One path to wealth is to increase cash flow. Keep expenses low. Save the leftover. Put it into the market. Let it continue to compound. Wake up down the line to millions. You can retire if you want Another path to wealth is to make enough money to comfortably survive. Use it to cover your living expenses. Don't optimize for savings. Build a business instead. Have equity in it. Sell for a multiple down the line. Capture a liquidation event for millions. You can retire if you want Both yield similar outcomes. With the former, it's essentially a given that you'll be well off as long as you persist on a long enough time frame. This actually applies to the latter as well, but interestingly, mainstream perception doesn't see it that way In the first example, most people are aware that investments can fluctuate. One year, the market might be down, but it'll inevitably rise again. Just don't panic, keep saving, and ride the cycles, because your funds won't disappear as long as you don't sell In the second example, history doesn't exist. If your business fails, you're also down, but there's no guarantee you'll see those funds again. On the surface, this clearly seems more risky. It has to work out, or else you're toast. No upcoming bull market to save you However, what the second example has that the first doesn't, is the subjective idea of more control. If the business doesn't work out, you can literally start a new one the same day. You could do this perpetually, at any given time, until the day you die Not panning out a couple years in? You can pivot. Pivot proves to be unfruitful? Scratch it entirely, start anew, repeat it with another venture. Couple years pass and the same happens? Keep repeating. In the first example, you just kind of have to sit and wait for the tide to change By pure probability, it's nearly impossible to not make it if you just stay in the game. If you fail, it's not a good or bad thing. Rather, it's just an objective experience. The business itself didn't actualize, but you always gained newfound skills, connections, and confidence that make every next at bat exponentially easier and increase your chances of a home run Market dips? Cool, calm, and collected. Keep saving and investing. You'll get there eventually. Business falters? Cool, calm, and collected. Keep pivoting or restarting. You'll get there eventually Both take discipline, perseverance, and patience. Don't falsely believe that one option is better than the other. If you want your wealth to compound, you'll have to stay consistent no matter what, regardless of the specific strategy One person may optimize for promotions over a decade, investing most of the cash, and letting it compound until their stack hits escape velocity in their 30's Another person may build businesses over a decade, pushing through multiple barriers, and not giving up until a liquidation event makes up for the lack of savings in one fell swoop in their 30's "But this guy became wealthy in 3 years building this app!" But there's another guy 10 years in and still hasn't found product market fit. Maybe he's unlucky he chose not to save "But this guy invested for 10 years, and he's still not wealthy!" But there's another guy who put everything into BTC 3 years ago and kept DCA'ing. Maybe he's lucky he chose not to start a business Of course these are broad, and there's other creative paths to wealth which will always include a mixture of both, but focus on the principles at hand. Everything has risk and takes time. No such thing as this will make you rich, this will leave you poor. This is better, this is worse. This is easier, this is harder. This is faster, this is slower. Nothing is a shortcut You can't predict the when or how. It simply depends on who you are as a person, what you're willing to sacrifice, and which tradeoffs makes more sense to you on a personal level.