Stack Assets Now So Your Future Self Doesn't Struggle Later
The Trip I Couldn’t Take in My Early 20s
Taking a trip to Japan wasn’t an option in my early 20s.
I was putting myself through business school and scraping together every dollar just to cover bills.
I still worked 30-40 hours a week while going to business school full time because I knew one thing for sure: I didn’t want to struggle with money my entire life.
I watched people around me get buried in debt and settle for the “paycheck to paycheck” trap.
And I sure as hell wasn’t going to copy a blueprint that clearly wasn’t working…
Even when money was tight, I made a personal rule to always spend less than I was making.
That’s what allowed me to build up a small savings and start investing with small consistent amounts early on.
I knew those early investments weren’t going to make me rich overnight… But I also knew building the habit of investing mattered much more.
I had friends and family making trips all around the world during those early days.
Of course I wanted to go but I also knew the math.
I could’ve booked the trip on a credit card and dealt with it later.
But I refused to live a life that revolved around using debt to have fun.
So I focused on what could move things forward: Increasing my income, stacking assets, building my business, and sharpening my skills.
I said no to things most people said yes to for a few years because I understood the mission I was on.
Sitting here in Japan, I’m grateful for the moves my younger self made because they’re the reason I can take a trip like this without blowing up my bank account.
The best part is knowing the trip I'm on is fully paid for.
There’s no “how the hell do I pay for this?” waiting for me when I get back home.
And that’s what the money game is really about: Not stacking money just to stack it, but using it to unlock the freedom to live life however the hell you want.
Stacking Assets = Giving You More Options
Let’s talk about one of the biggest myths people believe about investing:
“You have to constantly predict the best time to buy, sell, or trade to get ahead.”
If you study the game, you’ll quickly realize that’s not how the wealthiest people operate despite what you hear on social media.
The richest people are not glued to stock charts all day.
They’re not chasing the newest crypto coin pump.
They’re simply following a system, stacking assets, and letting those assets make them richer over time.
Stacking assets isn’t about predicting market movements or chasing exciting price movements. It’s about playing the ownership game.
The same way Monopoly rewards you for owning more properties, real life rewards you for owning more assets (such as stocks, ETFs, real estate, businesses).
The more assets you stack, the more income you generate without having to constantly trade your time to earn it.
Most people think the only way to make money is by working a job.
But once you start stacking assets you start to shift from worker to owner.
You stop asking “how many hours do I need to work?” and you start asking “how can I stack more assets?”
That’s where the game gets interesting.
The sad part is a lot of people never get to this level because they’ve been convinced to believe wealth building is greedy, money is bad, or investing is too risky.
And those beliefs quietly sabotage their ability to escape the paycheck to paycheck trap.
The truth is pretty simple… money is just a tool.
The way you spend money determines what your financial future looks like.
If you only spend money to buy random stuff you’ll forget about next month, you’ll make other people richer and stay stuck working for money forever.
But if you prioritize spending money to make more money, you’ll eventually hit a point where you no longer need to sell your time for money.
The choice is yours to make.
If you want help building your own asset stacking system without getting lost in all the noise, Money Mastery will help you with that. The best part? If it doesn’t help you I’ll give you a full refund. That’s how confident I am in Money Mastery.
You Don’t Need a Million Dollars… You Just Need a Plan
Most people think they need to be rich before they start investing.
But the truth is investing is what will MAKE you rich.
Even when people do start investing, they usually get stuck in the casino mentality.
The average person thinks the stock market is a casino. They have no idea about the concept of compound interest, dollar cost averaging, long term investing, or index funds.
They confuse investing with gambling and hold themselves back by dismissing it as a rich person game.
I fell into this a bit when I first got started too. I thought I had to predict the next Amazon or Apple before the rest of the market caught on...
Or that I had to time the market perfectly by jumping in while things went up and getting out before they started to go down.
But the good news is you don’t have to play the game that way.
People who try usually get dragged around by market sentiment and end up buying high and selling low without even realizing it.
I’ve found that the hardest part in the stock market isn’t just choosing what to invest in, it’s getting over the fear of seeing red numbers and realizing that temporary losses aren’t failure… they’re part of the game.
