I grew up in a home where both of my parents came up in the streets. Thank God my mom had the strength and courage to change for her children. My father stayed active in the streets. Eventually he was sent away for a very long time. Guess what I learned? No one cared, because it’s so common to grow up in these types of situations. It was normal to live in a broken home. It was more uncommon to grow up with both parents in the same house. I’ve seen kids at school get picked on for having a two-parent home. It doesn’t make sense now thinking back to those days but that’s how the cookie crumbled. The things that were normal to us are deep-rooted in oppression which resulted in lack of resources. We idolized the streets. Our role models were the neighborhood heroes. Those were the only people we had access to that seemed to be enjoying life with the things we only seen on tv.

At any moment they could pull out a bankroll that would pay my mother’s rent for the next five to ten years. The candy paint on their cars were so wet, I could see my reflection of amazement as I stared at their cars rolling past. They always had women in the passenger seat that were drop-dead beautiful. It was like Chinese arithmetic trying to understand how those women were even attracted to some of the ugly guys. They were winning to me. If those guys could do it, I could too. These were people that I knew from around the way and had similar experiences as me. That’s what made the lifestyle even more appealing to join. It’s the fast life.

One thing everyone knew about the fast life was that everything that comes fast leaves even faster! You enjoy it while it lasts and lose it all before you can even figure out what happened. We all know someone that had it all and lost it all. Most of them wish they would’ve done things differently but even more thankful they survived. The fast money, nice cars, and beautiful women that jumped ship.

Was that short-lived experience worth a decade in prison, near death experiences, or lost time with the people that loved and needed you most? We know the answer is no.

But I have better question for my critical thinkers that could shift the perspective of many. We understand that life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We’re all playing for longevity.

Does the street life pay more than a boring nine-to-five job over the long-term? Does the hare beat the turtle in this race?

Let’s use an example with some characters from the movie Friday: Redd and Big Worm.

Check this out, so we have Redd that’s been working at the post office making $40,000 a year for the last 10 years, and Big Worm who has made $1 million hustling over the last 10 years with $250,000 saved, the G Wagon, and any girl he wants that can sniff out money. Big Worm had a good career, but his lifestyle caught up with him and he gets sent down the road for a 15-year prison bid. The G Wagon was seized and every girl he drenched in designer fashion and jewelry disappeared like the famous rabbit in the hat trick. We’ll say Big Worm kept the quarter-million because he’s a part of the lucky 1%. After Big Worm served his 15-year bid, he came home to $250,000 after 25 years (10 years hustling + 15 years bid). Meanwhile, Redd worked the same job for the last 25 years with no pay raise (which is highly unlikely). Before taxes, Redd made $1 million over the past 25 years.

Who wins the over the long-term? The turtle or the hare?

To make Redd’s boring life a little more appealing, Redd invested $10,000 each year. He had no experience in investments. He consistently transferred money from each paycheck into a basic index fund in the stock market. Redd received an average of 10.5% on his index fund account over the past 25 years. He had roughly $1.06 million in investments. Redd is not so lame anymore, right? That sounds amazing. Note that he didn’t have to make a six-figure income.

The story of Redd is a classic example of what we called “stay down to come up”, meaning remain focused on your goals until you achieve them. Even though Big Worm was extremely ahead of Redd early in the race of life, Redd remained focused and consistent on what he had going on. He stayed in his own lane and paced himself. Redd made $1 million and $1.06 million in investments over the past 25 years. Over the past 25 years, Redd made roughly $810,000 more than Big Worm. Just a hint, that number is going to keep growing. Assuming Redd continues to invest $10,000 each year for an additional 10 years with the same rate of return (10.5%) on his investment, Redd would have $3.04 million in investments. The story of Redd could be anyone. He could even be you.


Here's the key takeaways:

(1) You do not need a six-figure salary to have a million-dollar net worth.
79% percent of millionaires averaged less than a $100,000 salary. Building wealth is about focus and consistency rather the amount of money you make.

(2) Take a step back and think about the wholistic picture before making life changing decisions. 
Make sure what you do today aligns with your long-term goals.

(3) Stay down to come up.
Remain focused on your goals until you achieve them. Learn to congratulate others on their success and keep it pushing.


Actions items to capitalize from the insight above:

- Discover how much do you plan to invest each year?

- Calculate how much you need to set aside from each paycheck to accomplish that goal.

- Contribute consistently to that investment account and increase the contribution as your income increase.

- Focus on what you got going on and learn to congratulate others. That’s all that matters.


Sources:
Ramsey Solutions