Money Expert: You Don't Need Much Money to Become Rich | Jaspreet Singh
In a Nutshell
Financial freedom requires following a 75-15-10 system where 75% of income is spent, 15% is invested, and 10% is saved, while building the mindset that wealth is abundant and it's your duty to become wealthy. The system is rigged to benefit investors through money flowing to owners, inflation helping asset holders, and lower tax rates on investment income. Start with $2,000 saved, pay off credit card debt, then focus on increasing income through value creation while investing consistently in index funds or individual assets rather than chasing fast money schemes.
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Most Americans are never taught about money despite using it daily. The majority of Americans, between 55% and 78%, live paycheck to paycheck with no money left over for gifts, vacations, or investments after paying basic necessities. The system is rigged for the rich and financially savvy, but people are never taught to be financially savvy. When you understand money, it's much easier to get that money and grow that money. When you don't understand it, you're the one making everybody else rich. Every dollar you spend is a dollar going into somebody else's pocket.
Society lives in a credit-based economy. If someone makes $100 from their job, they have the ability to spend that $100 plus more thanks to Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and other forms of debt. If someone spends $100, they make the seller $100 richer. If they spend $100 plus $50 on their credit card, they just made the seller $150 richer. Every corporation and bank hires the smartest marketers and MBAs to get people to spend their money there because that's going to make them rich. Banks profit when people are in debt. Corporations profit when people spend money. The government profits when people are financially uneducated because they pay the highest taxes and become reliant on government services.
Step 1: Building the Right Mindset
The mindset has four different layers. Number one is "I will become wealthy." Number two is money is abundant. Number three is money is a tool. Number four is it's your duty to become wealthy. Many people grow up with money trauma and money negativity. People hear statements like "money is bad," "money is evil," "we don't have enough money," "that's too much money," and "we can't afford that." This mindset gets passed down generationally. When people tell themselves "I can't," they guarantee they can't.
"I will become wealthy."
Money is a tool that can amplify who you are. You give a good person more money, they have a tool to do more good. You give a bad person more money, they have a tool to do more bad. Instagram has become a highlight reel, but people often look at it as somebody else's average. This creates the sense that "I'm missing out" and leads to emotional spending. Casinos are located in the poorest neighborhoods because when people don't have money, it's easy to offer a dopamine hit through spending therapy. The same thing that makes people feel better for the moment is what keeps them broke.
Money is Abundant
Money is abundant is a tough concept but one of the most powerful tools to become financially successful. If someone makes $50,000 a year and saves $10,000, they might think about squeezing more pennies from their budget. This is a scarcity mindset. Instead of living off $40,000 to invest $10,000, then $38,000 to invest $12,000, people should think about earning more. If someone works to earn $500,000 a year and saves the same percentage, they can save and invest $100,000 a year. There are people making whatever you make in a month, a week, a day, and even an hour. Reframing the way you look at money allows you to start doing different things.
It's Your Duty to Become Wealthy
In the Sikh religion, there are three main fundamental tenets: remember God, serve others before you serve yourself, and earn an honest living. It is your duty to become financially successful so you can take better care of yourself, your family, and your community.
Step 2: Learn the Rules of Money
Wealthy people understand that money is a game, but they're playing it differently than everybody else. The average person thinks they have to go to work and work hard to get money. Wealthy people work hard not to make the money, but to own an asset that will keep paying them even after they stop working. Wealthy people think in terms of investments, while average people think in terms of spending.
There are three rules of money. Number one is that money flows to the investor. When buying a Chipotle bowl with extra guac, the real profits go to the owners and investors of Chipotle. Number two is inflation benefits the investor. Over time, prices rise due to inflation. The additional dollars spent go to the owners and investors. Number three is the system is designed to benefit the investor. When earning money as an investor, people pay a lower tax rate than when earning money as an employee. The system is designed to make the financially savvy wealthier while everybody else pays the price.
Step 3: Get Out of the Financial Danger Zone
The first practical step is to save $2,000 as fast as possible, then pay off credit card debt. Half of America does not have $1,000 put aside to protect against emergencies. People in this situation have zero breathing room and must go into debt for car repairs, medical expenses, or vacations. If someone doesn't have $2,000 saved, they should make extreme sacrifices: no eating at restaurants, no vacations, no fancy cars, no big fancy houses, and even no Netflix subscription. The average American watches two to three hours of Netflix a day, but if they don't have $2,000, they can't afford that comfort.
High interest credit card debt is like climbing a mountain with 1,000 pounds of chain strapped to your back. If $6,500 is invested at 20% return annually without additional contributions, it grows to approximately $60 million over 40-45 years. Credit card companies like Amex, Visa, MasterCard, and Discover receive those returns while people in debt pay for their private jets, buildings, and luxuries.
Step 4: Create a System for Your Money
Wealthy people know what they're going to do with their money before they earn it. The 75-15-10 plan states that for every dollar earned, 75 cents is the maximum that can be spent, 15 cents is the minimum that should be invested, and 10 cents is the minimum that should be saved. This system works whether earning $30,000, $300,000, or $3 million a year.
Open three separate bank accounts. Money gets deposited into one account, then automatically distributed: 15% goes to the investment account and 10% goes to the savings account. Having three different accounts prevents accidentally spending savings and investment money. Savings are there to protect you, while investments are there to make you wealthy. The spending money covers housing, groceries, vacations, and everything else.
Step 5: Spend Your Money Smartly
No more financing things that don't put money in your pocket. Even 0% APR financing on items like iPhones should be avoided because it makes it easier to buy more often, removes the pain of spending, leads to additional purchases like AirPods and cases, and many people don't pay it off in time, triggering 15-25% interest rates. The only exception is the house you live in.
