Hack the Time Wealth Matrix: Creating Real Wealth in a World of Fake Money

By Pat "Rock" Day

Uncover the essence of True Wealth with Hack the Time-Wealth Matrix. 

Is wealth sol

• Language: English
• Publisher: Houndstooth Press
• Release date: Jun 18, 2024
• ISBN: 9781544545837

Pat "Rock" Day

Pat Day, affectionately called "Rock" by his grandchildren, is a Registered Investment Advisor, insurance expert, and financial planner who has dedicated his life to helping clients navigate the world of personal finance. With more than three decades of experience and a unique insight into true wealth and the financial journey, Pat has helped folks of all ages move from financial confusion to financial independence. He is a sought-after expert who has appeared on television and radio with his practical advice. Pat lives in Virginia and cherishes his time with family and friends.

Book preview

]>

cover.jpg

]>

Copyright © 2024 Patrick Day

All rights reserved.

The information in this publication is strictly for educational and entertainment purposes and isn’t financial or investment advice. Any performance data provided is just an example and shouldn’t be used to predict future outcomes. The main goal of this book is to teach principles rather than give specific predictions about performance. It’s best to focus on these principles rather than get caught up in the numbers.

Every effort has been made to make sure the information is accurate, but remember that laws, regulations, and market conditions can change. Talking to legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any decisions based on what is read here is more than a good idea; it is the smart thing to do and practically required!

This publication isn’t an offer to buy or sell financial products or securities. The author can’t guarantee, nor is any warranty given that the information is completely accurate or comprehensive. The author disclaims responsibility for any losses that might occur because of what’s in this book and what is done with it.

Names and details throughout the book have been changed to protect people’s privacy. It will not be possible to figure out who anyone is based on what’s written here.

First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-5445-4583-7

]>

To Mom and Dad—I did not realize how little Time we had—thank you for the wealth I am just now understanding.

To Janet—Time is rushing by—my last Epoch is yours to spend.

To Ryan and Russell—I love the Time we spend together—do not waste Time on me.

To Oliver and Beckett—your Time is in the future—this story is really for you, and I hope you pull it from the shelf one day and smile, thinking about Rock and Cookie and Saturday morning cartoons.

]>

Contents

Introduction

Part One: Preparing

1. Wealth Isn’t What You Think It Is

2. Time Isn’t What You Think It Is

3. Money Isn’t What You Think It Is

4. Investing Isn’t What You Think It Is

5. The Money Matrix Isn’t What You Think It Is

Part Two: Execution

6. Putting the Pieces Together

7. Epoch I: Learning and Base-Building—Birth to Age Thirty-Three

8. Epoch II: Protection and Accumulation—Age Thirty-Three to Age Sixty-Six

9. Epoch III: Withdrawing/Passing Time—Age Sixty-Six to Age Ninety-Nine

10. Mental Models, or How to Think about Time

11. Building Lines to Conquer Time

12. Closing the Books

Appendix

Savings Appendix

Acknowledgments

]>

Introduction

Time is your most valuable asset.

Understanding, mastering, sharing, and investing time will create real wealth for you and your family. Unfortunately, most of us dabble around the edges of time without considering its impact on our lives.

What qualifies me to write on this topic is that over the last thirty years, I have helped thousands of people from ages 18 to 103 manage their financial lives. I’ve watched over clients’ shoulders as children were born, educated, and sent on their way. I’ve been there as clients begin retirement, enjoy life, and eventually succumb as time and mortality take their natural course.

During the time shared with all these folks, I have seen how the culmination of all their life choices has shaped each one’s life era, which is painted on top of an ever-changing canvas of economic, social, and technological change.

I’ve learned that we each have a multidimensional matrix of intersecting emotional, physical, and ephemeral experiences that shape our decision-making processes and drive good and bad results. Do I eat in or take out, buy a lottery ticket, run the red light, ask someone on a first date, invest in stocks, take a new job offer, move to a new city, buy a home, or get married?

We consciously or subconsciously plot every decision on this matrix, considering the risk and potential cost of saying yes or no. Some decisions are of little consequence: eating in or taking out. Others, though, change the direction of our lives, things like moving to a new city or getting married.

