[0:00]Rule one, learn how the money game works.
[4:00]Rich people have plenty of cash, but they almost never spend it.
[8:29]Instead, they borrow. And once you see how it works, you'll understand why.
[13:28]Say you have $10 million in stocks. Should the government tax that?
[18:36]Most people would say no, because you haven't sold it.
[21:38]It's not real money yet.
[23:57]The market could crash tomorrow and it's gone.
[27:44]Okay, fair enough. We can't tax it because it hasn't been sold yet.
[31:39]But then you want to buy a $2 million house.
[34:01]So you go to a bank and say, lend me the money and here's my $10 million in stock as a guarantee.
[40:53]And the bank says, Sure, here's your loan.
[43:24]So, wait a second.
[45:32]You can use your stocks as money when you're borrowing, but it's not money when it's time to pay taxes.
[53:10]Exactly. That's the game.
[56:05]The loan isn't taxable.
[58:14]It's debt, not income. This is how the wealthy play the game.
[1:02:08]Instead of selling their assets and paying taxes, they borrow against them.
[1:08:14]The assets keep growing, they get the cash they need, and the taxman gets nothing.
[1:13:58]Now, think about you. You earn a salary.
[1:16:32]The tax man takes his share before the money even hits your account. You don't get a say in it.
[1:21:55]Income is for workers. Debt against assets is for owners.
[1:28:06]You can't do this with small assets, but now you know how the game is played.
[1:32:25]Build the assets first, and then you can play the same game.
[1:36:23]Rule two. Use your biggest weapon.
[1:39:18]You might be poor in terms of money, but you are rich in one of the most important currencies: time.
[1:47:38]Say your friend starts investing at 20. At 30, he stops completely.
[1:52:15]You start at 30 with the same amount, but you invest until you're 60.
[1:56:49]So you invest three times longer and three times more money.
[2:01:38]You still end up with less money than your friend, not because he was smarter, simply because he started earlier.
[2:08:09]Money invested early compounds.
[2:11:39]Skills built early compounds. Everything compounds when you have time.
[2:17:15]The only thing that doesn't is waiting.
[2:21:20]Rule three. Pick the wave, not the surfboard.
[2:24:43]You can be the hardest working person in a dying industry and lose.
[2:29:16]You can be average in a growing industry and still win.
[2:33:10]A mediocre employee who joined tech in 2010 built more wealth than a brilliant employee who joined a newspaper the same year.
[2:41:39]Same effort, same hours, different waves.
[2:45:18]One industry was exploding, the other was dying.
[2:49:20]It didn't matter how hard the journalist worked then.
[2:52:15]So ask yourself, what industry are you in? Is that wave rising or falling?
[2:58:34]If you're on the wrong wave, no amount of paddling will save you.
[3:02:01]Pick the wave first, then worry about the surfboard.
[3:06:21]Rule four. Don't follow your passion.
[3:11:37]You've heard this a thousand times. Follow your passion. Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.
[3:16:11]Here's what they don't tell you. That advice usually comes from people who got rich doing something boring.
[3:23:25]Software, logistics, finance.
[3:26:15]Then they romanticize it afterward.
[3:29:43]Most people under 26 don't even know what their passion is.
[3:33:43]Instead, follow your talent.
[3:38:19]Talent is what you do easily that others find hard.
[3:41:48]Master it. Get paid well.
[3:44:20]Then enjoy your passions on weekends.
[3:47:38]Steve Jobs loved calligraphy and meditation, but he didn't start a calligraphy business, he went into computers.
[3:55:18]He followed his talent, not his passion.
[4:00:11]When you put your focus into your talent, you'll become a master of it.
[4:04:12]That's when you'll find your passion.
[4:07:22]Get the order right.
[4:08:02]Rule five. Focus your time, diversify your money.
[4:13:27]Your time should be focused. Pick one thing. Go deep. Specialize.
