversary to accomplice.



#1) BREAK FREE FROM YOUR TEMPORAL SHACKLES

Time can't be scaled or leveraged. You can't tweak the 24-hour day or the average 78-year life. Attaching wealth to "hours worked," "years salaried," or "years invested" is like shackling yourself to mediocrity's altar. Wealth will elude you.



And when some so-called "financial guru" peddles time as a crucial wealth partner ("Save $X monthly, you'll be a millionaire by 2070!"), get the hell out. Run! Unfollow!

This is ordinary finance for ordinary people. 



#2) WEALTH WITHOUT TIME IS A DEATH SENTENCE

Wealth without time is death. This simple fact is why using TIME as a partner for wealth is a foolish strategy.

Existential ignorance doesn't change reality, and the devil with thank you. Using TIME as a variable for wealth is akin to selling your vital organs for money.

What good is dying rich with a $2.3M portfolio if you wasted 40 years of your youth to save it and enjoyed none of it? 

Money's a powerful resource, a gateway to experiences, memories, and unfettered choices that the average person can't enjoy. If you're frittering away your prime years in a soul-crushing, time-guzzling saving/investing scheme for an uncertain future predicated on patience and random economic returns, you're underselling your life.



#3) TIME'S UTILITY TANGIBLY DEPRECIATES

Skiing at 30 doesn't pack the same punch as at 75. Hopping on a world cruise when you're fit and 35 doesn't match doing it at 75 on a cocktail of meds.

Time, like money, depreciates.

Everyone harps about money's present value, but no one talks about time's present value. 



Truth: Financial freedom enjoyed in your 30s/40s is FAR MORE valuable than financial freedom in your 70s/80s.You'll have plenty of time to sit home and play checkers when you're 80; doing it as your only form of cheap entertainment while you're 35 is, again, a waste of your most precious resource.

View attachment 50400

#4) LEVERAGE PHYSICALITY TO MAKE TIME AN ALLY

You can turn TIME into an ally vs. an adversary with a business that meets the TIME Commandment in the CENTS Framework. This is done through Physicality.


My forum exists 24/7. My publishing company sells books that exist separate from me. My ground transportation company still exists even though I sold it long ago. I have passive ownership investments in over 60 companies worldwide, all make money 24/7. I'm also the co-founder of a productivity system that operates 24/7, no matter what I'm doing. These ventures exist in time, separate from my time, even after I leave this earth!



In essence, Physicality is creating a system that functions independently of your time—products, software, franchises, content. It's never been easier to build something with Physicality while giving yourself the power to uncouple from time. Yes, like most investments, it won't happen fast, but when it does, you'll never go back.



#5) INVEST TIME, DON'T TRADE IT

Millions of resources exist that will show you how to invest your money. But what about time? Can you invest time?

Yup. But don't expect that lesson to be shared by any two-bit guru with an expensive training course to throw your way.


When you invest in a business system with Physicality, you're investing time. Not only does it churn out money, but it also buys you free time through passivity. 

Time is a resource we all must judiciously expend. It's your primal fuel. The question is: will you trade it for money like most of humanity or will you invest it in a system that buys you free time later?



In short, a CENTS-based business can transform TIME into an ally and work for you instead of against you. When you wake up in the morning and earn more than most people make all week, then you will understand.

View attachment 50399

#6) COMPOUNDING IS FUTILE, UNLESS...

Compound interest only flexes its muscles when leveraged with a hefty sum. Passive income from dividends and interest on $10M+ comfortably pays $40k/month. Would $40k/month debt-free enable you to lead a extraordinary life?


Regrettably, compound interest is sold to the commoner as a magical wealth generator when it's not. At lower sums, it keeps time as your parasitic foe. Your $1k investment earns a measly $5 a year unless you patiently wait for decades to roll by.

Compound interest only sparks magic when you go big.



#7) MARRY TIME FREEDOM WITH FINANCIAL FREEDOM
 FOR A HAPPY EMPIRE
Don't conflate TIME freedom with FINANCIAL freedom.


A homeless beggar on the street has just as much TIME freedom as one of these FIRE guys who claim to have "retired early" while living like a broke college coed. The thing is, both the beggar and the FIRE guy are subject to fiscal handcuffs: both have limited financial options, AND both stress about money. 

Anyone who claims they would rather live like a peasant than a king is lying to themselves, and to you.


In life's game of chess, yes, time is king.

But the queen is the most powerful piece on the board, and dismissing her is a huge mistake.

And king without his powerful queen is an empire destined to fail.

~ MJ
Thanks to you I'm aware that time is more valuable then money. After reading TMF I realized most of my peers value money more then time. Even the people who are considered financially affluent aka (upper middle class) have this mentality on time.
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
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Great visual example that demonstrates TIME inflation... and why waiting for 55, 60, or 65 for freedom or retirement is a stupid idea. Not only is your elderly reward depreciated in terms of vitality, it passes by incredibly quick perceptually.

 

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