Hacking this matrix means understanding how our mind handles information to generate a response. We then need to take stock of how our experiences shape our attitudes toward who and what we prioritize, along with our perceptions of risk. This inside information will allow us to make better choices as we move through life.

Over time, I’ve also watched what I call fake money damage financial futures in two ways. The first type of fake money is the paper currency in a wallet or savings account that is steadily worth less each year because of inflation. This relentless destruction of value gradually robs us of our wealth and the time we worked to earn it. The other, more insidious, type of fake money is an influencer-inspired lifestyle. Little-used purchases that one feels are needed to complete the lifestyle are acquired, but once acquired, they are of little use.

On the flip side, I have also witnessed how real wealth, financial and nonfinancial, affects people and their families. Things like family and friends, a calling, and understanding what is truly important in life significantly improved clients’ lives. My front-row seat as an advisor has allowed me to see why real wealth unquestionably means the things that last and then undoubtedly outlast us.

My advisor role has also given me the unique gift of traveling alongside my clients as they face the three Epochs of Wealth: the Learning Epoch, the Accumulation Epoch, and the Withdrawing/Passing Epoch. I have been along for the entire journey with some; others, I joined somewhere along the path.

Using all this experience, I’ll begin by guiding you through rethinking wealth, time, risk, and the future. We’ll then walk through the three epochs, clarifying a few milestones and what to expect as you travel along the trail. I will also provide a shortcut to measuring the time and distance to reach your destination. Finally, we will close with tools to help you engage with the future. Each part builds on the previous parts, so it’s best to work through the chapters in order.

An important aside, while I describe what investments are, I do not go into depth on this topic. There are thousands of books on stocks, bonds, and asset allocation. This book is about better understanding how money and investments fit into your life. Also, while my orientation and cultural references are distinctly American, the ideas about risk, time, and wealth are universal. Still, I apologize if some jokes don’t make sense.

The Wealth Equation I’ve created is a formula that clarifies how to balance different parts of our lives. I’ll describe and return to this equation throughout.

When we are done with our time together, you will be able to:

Look at wealth differently.

Think about time in new ways.

Understand that compounding time and knowing what is valuable to you is the antidote to fake money.

Equally important, you will see how the different complex parts of life interact, what money and wealth can be, and ideally, have a roadmap to find your reason for getting out of bed in the morning.

I hope you enjoy the journey!

]>

Part One

Part One: Preparing

It’s a warm spring evening, and I am seated among my friends in a nondescript bar in Cabo Sans Lucas. We listen intently to our guide, a former Navy Seal, as he drinks his piña colada and gives us the rundown of our upcoming adventure: racing across the Baja Peninsula in high-performance Baja Challenge cars.

He laid out the essentials—spacing, radios, safety gear. But his last words still linger: Gentlemen, this isn’t Disney World. No rails here to keep you on the track.

We all knew where the gas and brake pedals were and could have just hopped in the cars and taken off. However, taking the time to have the complete picture of what the cars could do, how they did it, and things to watch out for on the road increased the odds of a successful trip.

Similarly, understanding all the variables of wealth and how to feather the clutch on them when needed is paramount to not only just crossing the finish line but successfully crossing it in a time, place, and style of your own choosing.

Consider Part One as your predeparture briefing.

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.

—Mark Twain

]>

Chapter 1

1. Wealth Isn’t What You Think It Is

Defining Wealth

Wealth has multiple definitions.

The first is what you probably think it is: a great quantity or store of money, valuable possessions, property, or other riches: the wealth of a city.

Other definitions include words like abundance, monetary, being rich, or affluent.

The most interesting to me is the last entry, which is no longer in use—Obsolete. happiness.1

Bummer! I thought the whole reason to accumulate wealth was to increase happiness!

Society can easily catalog most of the things it classifies as wealth. Assets, liabilities, and net worth are topics covered in the financial press, television, and bestsellers. But in reality, financial assets are just one form of wealth.

Other forms of wealth, which are not easily quantified or accounted for, offer nonfinancial benefits, provide support, and can be just as fulfilling as accumulating financial assets.