[4:19:01]On the other hand, your money should be diversified.
[4:22:09]Put it in different assets.
[4:23:25]Never bet everything on a single investment. One bad bet shouldn't wipe you out.
[4:29:01]But here's the problem.
[4:30:17]Most people do the exact opposite. They scatter their time and focus across a job, a side hustle, a YouTube channel, a crypto project, and a drop shipping store.
[4:40:24]Five things, none done well.
[4:42:19]Then they take all their money and put it in one stock.
[4:46:30]Time scattered, money concentrated, that's the recipe for staying broke.
[4:51:07]Flip it.
[4:53:02]Focus your time on one thing until you're world class.
[4:56:49]Diversify your money across assets so no single failure destroys you.
[5:02:06]That's the recipe for wealth.
[5:03:17]Rule six. Don't day trade.
[5:08:33]Slot machines have better odds than your trading app.
[5:13:06]That's not a joke.
[5:15:23]Almost everyone who day trades loses money over time. You've probably tried it yourself.
[5:20:47]Made some trades. Maybe even one a bit.
[5:24:41]That little win is the trap.
[5:27:54]That's how gambling works.
[5:29:16]One in four people who day trade have gambling problems and most don't even know it.
[5:34:03]Professional traders have Bloomberg terminals, expert teams, and math PhDs running algorithms.
[5:42:03]Their entire job is to take money from people like you.
[5:49:26]That's who you're up against.
[5:50:18]If you're doing it, stop.
[5:52:13]Put that money in index funds. Forget it exists for 20 years.
[5:59:05]Your future self will thank you.
[6:00:05]Rule seven. Forget work life balance.
[6:04:03]You're grinding. No vacations, no balance.
[6:07:22]Your friends are partying while you're working on weekends.
[6:11:37]Good. Work-life balance in your 20s is a fantasy.
[6:15:37]Chase it and you'll be mediocre at both work and life.
[6:19:18]Forget balance. Figure out which phase you're in.
[6:23:44]In your 20s and 30s, you're building. Work dominates.
[6:27:19]You're paying rent on future freedom.
[6:29:40]You lay the foundation now.
[6:32:44]In your 40s and 50s, you're harvesting. You slow down.
[6:36:09]You enjoy what you built. The foundation pays you back.
[6:39:27]Most overnight successes took 15 to 20 years of invisible grinding.
[6:44:27]You just didn't see the building face.
[6:47:20]Here's the trade-off. The people with balance at 25 won't have options at 45.
[6:53:35]The people who grind at 25 get to choose at 45.
[6:57:43]It's okay to be unbalanced right now. It's temporary. It's strategic.
[7:02:51]Rule eight. Build when times are hard.
[7:07:06]When the economy crashes and everyone panics, that's the best time to build wealth.
[7:12:51]Microsoft and Apple were founded during the 1975 recession.
[7:17:18]Airbnb, Uber, Slack, WhatsApp, all founded right after 2008.
[7:24:11]Hard times give you two advantages.
[7:26:10]First, assets go on sale.
[7:28:46]Stocks, real estate, everything is discounted.
[7:31:30]The people who buy during fear become rich during recovery.
[7:35:36]Second, you're forced to grow.
[7:39:28]No easy money, no shortcuts.
[7:41:25]Everyone waits for the right time to invest, to build, to take risks.
[7:47:10]The right time is when everyone else is running away.
[7:49:50]Easy times make you soft.
[7:51:55]Hard times make you sharp.
[7:53:23]If things are hard right now, don't wait for it to get easier.
[7:57:34]By the time it does, everyone else will be back. The window will be closed.
[8:01:09]Rule nine. Treat your 20s like a workshop.
[8:05:42]Your 20s are supposed to be messy.
[8:07:42]Different jobs, different approaches, different failures.
[8:11:20]You're not supposed to have it figured out. You're supposed to be collecting data on what works for you.
[8:17:15]Think of it like this.
