Imagine going to the doctor and getting the exact same treatment as the person who came before you, regardless of your symptoms. The same medication. The same dosage. The same advice. It would be dangerous at worst and malpractice at best.
Unfortunately, this is how most financial advice is given today. We get one-size-fits-all solutions that don't consider where you are on your financial journey or where you want to end up in the future.
But this isn't the right way to approach your money. Your financial strategy should evolve as you build wealth and your needs change.
This is the big idea behind The Wealth Ladder: Proven Strategies for Every Step of Your Financial Life, which is officially out today! You can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, Audible (narrated by me), and everywhere else books are sold:
Instead of providing a singular solution to your money problems, The Wealth Ladder provides the right strategy based on your financial starting point and desired destination.
It does this by introducing a new framework based on six wealth levels. Each level represents a 10x jump in net worth (i.e., assets minus liabilities) from the one before it. Here are the six levels of wealth:
- Level 1 (<$10k)
- Level 2 ($10k-$100k)
- Level 3 ($100k-$1M)
- Level 4 ($1M-$10M)
- Level 5 ($10M-$100M)
- Level 6 ($100M+)
Once you know your current wealth level, it becomes much easier to figure out what to do next. More importantly, you can use this framework to guide your spending, income, and investment decisions throughout your life.
For example, below is how your spending decisions might change as you move up The Wealth Ladder:
- Level 1. Paycheck-to-paycheck (<$10k): You are conscious of every dollar you spend. This includes people with crippling debt.
- Level 2. Grocery freedom ($10k–$100k): You can buy what you want at the grocery store without worrying about your finances.
- Level 3. Restaurant freedom ($100k–$1M): You can eat what you want at restaurants.
- Level 4. Travel freedom ($1M–$10M): You travel when and where you want.
- Level 5. House freedom ($10M–$100M): You can afford your dream home with little impact on your overall finances.
- Level 6. Impact freedom ($100M+): You can use money to have a profound impact on the lives of others (e.g., buy businesses, engage in large-scale philanthropy, etc.)
These spending categories aren't arbitrary. They're based on the 0.01% Rule, a formula I go over in detail in the book.
My motivation for writing The Wealth Ladder came after I realized that my prior book, Just Keep Buying, wasn't the right solution for everyone. For someone deeply in debt, Just Keep Buying wasn't the answer (at least not yet). And for someone who wanted to be superrich, it wouldn't do the trick either.
In Just Keep Buying, I was providing a one-size-fits-all solution to money, just like everyone else. What I really needed to do was zoom out and see the bigger picture. That's when The Wealth Ladder was born.
My original goal with Just Keep Buying was to answer the question, "What's the most consistent way to build wealth?"
But, after getting feedback from thousands of readers, I realized that the better question to answer is, "What's the most consistent way to build wealth given where I am today?"
The question is slightly different, but it fundamentally changes how you approach money. This is the question that I answer in The Wealth Ladder—a financial guide that you can come back to again and again.
Additionally, early readers of the book have been enthusiastic:
- Scott Galloway, bestselling author of The Algebra of Wealth, called it "excellent."
- Dr. Paris Woods, bestselling author of The Black Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom, said, "The Wealth Ladder is a must read for anyone looking to break free from financial limitations and build a future of abundance."
- Nat Eliason, author and entrepreneur, said, "It’s truly the most useful money book I’ve read since The Psychology of Money."
- Lawrence Yeo, author and writer at More To That, called The Wealth Ladder "the most comprehensive and accessible guide to wealth creation I’ve ever read."
Lastly, the book isn't long. It's 214 pages (14 chapters) and broken into three parts. Part I explains what The Wealth Ladder is and provides high-level context for everything that comes after. Part II goes through each of the individual wealth levels, what to focus on, and what you should avoid. And, finally, Part III tells us how we can use The Wealth Ladder to live a better life, not just a richer one.
Wherever you are on your financial journey, I'm confident that you will find something valuable in the book. Buy it now and find out.
For international readers, the book is currently available in most of Europe in English. Translations are forthcoming in Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified & Traditional), Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Thai, Romanian, Indonesian, Marathi, and Mongolian.
I'm thrilled to share this idea with the world and I hope it helps you climb The Wealth Ladder, one step at a time. Thank you for reading!
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This is post 460.