Hey guys!
I was listening to this great Tim Ferriss podcast with Ramit Sethi this week. Sethi is 39 years old and is an American personal finance entrepreneur.
One of the topics they discussed was what would one’s “rich” life look like:
Sethi says that no talks about money, and that no one really asks each other what their “money dial” is when it comes to dreaming big:
What is your rich life?” Now, this is a concept that I’ve been talking about for about 15, 20 years on my site, and that is the idea that you don’t have to cut back on lattes, life isn’t about competing, who can be more frugal, there’s more to life than optimizing cell C3 of your spreadsheet, but I want to hear people talk about what their rich life is. I had a young woman whose rich life was, “I want to shop at Whole Foods without counting the prices of whatever I buy.” Okay, that’s fine if you’re just starting out, maybe you’re in $25,000 of debt. She was professionally extremely successful, so with that, I kind of push her. I say, “Okay, let’s say you could do that tomorrow. How much would your shopping cart cost?”
She said, “Ah, like $100.”
I said, “Push it. Get something really nice.”
“$150?”
I said, “You make X hundred thousand dollars a year. Let’s dream a little bigger,” and this is a huge topic that unfolds because again, another interesting insight about couples, most people have never thought about what their rich life is individually, much less what their rich life is together.
Sethi believes that asking yourself what your rich life looks like is important because:
Many of have spent our entire lives being told what we can’t do with our money, so when you ask people what they want to do, the answers are fairly facile.
I caught up with some friends this past week for a housewarming and we asked each other this question. What stuck out for me was how each person’s face lit up when they were listing out their dreams. Indeed, Sethi further says that when constructing your rich life, it should be totally bonkers:
The more dialed in your rich life becomes, the more incomprehensible it should become to everybody else.
What is my rich life?
So, on this basis, my “rich life” would be the following, including cost and reasons:
Quit my day job | Cost: Current annual salary
Why? To have more of what everyone is limited by - time. As the American entrepreneur, Naval Ravikant, puts it, “You’re not going to get rich renting out your time. You must own equity - a piece of a business - to gain your financial freedom”.
Invest in 100 start-ups | Cost: US$2 million (avg. US$20,000 ticket size)
Why? On another podcast that I have been listening to, The All-In Podcast, one of the hosts mentions that entrepreneurship is life. I agree. From my limited experience and observation outside the day job over the past year, making two small investments in my friends’ startups, I think it’s safe to say they are finding more about themselves than ever before. They are building, they are creating and (to borrow another one of Naval’s ideas) giving something to society what it wants (like a day job) but does not know (unlike a day job). I would love to do more of this at scale.
Buy a Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano | Cost: S$340,000
Why? This is a longstanding joke in my family (although a true story!). My parents said that after I passed a certain grade in piano, they would buy a grand piano for me to practise on. I passed that exam, and then the next, and then another, but my original (and much loved) Yamaha UH1 is still the only at home in Australia! Here in Singapore, while I wait to get my hands on my dream Steinway Model D, I am practising on (and love) my Roland FP-30X.
Play the piano at Carnegie Hall | Cost: Priceless
I wrote about this several months ago in an Instagram Post:
But honestly, for this experience the only three words needed are:
Sign up for Ironmans | Cost: US$10,000 per race (including entry fee, gear, training expenses, travel costs, etc.)
Why? One goal before hitting the big 3-0 for me was to complete the six World Major Marathons. Having achieved that milestone in 2019, the next sporting goal is to sign up for my first Ironman (once travel opens up and mass sporting events become commonplace again). My rich life goal would be to sign up to at least several of the best ones and train and compete in these properly. My experience in doing the major marathons is that I developed good habits in the lead-up to those races, and they offered great reasons to explore the world. Actually, I did sign up and paid for a place in the 2018 Ironman Malaysia but did not end up doing it.
Time to do one!
Buy a Tesla Model 3 Performance (for practical daily driving) and/or Rimac Nevera (for bonkers performance) | Cost: S$250,000 (Tesla) / US$2.5m (Rimac)
I’m including these cars as hey, this list is meant to be a list of dreams right?! These are both amazing electric cars (and probably shows how much time I spend watching Carwow YouTube channel videos!)
Train at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy for a week | Cost: US$20,000
Why? I have been working quite consistently over the past year to get better at tennis, and in the process of doing so, I have browsed the Rafa Nadal tennis academy. A week in Mallorca for some intense training, not to mention the chance to meet the man himself (who frequently trains there), would be amazing.
Play a round at August National | Cost: Priceless
18 holes here and I would be in absolute heaven just soaking in all the history that I have only ever seen on TV and YouTube and that only a privileged few have had the opportunity to play.
New YouTube videos out this week
Until next weekend, take care and have a great week!
David