It wasn’t until I understood compound interest that everything started to click. I realized that the big wins in the market are built up by smaller consistent wins.
Studying stock market history and long-term investing strategies also helped me put short-term market dips into perspective and not panic sell every time fear hit the markets.
Instead, I learned to see market dips as massive opportunities for my long-term investing plan.
But the biggest change for me happened when I started making investing a habit just like paying a bill is.
I made it a habit to invest a small portion of every paycheck no matter what.
It’s like passing Go in Monopoly and using the money to buy more properties instead of just saving it or paying rent to the people who did.
One of the biggest mistakes I see is people thinking “I’ll start investing once I make more money.”
People who say that almost always find a new excuse to why they can’t start when they do get a pay increase.
And the harsh truth is that the longer you wait, the more you’ll have to invest later to make up for lost time.
“I’ll do it later” is almost always fear of procrastination in disguise.
So here’s what I’d tell anyone who knows investing is important but has not clue how to get started:
Start with just $20 a week and put it into something simple like VTI or FXAIX.
No, you’re not going to get rich overnight.
But the longer you stay in the game, the more confidence you're going to build to invest more aggressively.
You’re not just building wealth with these small early investments, you’re building a mindset that knows how to stay consistent, stay invested, and think like an owner.
That mindset is where real freedom begins.
Your Future Self is Begging You to Start
If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I’d just say this:
“Master the boring stuff first.”
Everyone wants to skip the boring stuff and get right into the exciting results.
But those exciting results will never come until you master the boring stuff.
So I challenge you to make it a mission to build your financial foundation first.
Then (if you want) experiment with riskier strategies on the side.
But don’t make gambling and hoping the main plan…
Most people fail in the market because they never built a solid foundation from the beginning. So when the market drops, they panic. Because they were counting on that money to perform miracles for them.
Most people underestimate just how powerful time and consistency really are in the stock market.
The stock market is one of the biggest wealth creation machines in the world. But the cost is time and consistency.
Think about this: The life you’re living right now is based on all of the choices you’ve made over the last five years.
And five years from now, your life will be shaped by the choices you make today.
Every time you invest, you’re making a deposit for more future freedom.
That’s exactly why I’m so grateful for my younger self.
He didn’t have it all figured out but he made the jump to learn and build anyway.
He chose to stack more assets even when the future felt choppy or uncertain.
Because of those choices, each year of my life has gotten financially better.
If you just read this newsletter and don’t make any new moves, nothing changes.
You’ll keep trading time for money and you’ll keep feeling stuck.
But if you commit to making investing a habit and spending 20 hours to learn about compound interest, stock brokerage account types, dollar cost averaging, index funds, stock market history, and the trinity study to help you build your own investing system, money will become more abundant in your life.
At the end of the day, the best thing money buys isn’t more stuff.
It’s more options.
The option to book a trip to a new country without debt.
The option to spend more time with people you love.
The option to do work that you actually enjoy.
The option to live on your terms, not other peoples.
That version of you is waiting. And they’re begging you to start.
The Best Part? I’m Not Coming Home to Debt
So now I’m sitting in Japan.
A place I’ve wanted to visit for years. Wandering through new cities, trying some of the best sushi I’ve ever had, and meeting people I never would’ve crossed paths with back home.
And the best part is this trip is fully paid for.
If I had put this trip on a credit card it would’ve still been fun.
But I’d be dreading the return flight because eventually that bill would become due.
My future self would have to deal with it and that’s a game I refuse to play.
Life gets a lot better when you make things easier for your future self instead of harder.
Taking the easy route and using debt to consume is exactly the kind of game the system wants you to play. Banks profit from selling you instant gratification. Avoid it at all costs.
My definition of rich is simple: It’s being able to do whatever the hell you want without limitations and without making life harder for your future self.
The good news? That’s more achievable to anyone who is willing to spend a few years to get things locked down and prioritize investing money before spending it.
Ready to start stacking? Money Mastery is where you’ll build your investing system that doesn't rely on guessing. I’ll guide you through it step by step.
