The Accumulation Phase

The first stage of your wealth-building journey is what I call the accumulation phase. It’s about more than simply accumulating as many assets as you can. This phase is actually about building your leverage in the marketplace. And it’s where everybody starts.

Now, this obviously involves accumulating assets. But the key thing to remember here is that you are not accumulating assets for assets sake. You are accumulating spring boards, where one asset helps you springboard into the next and the next after that. You want assets that put money in your pocket. And as you invest more into those assets, they’re going to give you the leverage to buy more assets.

However, accumulation goes beyond the assets you’re buying. At this stage, you’re also accumulating your team members. You’re bringing together a suite of people who believe in what you’re doing and want to help you achieve your goals. This doesn’t necessarily mean employees.

The coaches you work with are team members. The real estate agents who help you to find properties are also important members of your team. These are people that you trust to provide expertise where you may not have any.

The next thing you want to start accumulating is knowledge. During this phase, you’re learning as much as you can about your finances. You’re discovering strategies and putting all of the pieces together to figure out what will work for you. You’re creating the foundation that allows you to move into the wealth-building phases to come.

And finally, you’re accumulating the humanity that you want to have around you. The brilliant Jim Rohn once said that you become the average of the five people that you spend most of your time with. In this phase, you’ll accumulate the five people who will propel you forward on your journey.

So, accumulation is about much more than buying assets. You’re accumulating a host of resources, all of which will help you on your journey.

— Todd Polke