[E4] How to Increase Your Value, Work Less, and Build Wealth

<p>What we were taught as young kids:</p><ul><li>Find a good job with a large company</li><li>Work 40 to 50 hours per week</li><li>Get a small raise every year (and maybe a bonus!)</li><li>Save and invest a little</li><li>Retire at 60</li><li>Enjoy life</li></ul><p>There are so many things wrong with this formula - and there are things we can pick apart in future podcast episodes and blog posts - but in this episode, I want to drill down and get to the core of the problem.</p><p>I’m talking about the notion of trading time for money.</p><p>When you work for someone else, you’re basically trading hours for income. And while that might seem fine when you’re first starting out in your career, it’s a very limiting place to operate from. You might get paid a lot for your time, but you’re still limited.</p><p><strong>I call this the Time = Money Equation</strong> - and there are two computations every listener should run today:</p><ul><li>Equation 1: Hours Worked x Hourly Rate = Earnings</li></ul><p>(Ex 1: 50 hours x $20 per hour = $1k Paycheck)</p><ul><li>Equation 2: Max Hours You Could Work x Hourly Rate = Max Earnings</li></ul><p>(Ex 2: 75 hours x $20 per hour = $1,500 Paycheck)</p><p>(Ex 3 w/raise: 75 hours x $30 per hour = $2,250 Paycheck)</p><p>You might be able to make some decent money, but in order to make more money, you’re always going to have to put in more hours. (And the more hours you work, the less you’re actually taking home, due to tax increases. So you might be making $500 more when you scale from 50 hours to 75 hours, but your net gain is smaller.)</p><p>If you work less, you make less. (Vacations, sick days, etc.)</p><p>When you’re constantly trading time for money, your life becomes limited. Every decision is judged with a computation.</p><ul><li>The question is, how do you stop trading time for money? </li><li>How do you escape the Time = Money Equation and finally enjoy freedom and greater earning potential?</li><li>How can you earn money while you’re on vacation or enjoying a hobby? </li><li>So