[8:19:18]Your 20s are the workshop. Experiment, try things, break things.
[8:23:44]Learn what fits. Your 30s are for mastery. Pick your thing. Get genuinely good at it.
[8:30:17]Your 40s and 50s are for harvesting. Reap what you built.
[8:35:13]The problem is we compare ourselves to people at different phases.
[8:38:55]You see a successful 40-year-old and feel behind, but you're not comparing fairly.
[8:43:55]They've had 20 more years in the game.
[8:46:14]It's okay to not have it figured out. You're in workshop mode.
[8:51:20]Just don't stay there forever.
[8:53:15]Rule 10. Know when to quit. Never give up. That's what they tell you.
[8:57:34]But all successful people have quit something.
[9:00:30]The skill isn't refusing to quit, it's knowing when to walk away.
[9:05:20]You picked a career. You've been at it for years.
[9:08:52]It's not working, but you've invested so much time.
[9:12:12]So you stay. Or you started a business. It's barely surviving, but quitting feels like admitting you were wrong.
[9:20:33]So you stay. The person who made that decision had less information than you have now.
[9:25:37]Circumstances change. Markets change. You change.
[9:29:56]The author had a company that failed slowly over 10 years. Kept hoping, kept investing.
[9:36:20]Lost 70% of his net worth.
[9:39:05]Another company failed in six months. He saw it wasn't working. Shut it down. Moved on.
[9:44:27]Same person, different decisions, very different outcomes.
[9:49:33]When something fails fast, you move on.
[9:52:38]When it fails slowly, it drains you for years.
[9:56:05]Don't quit because it's hard. It's supposed to be hard.
[10:00:30]But don't waste years on something that's not working. A step back from the wrong path is a step forward.
[10:08:40]Rule 11. Stop doing everything yourself.
[10:11:15]Every hour you spend on a $15 task is an hour stolen from a $500 opportunity.
[10:17:28]Before every task, ask yourself, could someone else do this as well or better than me?
[10:23:23]If yes, do some simple math. What would it cost to pay someone?
[10:27:32]And what could you earn with that freed up time?
[10:30:26]If the second number is more than the first, delegate every time.
[10:35:55]Say your time is worth $50 an hour. You hire someone for $15 an hour to do a task you hate.
[10:43:10]You just made $35 an hour by not doing it yourself.
[10:48:47]Most people think they can't afford to hire.
[10:51:39]But the truth is, you can't afford to keep doing everything yourself.
[10:56:05]And delegation isn't just hiring employees. It's the kid down the street mowing your lawn.
[11:01:07]A virtual assistant handling your emails, software automating your bookkeeping, paying for grocery delivery so you get two hours back.
[11:10:08]This week find one task someone else could do. Delegate it. Buy back your time.
[11:16:50]Rule 12. Get to a city. Go to the office.
[11:21:40]Everyone selling you the dream. Work from Bali. Laptop on the beach. Freedom.
[11:27:32]But the best jobs are in cities. The biggest opportunities are in cities.
[11:33:01]The people who can change your career are in cities.
[11:36:26]But living in a city isn't enough. You have to show up in person.
[11:41:06]40% of executives believe remote employees are less likely to be promoted.
[11:46:00]You could deliver the same work as the guy in the office. Same quality, same hours.
[11:51:00]And watch him get promoted while you stay stuck.
[11:53:50]He's in the room when it matters. You're a face in a zoom square.
[11:59:04]Out of sight, out of mind, out of a job.
[12:01:35]Your coworkers grab lunch with the boss. You are not there.
[12:04:36]They build trust, you don't. A project opens up. They get it. You don't even hear about it.
[12:11:12]If you're early in your career, remote work isn't freedom. It's a trap that looks like a perk.
[12:18:24]Get to a city, get to the office.
[12:22:15]Rule 13. Set goals you'll actually hit.