Follow the rule of five for luxuries: if you can't buy five of them, you can't afford one of them. To buy a $1,000 watch, you need $5,000 of disposable income.
Step 6: Earn More Money
After establishing the 75-15-10 system, focus on earning more money through asking for raises, getting second jobs, creating businesses, or learning artificial intelligence. The key is to keep following the 75-15-10 system and invest more as income increases.
Step 7: Protect Your Assets
Understand the legal side, including taxes, which can be one of the biggest expenses. Learn how to pass wealth down and put shields around yourself. When people realize you have money, they're going to want some of it. This includes understanding how to give back, help others, and leave a legacy.
The fastest, most effective, realistic way to make more money today is to increase income so there is more available for the 75, 15, 10 split to ultimately invest more. Investing and growing wealth happens when you have extra money that you don't need and you throw it into an investment or asset that is going to grow and make more money. It is not fast, but if done right, it works and can make you wealthy.
The first thing to do to start earning more money fast is to ask your boss for a raise. Most people ask by saying they have been working there for a long time and want an extra $5,000 or $10,000 a year. The boss will probably say no because they are paying for the same work. Instead, think from the boss's perspective. The fastest way to make more money at a job is to make the boss more money. Show them how you are going to make them an extra $20,000 a year and ask for an extra $10,000. They will probably say yes because you are adding more value. Find a way to add more value and go to them and say what you are going to do, how much more revenue you are going to drive, how much more money you are going to make them, and that you just want a piece of what you are going to make them.
The smallest amount needed to start investing is $1. You can start investing with any amount of money. The idea of investing is to take extra money and put it into something with the goal of making money off of it as opposed to just buying a watch or a pair of shoes.
There are three layers to understand about investing. Number one is the most hands-off: give money to a financial adviser who manages it. If you invest $1,000 a month for 30 years and the adviser does 11% a year, you end up with $1.8 million, but you pay fees of 1 to 1.5%, which could be $500,000 to $600,000 in fees. Option number two is being a passive investor: find a basket of stocks and consistently invest money in it. Invest in the S&P 500, a group of the 500 largest companies in the stock market. If Amazon goes bankrupt, the fund kicks it out and replaces it with another company. Historically, this has averaged about 10% growth a year. Investing $1,000 a month for 30 years would be about $1.9 million. Layer three is being an active investor: own good investments that you believe in, have researched, and put work into, and own them for the long term. This might be investing in individual companies or individual real estate properties. The goal is taking on more risk for more potential return. As an active investor, a slight edge of 13% a year with $1,000 a month for 30 years would result in about $3.5 million, which is $1.6 million more than passively investing.
It is often better to start and move layer by layer rather than dive straight in. Start with what's most accessible, such as a 401k or IRA. Personal finance is personal. Start with whatever you have access to and then take the next step. The reason why people don't see the success they want out of their investments isn't generally because they made the wrong decision, it's because they never made a decision and never started. Once started, adjustments can be made. Investing is related to working out. People getting started with working out ask what they should do, but the advice is to just get on a treadmill and put down the donuts to start, then take the next step.
The stock market is a place where anybody can go out and buy a piece of ownership in a company that is publicly traded. If a company is publicly traded, for example McDonald's, you can buy a piece of that company called a share. If you buy one share of McDonald's, you become one of the owners of that company. When you go to Nike and buy a pair of shoes, you are a consumer at Nike. When you own one share of Nike stock, you become one of the owners of Nike. As the owner of Nike, you profit when someone buys Nike shoes. As a consumer of Nike, you are making the investors richer. The price of a stock depends on supply and demand. If more people want to buy the McDonald's stock than there are sellers, the stock price goes up. If people are selling more than buying, the price goes down. What causes it to go up or down includes if McDonald's starts to produce bad hamburgers or have smaller profits than expected, or bigger profits than expected. There are two parts to successful investing: the financial side and the emotional side.
Markets are more emotional than ever before. Business Insider did a study showing the stock market is more volatile than previous decades. In 2025, there were three stock market crashes: first announcement of tariffs caused markets to crash, tariffs paused and markets hit new record highs, second announcement of tariffs caused markets to crash, tariffs paused and markets rose again, liberation day third announcement of tariffs caused markets to crash at the fastest rate since the pandemic, then paused and markets broke new record highs. For the average person, that was a nightmare, but for the financially savvy, all of those downturns created a great buying opportunity. When there are crazy times, remember P.O.O.P.: Panic leads to Overselling leads to Opportunity leads to Profit.
The mindset of not chasing fast money is important. When markets crash, people who are not financially savvy get scared because they thought they lost all their money and want to take it out or avoid putting more money in. The mindset of wanting to make money quick and pull out next year is very rare to pull off. Speedy money stops people from making good decisions. The person living paycheck to paycheck wants relief, often fast money. When desperate for money, people become prime candidates to buy programs and services selling the dream of working 3 hours a week on a laptop off a beach in Bali making $10,000 a month or $10,000 a week. That fast money doesn't work like that. There is no sacrificing the hard work. 80% of lottery winners go broke or bankrupt within 5 years of winning the lottery because if you don't have the financial education and the money comes fast, it disappears just as fast.
Somewhere between 50 to 70% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and 72% of Americans have Netflix. The average American is spending more money on Netflix than on their investments. That should be flipped. The reason why so many people do that is because they just don't know there's an alternative. It costs money to eat and to feed other people. Unless you learn, you are going to be the person making everybody else rich. It starts with mindset and financial education. Small changes add up. If you can invest $4 a day from the day you turn 21 until the day you turn 65 and invest your money into the markets, you will retire a millionaire.
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