The Limited Role of Savings
I’m not against having some money set aside—specifically, about six months of expenses. That’s peace of mind. That’s financial oxygen. But beyond that? Money sitting in a savings account is:
- Losing value to inflation every single day
- Earning next to nothing in interest
- Fully taxable on what little it does earn
- Doing absolutely nothing to build your legacy
This passive approach to wealth building is fundamentally flawed. When I wrote my New York Times bestseller, Killing Sacred Cows, I wanted to challenge these deeply ingrained financial myths that keep most Americans trapped.
The Real Wealth Equation
Here’s what I teach instead: Your mental capital multiplied by your relationship capital determines your financial capital.
Mental capital is what you know—skills that earn and wisdom that grows. Relationship capital is who you know. One single connection can transform your income, your business, and your life. Then, and only then, do we talk about investing.
If you know business, invest in your business first. Stay in your lane, then expand from there. This approach has helped me become a multimillionaire by age twenty-six, not by pinching pennies but by focusing on value creation.
Finding Hidden Money
Want an immediate action step? Figure out how much you’re bleeding every year in taxes, fees, and interest. It’s probably double what your savings earns. Patch those leaks. Reclaim that cash flow. Redirect it toward creation, not just accumulation.
Most people focus on the wrong metrics. They celebrate having $50,000 in savings while ignoring the $30,000 they’re losing annually to inefficient tax strategies, unnecessary fees, and high-interest debt.
Savings is about preservation. Wealth is about creation.
Your Greatest Asset
Here’s the truth: You are your greatest asset. Not your bank account, not the market. It’s you.
When I coach elite business owners in the financial services industry, I don’t start by telling them where to put their money. I start by helping them recognize their own value and potential. Because once you understand that, you’ll never again be satisfied with watching your money shrink in a savings account.
The traditional financial advice to “save, save, save” is outdated and ineffective. It’s based on an industrial-age mentality where you work for 40 years, save diligently, and hope to have enough to survive retirement.
But we’re not in the industrial age anymore. We’re in an age of unprecedented opportunity where your knowledge and relationships can create exponential returns that no savings account could ever match.
So stop focusing on preservation. Start focusing on creation. Stop playing defense with your money. Start playing offense. And most importantly, stop believing that saving money is the path to wealth. It’s not. It never was.
The path to wealth is through developing yourself, building valuable relationships, and creating value in the marketplace. Everything else is just a distraction.