[12:26:10]You decide to save $500 a month. The first few weeks go well.
[12:30:12]Then something comes up. You miss the target. You feel behind.
[12:34:26]And instead of adjusting, you stop saving altogether.
[12:38:11]Big savings goals feel inspiring, but falling short feels terrible.
[12:43:59]That shame usually makes things worse than having no target at all.
[12:48:01]So try this instead.
[12:49:50]Set your savings goal at 70% of what feels right.
[12:53:49]Hit it. Feel good, then increase.
[12:57:10]Small wins build momentum. Momentum builds habits. Habits build wealth.
[13:04:09]Rule 14. Keep investing simple.
[13:07:01]You've tried to learn about investing. Stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, P/E ratios.
[13:12:10]Feels like another language.
[13:15:02]So you do nothing.
[13:17:10]It's way simpler than you think.
[13:18:23]One, open an account with a legitimate broker. Two, put money into low-cost index funds.
[13:25:11]Three, keep adding every month. Four, don't touch it for 20 years.
[13:30:39]That's it. That's the whole thing. 94% of professional fund managers don't beat a simple index fund over 20 years.
[13:37:37]Teams of analysts, billions of dollars, doesn't matter, the index still wins.
[13:43:37]You won't beat it either. You don't need to. Keep it simple.
[13:47:51]Index funds every month, don't touch it.
[13:48:47]Rule 15. Split your money into three buckets.
[13:52:15]Money comes in, money goes out. Whatever's left gets saved.
[13:55:38]That's how most people do it.
[13:57:12]That's why most people stay broke.
[13:59:16]Try this instead. Three buckets.
[14:01:50]Bucket one is your day-to-day expenses. Rent, food, transportation. This is your largest bucket.
[14:07:18]Bucket two is your emergency fund, down payment, basically expenses you know are coming.
[14:13:27]Bucket three is your long-term investments, retirement, your escape hatch.
[14:18:41]First, figure out the minimum you need to survive each month.
[14:21:50]That's bucket one. Everything above it gets split between buckets two and three.
[14:26:40]Fund bucket one so you don't feel deprived, but always put something in buckets two and three.
[14:32:13]Even $50 a month.
[14:33:14]Rule 16. Talk about money.
[14:38:18]Here's something strange. Musicians talk about music all day. Athletes talk about training. Coders talk about code.
[14:44:06]Nobody thinks it's weird. But money? Suddenly it's rude, private, taboo.
[14:52:10]That silence isn't an accident. It benefits the people who already have money.
[14:57:42]Think about it. Your employer doesn't want you comparing salaries.
[15:01:17]If you knew your co-worker made more for the same job, you'd ask for a raise.
[15:05:04]When you don't know what others earn, you can't negotiate.
[15:08:16]When you don't know what others invest in, you can't learn.
[15:11:48]When nobody shares their mistakes, everyone makes the same ones.
[15:15:37]The secrecy helps them, not you.
[15:18:14]Talking about money makes you better at money. You learn what friends earn, how much they save, where they invest.
[15:25:30]You share mistakes so others avoid them.
[15:28:16]Find people who will actually be honest. Compare salaries, compare rent, ask questions.
[15:35:58]Be open about your own numbers.
[15:38:15]Yeah, it feels uncomfortable at first.
[15:41:31]But one awkward conversation can save you thousands.
[15:45:26]Rule 17. Fix your money. Your body will thank you.
[15:50:57]You check your bank account. Your chest gets tight. Rent is due. You can't sleep.
[15:57:38]That's not just stress. That's your body taking damage.
[16:02:03]Financial anxiety works like high blood pressure, always there, quietly hurting you.
[16:08:17]You don't feel it happening, but it's real.
[16:11:16]Kids from low income households have higher blood pressure than wealthy kids.
[16:15:36]Same age, same diet. Only difference is the stress at home.
[16:20:05]And that damage doesn't disappear when you grow up.
