Millions Can Add, but Few Can Multiply

When you first began school you were taught simple stuff like 2+2. After that, you may have been taught your multiplication tables—you probably even memorized them. But just because you know how to multiply doesn’t mean you actually multiply in real life. Getting rich requires multiplying. The fact is, too many people in life are stuck on addition.

You go to a job, add hours, and get paid. Then you go home, spend money and subtract dollars. Each month you are adding and subtracting. $3,000 comes in, $3,000 goes out. Sound familiar?

Millions can add, but few can multiply.

I teach my daughters when they’re learning numbers to go straight from 100 to 1,000,000 because they don’t need all those numbers between. Once you hit 100, go to a million. It takes just as much energy to go for baby numbers as it does monster numbers anyways.

There are three things people need to know about money:

#1 How do I get money?

#2 How do I keep that money?

#3 How do I multiply that money?

I promise you that you will never be rich if you don’t figure out the multiplication part.

You will never multiply your money trading your time for dollars—unless you make enough dollars to have a surplus at the end of the month to invest it. Nor will you multiply your wealth on Wall Street.

A common misconception is hearing someone say, “if you only put $40 in Coca Cola stock at the beginning of the 20th century, now you’d be worth millions of dollars.” Waiting for compound interest to get you rich is not a way to get rich, it’s a way to get old. Who wants to wait until they’re 90 to have riches? Raise your hand. Anyone?

Quit thinking about adding and start thinking about multiplying.

You can keep adding by doing your business or your job, but adding alone takes a long, long time. If you want to be a millionaire by 30, 40, or 50, you need to start multiplying.

Be great,

GC