When is Enough Enough?
"Brandon, when is enough enough?! How much money do you need?"
Has anyone ever asked you this?
If not, they will if you continue to build your life toward financial freedom, wealth, and a level of abundance above your friends.
And you'll definitely hear it if you put your journey out there on social media.
Of course, it's not a real question.
It's an indictment cloaked in curiosity.
Last week in The BetterLife Letter, I took the whole edition to talk about this phenomenon that we all do, something Freud called "The Ego Defense Mechanism." You should go back and read that, for the psychology behind the question.
(That article was one of my favorites I've ever written.)
But this week I want to give an actual, concrete answer.
Three of them, actually.
When is enough money enough?
1.) When there are no more hurting people
Money is a tool.
Yes, it can buy me a nice house and a nice car. I like those things, but the vast, vast percentage of my wealth is going to go towards helping other people.
I don't talk about my giving because I think it's a weird thing to flex about, and the Bible specifically says not to. but I just caution people to not judge someone's outward appearance of wealth without knowing what they're doing quietly with it.
Building wealth also allows me to employ people, dozens and dozens of them. I've paid millions and millions and millions of dollars to my team members over the last decade so they can:
put food on their table
build a retirement nest egg for themselves
take their kids on vacation
tithe to their local church
and they don't have to fight about money with their spouse
2.) When money becomes my god.
People love to bring up the story of the rich young ruler, found in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the Bible. The guy Jesus told to sell everything and give it to the poor.
"See?" they say. "Jesus had a problem with rich people."
Did he?
Consider this:
The median income for humans on Earth is about $8 a day.
Make $35,000 a year? You're in the global top 10%.
Make what a nurse and a plumber make together? Now you're brushing up against the top 1%.
So if Jesus had a problem with rich people, he had a problem with almost everyone who has ever asked me when enough is enough.
The rich young ruler isn't (just) some dude on Instagram with the jet. It's you. It's me. It's your pastor. Its the guy who works at Walmart.
We are the rich young ruler.
Next week, I'll go DEEP into this story of the Rich Young Ruler and what the Bible says about wealth, but the short of it this:
the Bible doesn't hate wealth. It hates when wealth becomes your god.
so when someone asks me with indignation, "When enough is enough?" or implies that Jesus wouldn't like me having money..., I love to reframe that and ask them if they make more than $8 a day, because that's the median income on Earth.
Wealth is a heart issue, not a bank account issue.
The Bible clearly says, "you cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24)
Not "shouldn't." Can't.
So if I ever catch myself serving money, which by Jesus's definition means I've stopped serving God... that's enough.
Most of the time I don't feel that way.
And besides, that's between me, God, and my close circle of Christian brothers who I talk with regularly and have full permission to call me out on this.
3.) When I'm Actually Free
This last point is more personal, but I think people have a misunderstanding of how rich I am.
And they will misjudge your wealth as well.
Yes, I have almost $1 billion of real estate... and yes, I'm a millionaire.
But I am not a billionaire. Not even close. Not even 5% of the way there.
I run a private equity firm that has almost $1 billion of assets under management, and I have 2,500 partners who get paid before me. it could be another decade before I really see significant wealth from that. And maybe I will see it. Maybe I won't.
And that's what people don't understand about real estate.
Hear that Elon Musk is a trillionaire, and they assume he could write a $1 trillion check.
How dumb.
But then again, America doesn't really teach financial literacy who can blame the majority of the population for not understanding?
I mean, technically speaking, Elon already has lost 30% of his "net worth" in the last few months. now he's only worth a miserable $912 billion. Which is exactly what I'm saying, it's not real until it's cash. And even then... is it really real?
Look, I don't need to go into more detail because the only people reading this are other entrepreneurs, business owners, and real estate investors like myself, so you get it.
Paper wealth, cash flow, income... it's all a bit... fuzzy.
Or like McConaughey says in The Wolf of Wall Street,
"Fugayzi, fugazi. It’s a whazy. It’s a woozy. It’s fairy dust.”
Sometimes you feel on top of the world and buying that first class seat to Japan, and other times you're selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace to make sure you have enough money to pay your bills.
it's the entrepreneurial roller coaster... and I'm fully riding it.
The Four Levels of Financial Freedom
As I see it, there are really four levels of financial freedom:
Level 1: I have real estate or other businesses that I work in that cover my expenses. But although they are my assets, and I don't need to work full-time... I need to keep the plates spinning or else they would fall apart. This is where most landlords and entrepreneurs are at.
Level 2: I have real estate with property management, stocks, mortgage notes, or other investments that cover all my basic living expenses. This is the "FIRE" movement in a nutshell (Financial Independence, Retire Early.). I have had to tighten the belt, buy the cheap steak at Costco, and a house cleaner is a luxury I can't afford.. but I'm free. Assuming rents don't crash, stocks don't crash, my mortgage note payers keep paying.
Level 3: I have real estate, stocks, or other investments that cover all my ideal living expenses. I don't need to tighten the belt, I can buy the prime Filet at Costco, and I can not only afford a house cleaner, but a nanny and landscaper too. Maybe even a vacation home. And I'm free... again, assuming rents don't crash, stocks don't crash, my mortgage note payers keep paying.
Level 4: I have absolutely no debt, including home mortgages, and I fund my ideal lifestyle entirely, with margin, from total passive investments backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government (i.e. bank interest, CDs, and bonds) so there is almost no risk of ever losing a dime. Other than the US Government going out of business there is nothing that could financially derail me or my family.
(And even that isn't true... the government could go belly up, hyperinflation could hit us all, robots could wipe us all out. lol. But it's about the best we're going to get!)
So, "enough" for me is when I'm at level 4... and I'm definitely not there. That's financial freedom. So I'm going to keep working toward that.
And then I'll keep going, but with less stress and even more generosity. Because there are still people who need help from people who have been blessed with the mind and ability to make money.
So... when is enough enough?
I don't know. Level 4 is a concrete number, and it's probably around 50 million invested in hyper-secure government bonds.
But a number was never really the answer.
There's a famous story about John D. Rockefeller, at one point the richest man in the world. Someone supposedly asked him:
"How much money is enough?"
His answer?
"Just a little bit more."
I don't know if Rockefeller actually said it, the quote is difficult to verify, but whoever did nailed something deep in the human condition.
Because that's the danger.
The number moves.
At $100,000, you think you'll feel safe at $1 million.
At $1 million, you believe it'll be $5 million.
At $5 million, $10 million will finally do it... right?
Eventually you realize the problem was never the number.
The problem was believing the number would give you what only God can give you:
Peace.
And I believe God will tell me when I've got enough.
And I think he'll also tell you.
Agreed?
Talk to you next week!
Brandon
P.S. Hey, if you have to buy an investment property or refinance a deal in the next few months, I'd love to throw my hat in the ring to help you get the loan done. I started BetterLife Real Estate Funding because I realize how much of a pain investment property loans can be. Learn more or request a quote at BetterLifeREF.com.
