The argument in brief
The question
Does what I spend my time on help me stop having to trade my time for money?
The claim
Time is the only currency we have, so it is worth investing it in creating value with uncapped returns that are not tied to my hours, rather than in activities that barely move the needle. Confidence: A personal view prompted by a book I was listening to. No studies cited.
The evidence
  • My reading of The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco, which I took to be about the time aspect of wealth more than the money.
  • My own reasoning about passive income, invested money and businesses that need their owner present.
  • No studies, data or examples of people who have done it.
The best counter
Entrepreneurship is risky and many businesses fail; stories of retiring young draw on the few who succeeded. A salaried job can be a reasonable trade of time for security, and many people find meaning in the work itself.
What would change my mind
Finding that the time and stress spent building a business usually outweigh the time it frees up, or that people who chase time freedom this way end up with less of it.
Open gaps
1 gap. Statements I haven't verified yet. Each is marked in the text.

The questionDoes what I spend my time on help me stop having to trade my time for money?I’m currently listening to the audiobook The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. He talks about the idea that you can either choose to plan for your retirement through a life of servitude, or opt to take the fast lane and unlock massive potential that allows you to retire in a matter of years.

Wealth is really about time

One of the main takeaways from the book that has resonated with me is being mindful of what we spend our time on. The book, on its surface, is misleading. It talks a lot about the money aspect of wealth, but really it’s about the time aspect of wealth. The wealthy mindset is about having full autonomy of your time, in that you don’t need to trade it for money.

Passive income comes to mind here. Wouldn’t it be nice to earn while I’m sleeping? Even with that, I may still need to work a set number of hours in order to maintain the flywheel of passive income. In fact, those are some of the hardest working people, because there is no limit to the potential they can earn.Gap · needs evidenceThis is my impression of people with passive income; I have no data on how many hours they work.

LimitsThis is not financial advice. I’m describing how I think about my own time, not recommending any investment, business or retirement plan.But go beyond that: there is a set amount of money that, when managed correctly, allows the money to do the work that in turn makes more money. That’s when true time freedom comes.

Slow lane activities

It has made me take stock of the activities I spend my time doing. Does the activity help me build wealth, or is it a slow lane activity which barely moves the needle in growing my wealth?

Claima personal viewTime is the only currency we have. We can’t get more of it. You want to focus your time on maximising the return on investment. Just like investing money can make more money, investing time well can give you more time in return, or to put it more succinctly, prevent you having to use that time in exchange for money in the future.

Value not tied to your time

A competing explanationEntrepreneurship is risky and many businesses fail, and the stories of retiring young come from the few that succeed. A salaried job can be a reasonable trade of time for security, and plenty of people value the work itself, not only the freedom from it.So how do you do it? Entrepreneurship really. You want to create value in the world that gives a multiple, or uncapped potential, of what you can get in return.

Some businesses require you to be in the business for them to generate revenue. This does not free up your time. Unless that business can run autonomously (as in, you hire others to run it) or you can sell that business for a huge sum of money, you will not achieve your goal of time freedom.

The ah-ha moment

If you want to retire young with wealth that means you can do what you want, when you want, then you need to take specific actions to make that happen. These actions mean creating value which has uncapped returns and isn’t tied to your time.

What about you? Do you fancy the idea of being free from having to trade your time for money?

Books behind this essay

Not sources for any claim here. These are books I have finished that shaped how I think about this question. Where I rely on evidence, it is cited in the text.

The whole shelf