If you wish to develop your wealth sooner than the common individual, I recommend attempting to suppose in two timelines that transfer collectively in unison.
The primary timeline is analyzing what is going on on proper now. The second timeline is analyzing what may occur sooner or later, with a constant unfold. It is like having a twin pc processor at all times operating in your mind.
I have been pondering in two timelines since 1999, once I bought my first finance job out of school. Considering this manner was key to me constructing sufficient wealth to escape company America in 2012. I have never stopped pondering this manner since.
Instance Of Considering In Two Timelines For Higher Wealth
The traditional instance to elucidate my suggestion is to people who find themselves presently working.
- Timeline #1: How do you’re feeling about your job now?
- Timeline #2: How do you suppose you’ll really feel in ten years in case you are nonetheless doing all your identical job at present?
Most individuals I speak to by no means take into consideration query two after they first begin their job. They’re thrilled to be there and filled with optimism. However I would like you to consider query #2 as a result of I am attempting to get you to forecast your distress.
In case you can approximate whenever you’ll be depressing at your job, you possibly can take steps to put together for when that distress comes. However if you happen to do not take into consideration query #2 persistently in two timelines, by the point you’re depressing, you’re screwed. You’ve got little-to-no choices for getting out of a suboptimal state of affairs.
Saving And Investing Sufficient To Break Free From Distress
After I was informed I needed to get in at 5:30 a.m. and keep previous 7 p.m. to make sure I bought the suitable analysis from my colleagues in Asia for shoppers, I knew I couldn’t final 40 years in a profession like my dad and mom did. As an alternative, I made a extra life like evaluation: how lengthy may I conceivably final earlier than burning out fully? The reply I got here up with was age 40.
So I calculated how a lot I would want by then to have the braveness to stroll away. That quantity was $3 million. Relying on how the web value was structured, it may generate probably $100,000 a yr in passive earnings. From that second on, saving and investing $3 million turned my mission. I always visualized what life would seem like at age 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, and past—free from the grind with that cash in thoughts.
This two-timeline strategy—present-day hustle paired with future-day dreaming—stored me centered and motivated. I actually believed that if I didn’t hit that internet value goal, I would short-circuit my life from all of the stress and hours. I used to be already starting to endure from plantar fasciitis, uncontrollable allergy symptoms, and weight acquire.
In the long run, I left three months earlier than my thirty fifth birthday due to an sudden variable: the flexibility to maintain all my deferred compensation and obtain a six-figure severance bundle after 11 years at my final agency. That severance coated 5 years of regular dwelling bills. With that monetary cushion in hand, I knew it was now or by no means—so I took the leap of religion.
Utilizing Two Timelines To Turn into A Higher Investor
Now let’s apply my two-timeline strategy to investing.
1) Current Timeline:
Traders have carried out extremely properly since 2020, particularly those that guess on tech. With the S&P 500 up greater than 20% in each 2023 and 2024, the investor class has constructed way more wealth than anticipated. Actual property has additionally carried out strongly since 2020, though some markets—like Texas and Florida—are correcting. Each investor ought to take a look at what their internet value was in 2020 and have a good time.

2) Future Timeline (10–20 Years Forward):
In case you or your dad and mom don’t make investments aggressively, life may keep in arduous mode indefinitely. The wealth hole has already widened dramatically since 2020, and it is more likely to preserve widening. In 10 to twenty years, shopping for a major residence is perhaps subsequent to inconceivable. Discovering a job that pays a livable wage may additionally develop into more and more troublesome as AI disrupts extra industries.
What ought to we do?

The Plan To Guarantee The Future Will Be OK
I’ve developed a common sport plan to present my household a combating probability to compete in an more and more aggressive and unsure future.
1) Maintain onto our major residence and not less than two rental properties to remain lengthy actual property.
Actual property is likely one of the most dependable methods to construct and protect wealth over time. By holding onto property, we not solely profit from potential appreciation and rental earnings, however we additionally defend ourselves from being priced out of housing sooner or later. Proudly owning one rental property for every baby is one thing it’s best to take into account.
2) Construct two 529 plans that equal the present four-year value of the most costly college at present.
Faculty tuition continues to rise sooner than inflation, and there’s no signal of it slowing down. Totally funding 529 plans now ensures our youngsters may have the liberty to decide on high quality training with out being burdened by debt—or burdening us. They can even have the choice to attend the very best faculty that accepts them.

