We live in time of pretty much global stagnation, when it comes to the macroeconomic picture. It’s unfortunate. We all have a lot potential, but corporate financiers have basically made a deal with the devil in order to develop the planet. Young people have been sacrficed, and you can hear around the world that they are hurting. So how do you find growth in suxh a climate? I think it’s fairly simple, but drawn out if you view the world through an objective lens.
Realize the average country is in trouble
It’s very weird and shouldn’t be the case, but it’s definitely so. The average country in the world is heavily indebted, and there tends to be an oversupply of labor. People are struggling to find jobs, because there is an oversupply of labor.
Be in a rich country
If you have absolutely no ideas, it’s better to live in a country that’s rich and indebted than to live in a place that’s too poor. If you live in a place that’s too poor, you don’t have access to economic opportunities, and you can’t get ahead easily. If you’re ina rich country, you can aim to be above average and just find somewhere else to live as time goes on.
Get an education
In today’s world, you want at least a 2 year education. As of writing this article, I’m 26, my blog is getting traffic, I live in a “poor” country and I have no education. I have learned a lot about digital marketing over the years, and there are more opportunities than ever in my country, but if I had an education right now, I would be muddling through blogging with a fallback option.
Build online
If you build online, you have a hedge against whatever is going on around you. At least, kind of. It’s not perfect but building online allows you to create the ideal life. You can learn skills, get paid, and live absolutely anywhere you want in the long run. Eventually, you’ll find a business model and make it work. Look for jurisdictions which are keeping debt low or cutting debt This is the ley to everything in today’s age. Too many of the world’s governments are stuck paying interest as a result of massive debt loads. If you can find a jurisdiction that is cutting debt, you will find a jurisdiction more able to reinvest in itself.
Look at the informal economy
When you learn how to find low-debt jurisdictions and evulate the size of an informal economy, that’s when you separate your predictive abilities from the rest of the pack.
Expect things to get hard
Salaries are low in a lot of the world. This means that in many ways, it’s harder when starting out to create success. It’s only going to get more difficult as the economy digitizes. It’s also going to be less and less obvious which fields to enter as the world becomes wealthier. Generally speaking however, the world is about 25 years behind the USA, and many countries are catching up fast. I suspect some countries will surpass the USA sooner than we think. I would expect things to get hard, just due to the sheer confusion and the fact that many of us will have to contend with living in dying countries.
Spend less than half your net worth
This is how you conserve money. If you spend less than your net worth you gain a massive advantage over others when it comes to saving money. Not matter what country you’re in, you’ll find yourself ahead of the curve. Create a system where you’re spending a tiny portion of your wealth for best results.
Avoid debt like the plague
It doesn’t matter if you have to live an animal. You don’t want to take on a bunch of debt, at all. If you have a bunch of debt, you’re stuck in standstill, and to an even greater extent than a country as a whole would be. Avoid debt so that once you’ve done your grunt work, you can simply flourish.
Don’t be afraid of low paying jobs
Sometimes you just need capital and knowledge. Working a low paying job might not be pleasant or give you status, but it can give you the two things I just mentioned. When you’re knowledgable and know how to use capital, you can spin up a side hustle for yourself. A regular job is great, and you shouldn’t be afraid of working one if you’re young. It can propel your life forward.
Build the right relationships
There’s a lot of money in the informal economy, and it doesn’t get taxed. Making friends with the right people is key to getting to the levels you want. You want ethical people who share your interests. If you can connect with those people, you can grow.
Realize the economy is predictable
The economy is fairly predictable if you know what you’re looking for. Knowing how to predict the growth of the economy is useful. If you learn how to predict the economy, you can set up your life nicely in the future. One thing that we can expect in the future is for life as we know it cost less. But we also know that the future usually brings more stuff. In order to have status, you need to keep up with the Joneses. So plan your wealth building journey with this fact in mind.