[16:22:42]This is why getting your money right matters, not for the car, not for status, for your health.
[16:28:44]Fix your money, your body will thank you.
[16:32:44]Rule 18. Choose your spouse like an investment.
[16:37:37]Your biggest financial decision is who you marry, not stocks, not real estate, not your business.
[16:47:15]Nothing else will influence your financial future more than who you marry.
[16:52:13]Married people are 77% wealthier than single people.
[16:57:33]Net worth increases roughly 16% for every year of marriage.
[17:03:00]While divorce destroys 75% of wealth for both sides.
[17:09:08]And the greatest predictor of divorce isn't cheating. It's fighting about money.
[17:15:37]Different values, different spending habits, arguments about bills.
[17:20:54]That's what kills marriages and wealth.
[17:22:18]A good spouse isn't just a partner. They keep you accountable. They share your goals.
[17:29:30]They stop you before you blow money on something stupid.
[17:33:29]If you're married, talk about money. Not someday, now.
[17:39:05]Talk about values, goals, fears, debt.
[17:45:00]Get it out before resentment builds.
[17:49:05]If you're dating seriously, pay attention to how they handle money.
[17:53:50]It's not romantic, but neither is divorce.
[17:57:44]Choose wisely.
[17:59:09]This one decision will impact your wealth more than anything else you do.
[18:05:10]Rule 19. You're luckier than you think.
[18:09:03]That when you're proud of, how much was skill, and how much was luck?
[18:13:28]Be honest. We take credit for our wins. Blame circumstances for our losses. It's human nature.
[18:20:40]But here's the thing. The biggest predictor of financial success is not work ethic or intelligence.
[18:28:22]It's where and when you were born.
[18:30:31]If you're watching this, you probably have internet access, some education, and live in a stable country.
[18:37:18]Someone with your exact brain born somewhere else has a completely different outcome.
[18:42:21]That's not capability. That's your luck.
[18:47:06]The danger comes when you forget this. You make some money. You think you're smart.
[18:51:20]You get bigger, take more risks, ignore advice. Then reality corrects you. Hard.
[18:58:08]The people who build wealth long-term aren't the smartest. They're the ones who stay humble.
[19:03:49]They know luck put them here and luck can take it away. Acknowledge luck. Stay careful.
[19:11:05]Rule 20. It's never as bad as you think.
[19:14:48]That thing keeping you up at night, failure and embarrassment, everything falling apart.
[19:20:13]Here's some perspective.
[19:21:49]When seniors were asked about their biggest regret, the most common answer wasn't, I failed too much.
[19:28:13]It was, I worried too much about things that didn't matter.
[19:32:14]You'll barely remember your present crisis in five years.
[19:36:19]Churchill says, success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.
[19:43:53]You will fail at things, but it won't be as bad as you fear.
[19:48:00]When you succeed, it won't feel as good as you imagine.
[19:51:57]Here's a filter that helps. Ask yourself, can I actually do something about this?
[19:58:35]If yes, do it. If no, it's not a problem. It's just a situation. You can't fix it. You can only accept it.
[20:07:58]Two steps for things outside your control. One, recognize you can't change it.
[20:11:04]Two, focus on what you can control.
[20:15:36]That's it. Stop fighting gravity. Save your energy for what you can actually move.
[20:21:04]Rule 21. Stop thinking about your doubters.
[20:25:04]Your family questions your choices. Friends think you're crazy. Maybe an ex said you'd never make it.
[20:31:44]And now they live in your head. You replay conversations, rehearse comebacks. fantasize about proving them wrong.
[20:40:00]And while you're doing all of that, you're not building anything.
[20:45:51]They're not losing sleep over you, but you're losing sleep over them.
[20:49:57]If your enemies knew how much you worry, they would dance with joy.
[20:55:27]So stop giving them that. Whatever they said, take what's useful, throw the rest away, and get back to work.