To be clear, my goal is to guide you toward wealth. It just might be different from the type that gets splashy headlines in magazines like Forbes or Money. These forms of nonfinancial wealth serve alongside financial wealth as the foundation for a more holistic prosperity.

Adding these variables together equals wealth, and everyone has a personal Wealth Equation that they calculate:

Wealth = FF + EKW + J + S + FA + T

What are these variables that make up the Wealth Equation?

Family and Friends—Strong Connections Provide a Sense of Belonging

(Wealth = Family and Friends + EKW + J + S + FA + T)

Citizen Kane is Orson Welles’s thought-provoking film from the 1940s that delves into the fictional life of Charles Kane, a charismatic and ambitious individual with a dark past. The film follows him from childhood through the mercilessly achieved pinnacles of wealth and success as a media tycoon all the way to his final day.

In the memorable opening scene where, alone in his mansion, surrounded by material possessions but devoid of genuine human connections, Kane utters his last word, Rosebud. As the movie wraps up, we see Kane’s lifetime of collected treasures tossed onto a fire, including the most valuable one, his childhood sled named Rosebud—a potent symbol of the happiest phase of his life. Welles masterfully shows how a life filled with riches and prestige can feel empty without meaningful personal relationships.

What Orson Welles knew instinctively is what science has proven. Family and friends are vital to growing up and growing old in a successful manner.

Family. Only a few people have known you (and that you have known) for your whole life, your immediate family: mom, dad, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, or some combination of this mix. Keep them close because they are family. Also, selfishly, it is essential to keep these people close because they will likely be the ones taking care of us when needed. Research suggests that 75 percent of us will need some help in our later years, and it is these family members who are typically providing this care.2

I’ve personally observed a transition where clients, advancing into their later years, are sharing responsibilities with their children. These children, still in their fifties yet lovingly referred to as the kids, are progressively shouldering more day-to-day responsibilities, easing the load on my clients.

Besides our immediate families, we often consider friends the family we choose for ourselves. As we march through life, building and maintaining close social ties is critical to our well-being. Research suggests that friends help boost happiness, reduce stress, and improve self-confidence. Equally important, they are there in the times of crisis we will experience through our lives: the death of a loved one, illnesses, and job loss.3

Researchers have also found that social networks are as important as workouts. Using Fitbits, surveys, and self-assessments, these researchers determined strong social networks significantly improved stress, happiness, and positivity over just the number of steps in a day or the resting heart rate.4

So being fit is great. Being fit together with family and friends is even better!

It is clear cherishing your family and friends matters, but placing a high value on your best friends is an even better way to increase the odds of living your best life.

Studies indicate we tend to prune the more superficial relationships as we age, leaving us with fewer but deeper friendships that make us happy.5

Nurturing these close relationships with family and friends is vital if you’re aiming for a life that’s not just long but also filled with health and happiness.

This form of nonfinancial wealth is not easily put on a balance sheet.

Instead of viewing the time we spend with friends and family as luxuries, we can see that these relationships are among the most powerful determinants of our well-being and survival.

—Dean Ornish

Experiences—Achievements, Failures, and Adventures Build a Foundation

(Wealth = FF + Experience KW + J + S + FA + T)

From the time we burn our finger on a hot stove as a toddler, our lives are simply a collection of experiences that help us navigate the next adventure. We can read a book on how to ride a bike, but we need to get on it to learn how to ride it.

Experiential learning starts with parents telling toddlers not to touch the stove because it is hot. They touch it anyway, once.

Later on, parents run alongside the child’s bike to get it moving fast enough for the child to catch their balance. Finally, at some point, they let go to see their child ride on their own.

Each experience a parent provides is another step in preparing the child for a future without them.

We sometimes stumble and trip as we grow up. We occasionally burn our fingers, take spills off our bikes, fail assignments, and become involved in dangerous situations. Interestingly enough, all these experiences teach us more than if we had just sailed through a problem without a hitch the first time.

Thomas Edison is famous for saying, I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.

Akin to Edison, another person whose life is full of experiences is Elon Musk. Musk’s journey is nothing short of remarkable, and his setbacks are as well-known as his successes. Like Edison learning from failed