Can You Get Wealthy by Accident?

Today is February 8th, 2021, and yesterday the sporting world witnessed Tom Brady accomplish one of the most amazing feats in all of sports. Seven Super Bowl wins – this is an incredible feat that we likely will not see accomplished again in our lifetime.

As I sat there on my couch last night, soaking in the moment, questions such as, “can this be replicated?” and “How did he accomplish this?” kept circling through my mind. Frivolous questions if you ask me. Then, I was fortunate enough that a more profound question came to me: “Did this happen by accident?”

In this article – I want to relate Tom Brady’s athletic success to financial success. The answer I want to provide evidence to is that nothing happens by accident.

How Do You Get Wealthy?

Obviously, Tom Brady’s nutrition and training regimen are well documented, and this article does not need to go into those details, and we can agree that Tom Brady is a machine.

We should not actually be surprised by Tom’s success. Wowed, maybe, or enjoy what we witnessed, but not shocked. If Tom Brady is the best – why do we not emulate him? Why do we not make him the blueprint and simply copy what he does? Easy to challenge a quarterback to mimic Brady, sure. But what about your finances?

Like Tom’s 7 rings, people do not accidentally become wealthy. How does one then become wealthy? Let us first set the foundation of how this functionally happens.

Wealth first begins with an individual bringing income into their household, simple enough. Know that your income is the greatest determinant of your ceiling of wealth. Exclude the lottery garbage as a counter argument to the above.

Income is generated from 2 avenues: either from starting a business by identifying a problem in society in which you have the solution, or developing a skillset that someone will pay you for. Tom Brady is the great example of developing a skillset and having clarity on what is needed to be the best at that skillset.

At AWM, we define the measure of your financial success from your net worth.  Your net worth is your household balance sheet – it is everything you own, less what you owe in terms of debt. If income is the greatest driver to your net worth, and your skillset drives your income – your question is: What do I need to accomplish to increase my skillset? Income will flow after that is answered.

The majority of our clients are professional athletes – with whom we routinely discuss ways to increase their future income. Let us say that paying for the best nutrition, recovery protocols, sleeping materials and physical training sessions costs $250,000 per year. Most people would balk at that number. However, if this $250,000 gave you the greatest chance at increasing income in the future from $1M to $10M, would this cost even be a question you would entertain?  At AWM, we call this investing in your human capital.

What about the medical professional investing in the best technology for their practice? The business owner acquiring tools and resources to grow revenue? The young professional reading, learning, and developing habits and rhythms? All an investment in your human capital.

The Necessity of a Plan

Human capital is exciting in part because it is unknown. We can easily extrapolate out how far our income will go and what that number will look like. Human capital is just one half of the equation – and if the other half of the equation is not executed, that wealth will be wasted.

What your income needs is a written, well laid out plan. Again – here is where Tom Brady is different than the rest of us. You can read the detail of his training plan through his book and website, TB12. No need to restate here – highly recommend reading and investigating if you have not already done so. The difference between TB12 and everyone is else and is simple – the plan is written down.

Do you know where your dollars are going? Where are you giving? How much you are saving? Do you know how your savings are invested? Are they in line with your priorities? What even are your priorities? Is everything tax efficient and cost effective? Are you protected? Do your investments make sense? Is your money performing and allocated to what is important to you? AWM’s mission is to help you answer those questions over a lifetime.

I want to make the argument that anyone can achieve financial independence by simply investing in their human capital, and then having a written financial plan to put that human capital to work.

Conclusion:

Tom Brady looked for every way to maximize his human capital, and he has been successful in doing so. Copy his habits and rhythms and apply them to your finances. Figure out what you need to do to invest in your human capital and get a written financial plan as soon as possible.