What do Monopoly, my son playing Mario Mario Kart, and 2016 Jordan Ostroff have in common?
They all try to skip to the top without learning how the game really works.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Nick Maggiulli’s book The Wealth Ladder lately. It’s one of the few money books that doesn’t try to shame you for not having a Roth IRA when you were 12. His core idea is this: wealth isn’t about getting rich fast, it’s about climbing from one financial rung to the next. One step at a time. This book pairs perfectly with what I coach law firm owners on. Most of them aren’t broke. They have revenue, but bad systems and little-to-no personal time. They’re playing Mario Kart on Rainbow Road with zero coins for the first time, trying to explode their car to the finish line like this one insane youtube video. Let’s talk about the ladder and how we can climb it in a much safer war.
To be fair, his ladder is mostly directly financial with a 10x between ($1000, $10000, $100000, etc). I am less concerned about your true income and more about the point of each rung.
Step one is survive
You need income, fast. If you’re on the first rung, forget fancy investing advice. Your job is to make more money. That’s it. Take more of the right cases. Raise your fees. Fix your collections. Stop obsessing over what index fund to buy.
Cash flow wins at the bottom of the ladder…stay in the game…keep the lights on.
Step two is stabilize.
Once you’ve got consistent money coming in, it’s time to stop bleeding it all out. Most lawyers hit this stage and feel rich because they finally have margin. But margin without a system is just lifestyle creep with a bigger couch. You need automation. You need to start the process of delegation. You need profit coming out before spending happens and you
end up $200,000 in debt on a $500,000 a year firm like someone I know…am?…was?
Step three is scale.
This is where you start replacing yourself. Not just to “buy back time,” but to turn your business into something that pays you even when you don’t show up. Maggiulli would tell you this is the point where real wealth begins. You can’t climb the ladder if you’re stuck holding it up. Most of my clients come to me at this rung (or right before it and this is our quick win).
Step four is invest.
Real investing. Not roulette wheel stuff. Boring, consistent, automated investing. Usually back into your firm and yourself. Maybe some stock market/Real estate/side project. The goal isn’t to make one big win, hit a giant case and ride off into the sunset like Butch and Sundance (without the shootout). The goal is to keep stacking rungs (or wins).
The Takeaway
Here’s what most lawyers get wrong. They try to skip to step four before mastering steps one, two, and three.
They watch a YouTube video about real estate syndications and think,
“This is how I get out of the grind.”
No. You get out of the grind by building a business that prints money and doesn’t require your face in every room. Then you stack that money until your money makes more than you do.
The Wealth Ladder isn’t about being a millionaire. It’s about becoming someone who never has to stress about rent, retirement, or rainy days. The kind of person who takes one look at a downturn (now?) and says, “I’m good.” So yeah. You don’t need a yacht.
You need a ladder. One you actually know how to climb.Next week we’re talking about How to Ask for Help. Until then, figure out what it would take to get you to the next rung and start working towards it. Keep climbing. |
