The internet has no shortage of get-rich-quick schemes. One of the most persistent plays on our fear of missing out: “If you’d invested a thousand bucks in Apple in 1984, today you’d be a millionaire!” It suggests wealth is just one lucky guess away. And yes, a few people have built fortunes through speculative investing—but it’s not unlike walking into a casino and putting it all on red. The winners are rare. The losers? Countless.
This article isn’t about fast money. It’s about resisting the pressure to look wealthy and choosing instead to become financially strong—quietly, slowly, and on your own terms. Betting on luck is a shaky way to build wealth. CNBC reports that lottery winners are more likely to declare bankruptcy within three to five years than the average American. Even the rich and famous aren’t immune—Mike Tyson famously squandered over $400 million before filing for bankruptcy in 2003. Easy come, easy go.
Value, in any form, takes time to cultivate. Day by day. Month by month. Decade by painstaking decade. Benjamin Franklin said it best: “Take care of the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.” I’ve been earning money since my tenth birthday, when I inherited my older brother’s lawn-cutting route. Miss Whitely, the elderly woman next door, paid me ten bucks a week to mow her yard. But before I learned to budget—or even to save—I learned to spend. Ten dollars in hand was ten dollars out the door, usually spent on Milky Ways and firecrackers. I rarely made it to the next payday with anything left.
Now, at 42, I’m still learning to navigate the financial responsibilities of adulthood. And I often wonder how many of us are still chasing that same sugar rush. We trade candy bars for gadgets, bikes for new cars—but the impulse is the same: spend first, think later. Chuck Palahniuk put it bluntly: “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” That line hits uncomfortably close to home for many Americans.
Thanks to my MBA and a bit of real-world humility, I don’t view cars as investments. They’re depreciating liabilities—money pits on wheels. That’s one reason I still drive a 10-year-old Jeep with hail damage. The other? When dealerships dangle “zero-percent interest financing on all 2024 models!” I ask, why spend money I don’t have?
Sure, I dream. A brand-new Land Rover Defender Carpathian Edition? Absolutely—I’ve picked out the trim level. But unless I’ve got $118,000 in the bank, liquid and uncommitted, it stays a dream. And that’s okay.
Because real financial strength isn’t flashy—and it certainly isn’t fast. It’s quiet, methodical, and intentional. It lives in the discipline of choosing enough over excess, in skipping the impulse buy, and in letting your money serve you—not the other way around. If you want to build lasting wealth, stop looking for the shortcut and start mastering consistency. A flashy detour might feel exciting, but it could leave you with damage you can’t afford. For my money, I’ll take the long road—the slow road. The one paved with small, steady choices that compound over time. Because wealth isn’t something you stumble into. It’s something you grow into.