[21:03:13]The best revenge isn't proving them wrong. It's not thinking about them at all.
[21:09:20]Rule 22. Live a better life. That's the best revenge.
[21:14:48]So, you've let go of the doubters. Good.
[21:18:13]But maybe there's still a voice saying, I'll show them.
[21:21:40]Be careful. That's a different trap.
[21:24:52]If you're building wealth to prove someone wrong, they're still controlling your decisions. You're still thinking about them.
[21:30:57]A billionaire CEO told the author seven words that ended years of grudge.
[21:36:20]The best revenge is living a better life.
[21:40:39]Not proving them wrong, just building a life so good that their opinions become irrelevant.
[21:48:15]The doubters either come around or they fade away. Doesn't matter. You're not paying attention anymore.
[21:52:43]Rule 23. Remember, you will die.
[21:57:12]There's an ancient practice called Memento mori, which means, remember that you will die.
[22:04:12]Sounds dark, but it's one of the most useful tools you'll ever learn.
[22:09:05]A lot of things are stressing you right now, and you're thinking you're totally stuck.
[22:13:23]Now imagine you're 85 years old, looking back at this moment.
[22:19:06]Truth is, you won't even remember most of your present stress.
[22:22:42]The crisis that feels huge right now, the risk you're scared to take, the person who's mad at you, none of them will matter.
[22:31:54]That's the power of this practice. Death puts everything in perspective.
[22:37:00]It shows you what actually matters and what just feels urgent.
[22:41:05]So, before any big decision, ask yourself, would I regret not doing this when I'm on my deathbed?
[22:47:33]If yes, do it now.
[22:49:50]Rule 24. Measure spending in time, not money.
[22:54:19]The author bought a private jet, not for luxury, but for the extra time he calculated.
[23:00:14]If he had to take the usual commercial flights for the next 10 years, layovers, delays, security lines, they'd take his time.
[23:08:35]Owning a jet would save roughly 13 days per year with his family.
[23:14:40]Over 10 years, that's four extra months with his sons while they were young.
[23:20:13]Owning the private jet would cost $1.2 million per year.
[23:24:19]That's $12 million in 10 years.
[23:28:13]So the choice was simple, $12 million in the bank, or four extra months with his kids.
[23:36:00]Easy decision. You probably can't buy a jet, neither can I, but the lesson is the same.
[23:40:48]Stop measuring spending in dollars. Start measuring in time.
[23:44:06]A $50 dinner with your father that turns into a real memory might be the best investment you'll ever make.
[23:52:43]Rule 25. The money won't make you happy, but have it anyway.
[23:58:24]You have a number in your head. Maybe it's $10,000 a month, maybe it's $1 million in the bank.
[24:03:20]You'll hit it someday. And you'll still feel empty.
[24:06:27]Because money solves money problems, it doesn't solve meaning problems.
[24:13:31]Going from $2,000 to $4,000 a month is life-changing.
[24:19:04]Going from $20,000 to $40,000, you barely feel it.
[24:24:13]The bigger the number gets, the less it matters.
[24:28:11]So build wealth, but not for the number. Build it for what it lets you do.
[24:34:05]The freedom, the options, the security for people you love, your spouse, your kids, your parents, your friends.
[24:42:21]That's what it's all for.
[24:43:06]Don't get so lost in building that you forget why you're building.
[24:48:47]The author says it best. Money is the ink of your pen, not the story.
[24:54:01]What the story is about, that's up to you.
[24:58:39]Now, if you noticed, most of the rules we covered today weren't just about numbers or strategies.
[25:04:36]They were about psychology, how you think, what you fear, the tricks your brain plays on you.
[25:11:15]At the end of the day, building wealth is 95% behavior and only 5% knowledge.
[25:18:06]If you want to go deeper into that, check out my summary of The Psychology of Money.
[25:23:32]It's on your screen right now. I'll see you there. Thanks for watching.
