These are the rules that have gotten me to Millionaire status. Being wealthy is not all that it seems. Many people like myself prefer to appear poor. There are those that you pass by daily that are just like any other person. They wear average shirts, pants, shoes. They drive average to slightly upper-class vehicles. Yet financially they are in a position of extreme surplus.

There are many benefits to being cash poor. My rules below outline the ideals that I’ve developed over time that backup my philosophy.

1. Never see 90%+ of your money:

I never see most of my money, mainly because most of it is immediately invested. Money comes in money is pulled out and distributed to multiple trading and investment accounts. This is explained in detail in other articles. By doing this, not only is the majority of my money coming in gets invested. I’m left with little to no options to waste money on unnecessary things.

If I ever feel the need to buy something I want. My only decision is to use the money made from my investments. I do have a very small cushion of $4,000 (2 month’s expenses) left for emergencies. Any amount larger than that could be making considerable returns via dividends, …returns, day trading, etc. I extend this strategy to large purchases like business equipment or cars. Making decent monthly payments while the majority of the money is reinvested.

2. Convince yourself your poor:

I see something nice I want, maybe it’s a TV or even new computer gear. I can’t get it because I literally can’t afford it. Why because 90%+ of it is invested, 5% for bills, and expenses. I’m only left with less than 5% of my money. Which I ironically end up investing or leaving it in the checking account. As I result I’m left poor. The amount invested isn’t fixed it’s by percentage. No matter how much money comes in I’m always left poor.

3. Everything is planned in detail:

I plan out everything no matter how minor or big. As explained in another article. I’m rarely ever caught off guard. I make plans and adjust to every changing scenario. This is all aimed to accomplish the major goal whatever it may be. Planning out everything is the only way I can ever get anything done. It has helped with project releases, software development, business transactions, and acquisitions; and even this very article.

4. Become forever minimalist:

The hilarious thing is that I became a minimalist by accident. Since I’m left with so little, I became a minimalist by default. Throughout my life, most of my possessions have been removed from my life. Mostly by decisions of others and my own. As time progressed I saw what I truly needed in life what truly mattered. And I got rid of almost everything I owned except a few clothes and my laptop. I started from scratch rebuilding with 1 goal. My business. Almost everything I have now is as a result. I even live in my studio to ensure I’m always getting work done, and cutting cost.

5. Always acquire assets:

I’m not a materialistic person. The thing I desire in life is assets most of which aren’t tangible. When I got rid of everything all I had were assets. I only want something that makes me more money. My computers help me create projects one of which is the kodoninja platform. An asset that makes me money, And I’m consistently creating software and ideas to add to my business portfolios. 90% of the money that’s invested will be reinvested to acquire more and more assets. A never-ending chain of buying and reinvesting. The money made from my businesses is also reinvested back into the business as well as in the stock market. I ironically don’t care about money. My goal isn’t to get myself rich, it’s to get my assets richer. The assets I own... have, and make all the money.

6. Never trust anyone:

From my experience, if you ever want to be successful in life, you shouldn’t ever trust anyone. There are countless stories of people being screwed out of deals. Contracts are written with hidden agendas, individuals who scheme and plot to take for what isn’t there’s. Persons who will attempt to take ownership of you, your work, businesses, all of it. Persons with fake smiles, luring words, false promises, and corrupt motives. I can go on and on. People don’t like you they like what you can do for them, and what they can get from you. Some learn It the hard way as I almost did and some learn from others' mistakes.

It’s no secret about any of this, it echoes throughout history. I’m not saying do everything yourself, I’m saying don’t trust anyone. My advice is to do an ample amount of research before starting a business or project. Consult a lawyer, get as much information as you can. Make sure you do all your filling under your name. Make sure everything legally and copyright-related has just your name alone attached to it. That includes domain names, emails, and bank accounts. Any work you do prove it’s yours, in every way imaginable. Sign your rough drafts, sketches; document everything records yourself if you have to. Most importantly never sign anything. Be careful who you invite into your business, re-evaluate your “friends” and anyone looking to join. Equity and shares of your business are more valuable than anything. If you can try to maintain 100% of everything do so, and pay anyone cash who works with you.

7. Own your work, and your businesses:

In addition to number 6, maintain close to 100% of everything if you can. If it’s possible try to avoid funding and angel investors looking for equity of any kind in exchange for office space or cash. Some investors, like banks, may just want a piece of the pie when you sell or get acquired in exchange for their immediate cash. They may be a better option for you depending on what you want. I choose to fund my business myself to maintain 100% of it all. My business is lean, I and my assistant are the only employees and I look to independent contractors, and freelancers for work we need to get done. Profit margins stay high and I keep my equity. As it continues to grow investors look for me wanting to get into the business. As of now, it’s a private business, that owns other businesses; it scales moderately and doesn’t need any unnecessary funding.

The most important thing is no one owns me. I can make my own decisions without being handcuffed to be told what I can and can’t do or say. I can act swiftly on what needs to get done, no unnecessary employees chiming in to say anything just to keep their jobs. No yes men, no walking on eggshells, no dancing around others' emotions and insecurities just to make them feel good or hurt their feelings. There's no one throwing you under the bus to advance their careers. No unnecessary power play. All the endless bullshit you get from working for someone doesn’t exist when you own everything. I also opted out to a have board. No one can affect your employment or success when you own it all.

8. Have liabilities, just don’t own them:

Liabilities are anything that you own that isn’t making you money. That can be a car, most tech that you own, and the clothes you wear. As I got older I understood that persons with true wealth have many liabilities. Such as multiple cars and homes but don’t own any of them. Well, they do but not directly. Some do it through anonymity protection, some through trust, business ownership, and so on.

After I restarted my life from scratch, I realized most of the things I desired were all tech-based. I only used them solely for creating software, apps, etc. for my businesses. I researched a bit then I decided I should follow suit. Everything from cell phones, computers to servers is all under my company Aviyon. So even though I have and use all of these I don’t own them nor do I pay for them. As for my cars, I tend to create a holding and rental company to house them. When I’m not using them I can rent them out etc. So then my liabilities can become assets. My goal is to own absolutely nothing and have everything I need.

9. Get paid in equity, and royalties.

If you aiming to obtain true wealth you may want to look into getting paid in equity and collecting royalties on your work overtime. This is something that isn’t possible if you work at a job, however, you can accomplish this as an independent contractor. My approach is simple I look for starting and established companies that need work created. In exchange for my services I rarely accept cash, I Primarily accept common stock of that company. This way we both win, they can allocate the money elsewhere, and maintain 100% of their company. And I have stock of that company which may or may not be more profitable.

10. Let money work for you.

My thoughts on money should be apparent by now. Although I don’t like the money I like assets. Any money I do get gets reinvested and reinvested. Time is something no one can get back so working for it seems nonsensical. There’s only so much you can work and make at a job or career. Earned income is capped at a limit, and if you going to do it; have money working for you in the background. Dividends, earnings, ads, and just about anything that comes in without your direct involvement is your money working for you.

I use both earned income and passive income; and will continue to do so for as long as I can. Just about any money I get from earned income is invested in my passive income streams. This is to speed up the process with my dividend investments and trading addiction. Recently I’ve lost complete interest in going in to work, so remote positions will be my focus while I juggle my business and manage the invested money.

Conclusion

These are the 10 rules I lived by for years now; and will continue to do so from now on. I truly believe anyone can become financially free. For it is up to the individual if he or she wants to achieve true freedom and true success.