The poor struggle to make the ends meet, the middle class works for money but can’t handle it, the rich make the money work for them
You can buy assets or liabilities. The rich buy assets, the poor and middle-class mostly buy liabilities.
The assets are the things you own that work for you. It can be real-estate, products you sell, companies you own, etc.
There’s a separate kind of assets called portfolio which encompasses stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments that earn money (as oppossed to savings that mainly maintain their worth).
I loved the lessons about making money and learning to sell.
The author emphasizes investing in your marketing and sales skills if you want to be rich. This is something I discovered only in the recent years and I wished I knew about it earlier (instead I thought that getting better at my job would be the best investment).
I liked how the author interjected some cross-sales of his other products throughout the book. It was unobtrusive, informative, and entertaining. I wish the regular self-advertisements were that good!
The book is heavily biased towards real-estate investments. I understand this is because that’s the author’s favorite, but the other types of income should get some more time as well.
The sell before you buy principle was really good. It’s something indie hackers use to research if there’s a market fit. First look for someone who is willing to buy a given asset (real-estate, product, services) and only then acquire the asset at a lower price (find an occassion, build a product, hire freelancers).
I liked how the author mentioned that group discounts are a thing and whenever you want to buy something, find a group of people with similar needs and negotiate a discout. I’ve been using this tactic to buy theatre tickets, concert tickets, cheap accomodation, clothes, and other stuff ever since I remember.
Before he became a real-estate investor, the author was a very successful salesperson. This shows where his influence and negotiation skills probably come from (or where they were developed). I wonder whether a similar feat is possible for those who don’t necessarly have experience in sales.
Once again, after “Nudge”, it was quite an uncomfortable read. It made me realize how much have I been missing my entire professional life. It brought some anxiety, but also (ironically) a nudge to act.
Altough the book focuses on how to get financial independence, the author admits he started his sales career doing a lot of work and becoming the best salesperson. This is the classical “work hard, put in long hours, and after some time you will make it”. The author admits that right now, the best deals come from a little work, but he started in the usual overworked way. I’m really curious to learn about people who became financially independent without putting extra hours or even putting less hours to work than most (“The 4-Hour Workweek” is not that book, BTW).
