Topic
Building Wealth
Making money and keeping money are different skills. This is the foundation: the order to do things in, the mistakes that quietly cost years, and the habits that compound once you stop breaking them.
Wealth is not income. It is what is left, and what it grows into. Plenty of people with good salaries have no wealth, and the reason is rarely that they earned too little. They never learned the order: get out of debt, build a buffer, stop the leaks, invest the difference, give it time. If you are starting from zero, begin with the 20s roadmap. If you earn well and still feel behind, begin with the wealth builder post.
22 articles
What You'll Find Here
The order of operations
The five levels, from escaping debt to investing on autopilot, including why cash is the wrong place to leave your savings and how big your emergency fund should be.
Stop the leaks
Lifestyle creep, buy now pay later, budgeting without a budget, and why more money so often means more problems.
What wealth is, and how it grows
A definition worth having, the difference between making and keeping money, the simple formula, and the mental models that make long-term thinking easier.
Your situation
Where you live and how you think about money change the playbook.
All Building Wealth Articles
- September 24, 2026Mo' money, mo' problems (literally)Why a high income does NOT mean more wealth, and what to do about it
- June 22, 2026How (And Why) To Build Generational WealthHot take: ultra-rich people who leave their children with nothing are virtue signaling (and raising kids who will hate them)
- May 12, 2026What is a Wealth Builder?Why making money is not the same thing as building wealth, and what to do instead.
- January 23, 2026The Alchemist is NOT About ManifestationThe book that inspired Wealth Potion, and how to apply it as Paulo Coelho intended
- January 15, 2026'Buy Now, Pay Later' Is a ScamWhy you should avoid 'Buy Now, Pay Later' at ALL costs...
- November 27, 2025Budget Without a Budget4 Simple Tips... and Introducing the Wealth Potion Auto-Budget
- May 29, 2025The Silent Wealth Killer: Lifestyle CreepWhat Lifestyle Creep is, and how to stop it in its tracks
- March 20, 2025How You Play Video Games = How You Live LifeA unique method for reflecting on your approach to life
- February 27, 2025Level 1: Why You Shouldn't Save in CashThe Hidden Boss of Inflation and How to Use Cash Wisely
- February 20, 2025Level 0: Escaping Debt AKA "Tutorial Island"Everything you need to know about debt
- February 13, 2025Building Wealth is a Video Game (The 5 Levels)The 5 Levels of Investing and How to Win the Game
- January 30, 2025I had cancer.My cancer story and why you must incorporate health into your definition of wealth.
- July 11, 2024Personalized FinanceIt’s called “Personal” Finance for a Reason I’m in Tokyo, Japan this week. Being on vacation affects our psychology around spending q
- June 27, 2024Making Money vs. Keeping MoneyThe Trap That Prevents You From Building Wealth “It’s not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and ho
- June 14, 2024What is Wealth?Letting Go of Your Negative Beliefs About Wealth “Seek wealth, not money or status.” – Naval Ravikant Our newsletter is called Wealth Potio
- November 26, 2023What is Cathedral Thinking and How to Use it to Grow WealthDo you use Cathedral Thinking? If not, you should. Cathedral thinking is a concept born from the medieval times about thinking in the time-span of multiple g
- July 30, 2023What Does VHCOL Mean? Very High Cost of Living, ExplainedVHCOL means very high cost of living: New York, San Francisco, London. What counts as a VHCOL city, how it differs from HCOL, and how to build wealth in one.
- June 30, 2023The 3 Levels of Emergency Funds – and How to Calculate ThemYou’ve lost your job.Your mortgage payments have doubled.You or one of your loved ones needs emergency medical care. Maybe none of these things have ac
- April 23, 2023Exponential Growth vs. Linear GrowthGrab a normal sized sheet of paper. 8.5 x 11, to be exact (or follow along in your imagination).Fold it in half.Now fold it in half again.Keep folding it in
- April 1, 2023Mental Models and How to Use ThemIf you want to invest like the best, you need to think like the best.One of the best ways to do this is to learn about their “Mental Models”.In o
- November 20, 2022The Simple Formula for Building WealthToo many people overcomplicate wealth creation. “How do I build wealth?” they ask. They get fancy with complicated investment strategies, contrar