The Wealth Creation Game

Have you ever worried about having enough money to retire when you want? Have you ever questioned whether you’ll even be able to retire at all? If so, you’re far from alone. This is because financial literacy - which is what we’ll be talking about here - is not part of any regular school curriculum. You can go through 20+ years in the education system (as I did) and never have a class on this! You are more likely to find a high-school or college class on sexual education (also important!) than on financial education.

If it’s not taught in schools, the only way we learn it is from our peers or, more often, our parents. What this means is if we aren’t fortunate enough to learn about money at home, we aren’t likely to learn it at all.

The truth is, I think personal finance education has never been more important than it is now. The world seems to be getting more complicated and uncertain almost by the day, and ongoing changes in technology and the job market all but guarantee this disruption will continue. My generation, the millennials, face some historically daunting financial challenges, including sky-rocketing costs of almost everything we care about from education and healthcare to simply finding a place to live that doesn’t break the bank. And all of this against the backdrop of a changing, pandemic-ravaged job market. Financial savvy is no longer just a luxury for those with high disposable income, it has become a necessity for everyone.

At the same time however, tools and applications for managing finances and investing have never been more accessible and powerful. For the first time in history, no matter how much or how little money you may have to invest, you can participate in many of the same opportunities as the rich and powerful… if you know how.

Like many, I had to learn the rules of financial literacy and wealth creation the hard way: through continuous trial and error. My journey towards financial freedom has been littered with mistakes. In 2017 & 2018 I made life-changing gains in the span of months, only to lose it all. I’ve been scammed, belittled, and ignored. I’ve made the mistake, more than once, of giving in to FOMO and to greed. But after each setback I stuck to my plan and I kept learning, and eventually I succeeded. It’s true that money doesn’t bring you happiness... but the freedom that you get as a result of having it - freedom to spend your time however you want - certainly can.

I strongly believe that, in today’s world, anyone can succeed at reaching their financial goals. It comes down to learning and adopting the right fundamental principles of financial literacy, in the right way.

Let’s back up a second… what even is financial literacy?

Most of the time when people ask me this, I give them a short one-sentence explanation, which usually goes something like this: “financial literacy is knowing what you should and shouldn’t do with money, IF you like having money.” I like this explanation because I think it can get the point across in simple terms 9 times out of 10. But I want to go a bit deeper here, so let’s zoom out further.

Life is full of games, right? If you’re like most people, it might go something like this: first you’ll play in the game of going to school, the game of trying to become “popular”, and the game of getting into college. Then you’ll play the game of getting a job, finding a career that you can handle getting up for every day without going insane, and maybe settling down somewhere. Meanwhile you’ll be playing the relationship game to make friends, find a significant other, and then if you’re really up for it, you can go up to “hard-mode” and take a go at the game of being married.

All along the way though, there’s another game that we’re all playing, though most of us will suck at it, because we’re never taught to play properly. This is in fact one of the most important games of all because, more than all the others, we’re all compelled to play no matter what we’d rather do. We actually need the “points” in this game to literally live and survive in society. I am talking about the wealth creation game. 

Stated simply, the goals of the wealth creation game are to build wealth, preserve it, and achieve something called “financial freedom”. I define financial freedom simply as: “the freedom from having to work for, stress about, or be otherwise ruled by, money.” 

Once you’ve achieved this financial freedom, you’ve won the wealth creation game. You are then free to no longer play. 

In fact, by consequence of winning this very-important game you will be more free to play in any of life’s other games that you want. You could keep on playing of course, and many people do, but the point is that once you’ve won, it becomes a choice. 

With Road to Babylon – the business I’ve set up to spread financial education – I want to help give that choice to as many people as possible. After all, how great would the world be if none of us had to work for money, and we could instead pursue those things that we are the most creative in, and that bring us the most happiness?

I believe financial literacy is a skill just like any other. Think of other skills you may have learned over your life: Math, english, acting, coding, skiing, singing, playing sports or playing video games, learning an instrument or how to draw... maybe you’ve learned several of these skills, or dozens more I haven’t mentioned.

Financial skills are no different. In fact, I would argue they are even more straightforward than most of the above! 

Financial savvy doesn’t require physical strength or way-above-average height, it doesn’t require stellar hand-eye coordination or a particularly resilient set of vocal chords, it doesn’t require you to be comfortable at “public speaking” or have a knack for finding the square root of large numbers. It really doesn’t require any of these things at all. That’s why I am very confident that truly anyone can learn the financial skills they need to achieve their goals, and their freedom from the obligation to work.

My confidence is driven in large part from my experience working with people, of all ages and backgrounds, and seeing them achieve results (you can check out some testimonials here). If you are interested in working with me on your financial goals and how to reach them, I invite you to schedule your first FREE consultation with me today.