The 3 Lives of Money
Earn it. Manage it. Remember it. Most people never get past #1...
Most people are obsessed with earning more money.
But income is just the beginning of the story.
Real wealth comes from understanding that your money lives three distinct lives:
Earned
Managed
Remembered
Most people get stuck at the first stage - and spend decades wondering why they still feel behind despite making good money.
Here's the brutal truth: you can earn millions and still end up broke. You can also earn modestly and build generational wealth.
The difference isn't how much you make. It's how well you understand what to do with money once you have it.
In today's issue, I'll walk through all three phases of money - and why mastering each one is essential if you want to build wealth and a life worth living:
Why earning more money can actually make you poorer (if you do it wrong)
The wealth-building phase that 90% of high earners completely ignore
How to transform money from a tool of stress into a tool of freedom
The simple self-check that reveals which phase you're stuck in
Let's dig in ↓
Life #1: Earning It
This is where everyone starts - and where most people get trapped.
The job. The freelance hustle. The business you built from nothing. It's the phase of money we're most familiar with because it demands the most from us.
The 50-hour work weeks
The late nights chasing deadlines
The constant pressure to level up, earn more, climb higher
And yet, this is where most people stay stuck forever. They pour 90% of their energy into earning… and 90% of their stress comes from it too.
But here's the hard truth that nobody wants to hear:
If you only focus on making money, you're always running on a treadmill. And eventually, that treadmill speeds up whether you're ready or not.
More income feels like progress. But without the next two phases, all you're doing is working harder for the same relative result.
I've seen $500K earners who are more financially stressed than $75K earners. Why? Because they never learned to move beyond earning.
The goal isn't just to earn more. It's to turn income into actual freedom.
That transformation happens in the next life of money...
Life #2: Managing It
This is where wealth is actually built.
Not earned. Not inherited. Not stumbled into. BUILT - through discipline, intention, and systems that work while you sleep.
Managing money effectively means:
Keeping more of what you earn (tax strategy and optimization)
Growing it systematically (investing with discipline, not emotion)
Protecting it from disaster (insurance, estate planning, legal structures)
Most people completely skip this phase.
They confuse a high income with financial security. But income is a flow that can stop tomorrow. Wealth is a stock that compounds over decades.
Your net worth doesn't care how much you make - it cares how much you keep and how well you deploy it.
A $400K earner with no plan is often in worse financial shape than a $100K earner with discipline and systems.
Because the mathematical reality is:
Money doesn't grow by accident. It grows by intentional design.
This is where most high earners fail. They master the earning game but never learn the wealth-building game. These are completely different skill sets requiring completely different approaches.
Life #3: Remembering It
This is the phase nobody teaches - and the one that determines whether your wealth was worth building.
What was it all for?
The family trip that shifted your kid's perspective on the world
The sabbatical that helped you rediscover what matters
The home filled with laughter and memories - not just equity and appreciation
This is where money transforms from numbers on a screen into actual life experiences.
Your financial plan isn't just a spreadsheet full of projections. It's a permission slip to live with more peace, freedom, and intentionality.
Because at the end of your life, you won't remember your account balances or your peak net worth. You'll remember the people, places, and experiences those numbers made possible.
Why Most People Never Escape Life #1
Here's the trap that catches 90% of earners:
Hustle hard to make more
Spend it as fast as it comes in
Repeat until exhaustion
Decades pass, and they wonder why they're still stressed - still chasing - still waiting for that magical moment when it finally feels "worth it."
The reality?
Real wealth isn't when you have the most money. It's when you stop measuring everything in dollars and start measuring it in freedom and impact.
Most people think the answer is always "earn more." Sometimes the answer is "manage better" or "spend more intentionally."
A Quick Self-Check
If you want to assess where you are in the three lives of money, ask yourself these questions:
Am I managing what I earn with clear intention and systems?
Am I building automated processes to grow and protect what I keep?
Am I spending on things I'll remember in 10 years - not just things I'll forget next month?
If the answer to any of those is "not really" or "I'm not sure" - that's your next area of focus.
Don't try to optimize all three at once. Master them sequentially. Earn consistently, then manage systematically, then spend meaningfully.
Bottom Line
Your money will live three distinct lives whether you plan for it or not.
Earn it – Build your income, but don't get stuck in the earning trap forever
Manage it – Grow and protect what you keep through systems and discipline
Remember it – Transform your wealth into experiences and memories that actually matter
Anyone can build a net worth if they live long enough and earn enough.
The real question is: Will you build a life worth remembering along the way?
Because what's the point of being wealthy if you never get to enjoy the wealth?
See you next week.
Whenever you're ready, there are 2 other ways we can help you:
30-Day Strategy Sprint: Got a specific financial challenge holding you back? In just 30 days, we'll tackle 1-3 of your biggest money roadblocks and hand you a personalized action plan. Perfect if you want expert guidance without a long-term commitment. Limited spots available.
Ongoing Wealth Partnership: We'll work with you month after month to slash your taxes, find hidden income opportunities, and build lasting wealth. You set the life goals. We handle the financial strategy to get you there faster.
Opulus, LLC (“Opulus”) is a registered investment advisor in Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions where exempted. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply any specific level of skill or training.
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