3) Make investments not less than the present tax restrict yearly in every kid’s custodial funding account and Roth IRAs.
By persistently contributing early, we harness the ability of compounding. The purpose is to construct a monetary basis that enables them to pursue careers they get pleasure from, not simply ones that pay the payments or appeared “excessive standing” by society.
4) Goal to speculate not less than $100,000 a yr in threat belongings for the following 20 years for ourselves.
To fight inflation and keep buying energy, constant investing in equities, enterprise capital, and different growth-oriented belongings is essential. This aggressive strategy is our hedge in opposition to stagnation and the rising value of dwelling. It will not be simple as a author, however I am going to someway discover a means via different actions.
5) Construct $500,000 in personal AI firm publicity to hedge in opposition to a troublesome job market sooner or later.
AI is each a menace and a chance. By investing in personal AI firms or funds, we goal to take part within the upside of technological disruption, somewhat than merely changing into victims of it.
Why a $500,000 Funding in AI Makes Sense
Ever since 2017, I’ve been grappling with the truth of getting to pay for faculty beginning in 2036. Primarily based on present projections, we’re round $450,000 for public and $750,000 for personal college tuition over 4 years. That’s a staggering quantity—particularly contemplating most of what’s taught at school at present is freely accessible on-line.
One resolution is to information them towards attending group faculty for 2 years earlier than transferring to an in-state college. One other is to coach them ourselves, or not less than as a lot as we presumably can earlier than they’re adults.
However maybe probably the most compelling resolution is to spend money on the very know-how that’s more likely to disrupt conventional training probably the most: synthetic intelligence.
At first look, allocating $500,000 to non-public AI investments could seem extreme. However whenever you evaluate that to the potential $450,000–$750,000 value of school in 2036 for every child, it begins to seem like a rational hedge.
The logic goes: if I am prepared to spend $450,000 to $750,000 on faculty in 2036 per child, then I ought to completely be prepared to speculate $500,000 or extra within the very firms which may make conventional training out of date. Heck, I ought to be prepared to speculate $900,000 – $1.5 million in personal AI firms now that I actually give it some thought.
The Potential Returns On A $500,000 Funding
Right here’s a breakdown of how a $500,000 funding grows over 10 and 20 years at totally different compound annual development charges (CAGR):
Annual Return | 10 Years | 20 Years |
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A $500,000 funding compounding at 15% yearly over 20 years grows to about $8.2 million. Are you able to think about having the choice to entry that type of capital in your mid-20s? Whereas 15% is an aggressive goal, a majority of these returns are way more believable when investing in earlier-stage personal firms.
Simply take a look at the efficiency of early traders in OpenAI, Anduril, Scale AI, Databricks, and Anthropic—many have achieved properly over 50% annual returns since their Sequence A rounds. Scale AI went from lower than a $50 million valuation in 2017 to now about $30 billion. That is a 153%+ compound annual return over 9 years.
As a personal fairness investor since 2006, I’ve had numerous multi-baggers throughout numerous funds. The actual problem, nonetheless, is having a massive sufficient place in these winners to materially transfer the needle. The opposite problem will not be investing in too many bagels (100% losers) that drag down the general efficiency. Not simple, however I am prepared to maintain attempting with as much as 20% of my investable belongings.
Suppose in Two Timelines to Dwell With out Remorse
The current is fleeting, and the long run is at all times on its means. To dwell absolutely, we should be taught to carry two timelines in thoughts: who we’re at present and who we wish to develop into.
It’s not sufficient to easily dream of a greater future. We now have to behave in alignment with that imaginative and prescient daily. In any other case, we threat drifting, solely to get up at some point questioning the place on a regular basis went.
We’ll all develop outdated. And when that second of reflection comes—when the noise fades and the times develop quiet—I hope we don’t look again with remorse. Not for the dangers we took or the failures we confronted, however for the steps we by no means dared to take and the time we by no means prioritized.
At 48, I do know I’ll be deeply disenchanted in myself if I don’t spend the following 10-20 years absolutely current with my youngsters, prioritizing well being over hustle, and resisting the relentless pull of more cash and standing. I wish to spend my time doing what fulfills me—not what others count on of me.
Let’s dwell at present with tomorrow in thoughts. That’s how we give which means to each.
Options
In case you’re trying to spend money on personal AI firms, try Fundrise Enterprise. The minimal funding is $10 and you may view what Fundrise is holding first earlier than investing determination. I’ve personally invested $153,000 to date and I’ll proceed to greenback value common in to construct my AI place to $500,000. Fundrise is a long-time sponsor of Monetary Samurai as our views are aligned.
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