Fight to be in the top 1%
If you can enter the global top 1%, life is just different. Right now, I think that means having around $500k USD in net worth by your early 30s, across the world. It mught be harder to make it in some countries. But generally speaking, the top 1% of earners are able to live good lives everywhere. If you fight hard to be in the top 1% when you’re in your 20s, you have the option to give up along the way. This is actually a bledsing because you’ll the freedom to decide what’s improtant in lufe rather than constantly playing catchup like someone who “wakes up at 30” might.
Look at education levels, and move where your education goes far
Some countries have a lot of wealth, and the people don’t have a lot of access to education. This is where you leverage education in your home country. Find a country where a 2 year education puts you in the top 40% of people. From there, work your ass off. You should be able to break into the top 5-10% of asset holders from there. That’s comfortable in most of the world nowadays.
Realize it takes longer than expected
You might not have much even at age 30. It takes longer than you think to build real wealth. Oftentimes longer than expected. The instagram lifestyle is fake. Real wealth is quiet, simple, takes years to build, and values what’s important. No matter what country you choose to build in, it’s going to take years of consistency to get where you want.
Have a number in mind
You want to be realisitic. Me personally, I’m happy if I can fall somewhere between the top 5 and 10% of asset-holders in my area. In my country, that means earning about $2,000-$4,000/month in my sleep. I think I’m about 3 years away from doing this, and I care more about being educated than becoming richer than that.
Come up with fail safes
You want to have backup plan after backup plan. You will fail more than once. Learning to mitigate risk is the most important part of finding financial freedom. You want to minimize your risk of going insolvent.Find a country with hidden wealth This is pretty hard if you don’t know what you’re looking for. But generally speaking, you’re going to want to look for a fairly high cost of living relative to the stated wages. This is a lot of poor countries. And then you’re going to want to look for a large informal economy. You might not be able to tap into your new country’s informal economy, so what you do is you save time by only doing 2 years of schooling and building remotely. Just make sure to keep up with the truly wealthy people in your country. Don’t let stats lull you into a false sense of security. A lot of poorer countries are filled with extra wealth that’s part of the reason why some poor countries are so expensive and developed: a massive informal economy. If you can find a country with low debt and lots of hidden wealth, you’ll be able to get ahead.
Be optimistic
If you aren’t optimistic about the state of the world, you’re a loser and probably wrong. Remain optimistic about life and you will probably find opportunities even if you don’t end up becoming super successful. There is absolutely no need to be pessimistic about the state of the world, the future looks very bright.
Stay aware of natural resource news
Oil is being discovered all over the place. The increase in solar energy will affect many countries positicely. You can predict how certain countries will change if you stay tapped in. Even basic news can be helpful.
Don’t chase too much money
Work hard and do the hard work early, but don’t worry too much about getting money. Most of the time, anything above the top 20-3% is a waste of time. Noone cares that you have the money and the world is becoming a lot wealthier a lot faster. If you’re young, focus on getting your education and going remote. You would be surprised how much money there is out there. Focus on money hard when you’re young, but don’t chase it as the end goal. It’s better to be top 20% in 3 areas of life (income, health, and relationships) than it is to be super wealthy in the long run. This is why having a number in mind is useful. You’ll know how far you want to get and when you want to stop.
Learn multiple languages
Knowing multiple languages will help you both get paid and meet new people. Generally speaking, you want to know as many languages as possible, because having language skills gives you access to specual economic zones. I don’t this changing for a long time.
There are ways to find growth and create success in today’s world. It’s just that you have to think harder, on a more long term basis, all while contending with higher prices. But when it comes to the task at hand, we have it easier than any generation in history. We have the ability to make the friends of our choosing, do whatever jobs we please, and worl from wherever we want. If you can’t create growth under circumstances, it just wasn’t in the cards for you. If you read between the lines, not much has changed. The process of working hard, getting a degree, and avoiding debt still work. It’s just that we need to make some tweaks to adjust for the modern world.
Thanks for paying attention.
