Getting older has its perks, and one of them is being able to make your own decisions. As we get older, we have the chance to participate in everything everyone else is doing. We do this because of FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out. Or we have the opportunity to go our way and experience JOMO or Joy Of Missing Out.
You would think that after high school, we would not fall for peer pressure, but sadly you are mistaken. If anything, there is more peer pressure in your 40s than there is in your 20s. Why is it this way? Because as forty-year-olds, we have more options.
I want to focus on three of these options specifically today: lifestyle inflation, investing for capital gains, and being single. These three areas of life are where I see most people experience FOMO. I choose to exercise my right to choose a different path, a path of JOMO. I have never been happier in my life by living a modest life, loving my wife, and becoming rich through hard work and reading. Let’s continue into the world of FOMO vs. JOMO.
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FOMO, Lifestyle Inflation. America wants you to spend money. In fact, we necessitate American life on consumers spending tons of money every year. It is ingrained in everything that we do. As we work harder and harder in the workforce, we are presenting two options in particular.
The first option is to spend our money from our work directly on buying nice things. In my article “The Truth About Discretionary Spending,” I explain why you should spend money on assets. But the reality is, buying assets isn’t fun for most people.
In my forties, I noticed something strange—most people don’t care about the long term. It is like being in high school all over again, this time over Facebook and social media. Every day, I watch people buy brand new cars, travel to exotic places, and purchase nice things for their kids.
It is a race to see who can prove that they can spend the most money. Then other people get involved by sending their kids to private school and buying bigger houses. FOMO. Everyone has to show how well they are doing. Well, not everyone.
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JOMO, Lifestyle Inflation. My wife and I don’t get caught up in this crap. Lifestyle inflation is the killer of true wealth. Every time I see someone taking a trip to New York or overseas, I cringe. I have this adverse reaction because each time we waste money, it adds years to the time we have to continue working.
Yes, that’s right, YEARS. Somehow, the world convinces us that our 401Ks will provide us with a fantastic retirement. So invest our 10% in our 401Ks and then spend the rest on luxury items. Not only is the 401K just a savings account, but it also depends on the stock market being strong as you withdraw your income.
When people are spending money in their 30s and 40s on bullcrap like new cars, trips, jewelry, houses, etc., they tell me that they want to work until their 60s and 70s. I don’t even want to work past my 50s. I plan to be completely done with work by age 48 (my wife will be 45).
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So as everyone is proving how rich they are (by working hard), Kris and I are busy buying and building assets. And we love it, JOMO. We purchase real estate, which produces rental income. We are buying stocks that pay dividend income, crypto that makes interest income, and creating books with royalty income.
Together, we will become wealthy because we will have tons of money and not have to work! That is the secret to life. When you have assets that produce money for you, you will be time-rich and cash-rich. True wealth is having complete control of time and money.
The choice of how you spend your 20s, 30s, and 40s is up to you. You can pretend to be rich, spend all your earned income, and then continue to work to make more. Or you can invest in assets, learn about business, real estate, and crypto, and become truly rich. The Joy Of Missing Out will make you rich in the long run. Then in your 50s, you will be the one traveling, buying new things, and spending time with family because you will have complete control of your time and money.
FOMO, Investing for Capital Gains. Investing for capital gains is like being a football star in high school. Yes, playing football is a great way to stay in shape and work as a team, but the perks are off the field. Everyone knows and loves you. It is a lifestyle.
Investing for capital gains is the same because everyone wants to brag about how smart they are when investing. I bought Tesla when it was $20/share. I bought my house in 2010, at the bottom of the market. I now have $300,000 in equity in my home.
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The more people talk about how successful they are in investing, the more others get FOMO. Then they start chasing these gains as well. It’s all good until the market takes a turn for the worst. You see, the market always takes a turn for the worst.
When people invest for capital gains, it is more like speculating. Their whole investing theory is that someone will come along later and pay more than they did. It is called sucker syndrome.
Here is the key to weeding out non-investors. First, they only talk when their investments are doing well. Also, you ask them, “Great, what’s your next investment?” We can all get lucky from time to time, but the key to becoming rich is long, steady success over the years.
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JOMO, Investing for Income. I invest for income. My investment thesis is strictly to buy assets that produce money today. I don’t care if someone comes around and buys my assets because I am milking the cow every day. I am purchasing the chickens that lay the golden eggs.
I buy stocks that pay dividends, bonds that pay interest, crypto that pays interest, and homes that pay rents. I am also producing books and websites that produce royalties.
As everyone jumps to buy more Tesla, I am buying more shares of Prudential Financial. I am up over 26%, but more importantly, I bought shares when I was getting a 7% dividend yield. I don’t worry about when to sell. I buy and hold and collect those sweet dividends every quarter.
Investing for income and cash flow is not exciting for most people. There is nothing to brag about, at least not initially. However, in time, you will build a fantastic portfolio of income. As you can see above, I received two powerful dividends on back-to-back days.
That is a total of $58.57 of pure cash flow. It may not sound like it to you, but to me, it is a fortune. My wife and I are already rich; now, we are earning even more money in the form of dividends. I can take my wife to sushi, paid for by Altria and AT&T; how amazing is that?
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The only way to create income from capital gains is to sell your assets. I am investing for income, getting paid, and most times receiving capital gains as well. Life is nearly perfect. JOMO.
FOMO, relationships. Everyone wants to be happy. Not just happy for a little while, happy every day of every week, of every month, and as soon as they are not satisfied, boom, divorce or break-up.
Somewhere along the lines, everyone was told that they can be happy every day. They are told relationships would be easy, and if they are hard, then it is not the right relationship for you. You deserve to be happy, they say.
And today, I see more forty-year-olds still looking for happiness than I could have imagined. Hell, Bill Gates just announced his divorce last week. He is the second richest person in the world—or he is until he finalizes his divorce.
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Yet, every relationship has its ups and downs. However, both parties need to grow individually and grow as a union. It can be difficult to have a successful relationship. But taking the easy way is made easier because of FOMO.
I hear people say, “I am wasting my time. I can be happy somewhere else with someone else.” Great, go try. It is literally insane. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, expecting a different result. You can’t have a successful relationship if you are part of the root cause. But FOMO, via social media and advertising, tell people they can have it all—love, a beautiful spouse, money, time, vacations, rings, houses, cars, kids, careers, riches, etc., all without improving themselves, budgeting, working as a team, or hardships. It’s bullshit.
JOMO, marriage. I am glad I missed that memo—that I can have it all without working for it. My wife and I went through our hard times. We’ve been upset with each other over the last 15 years. But love kept us together. Now we are on top.
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We live humbly, save and invest, create new income streams, send our kids to public school, and prepare for a future where we will take care of our parents. JOMO.
We skipped the whole “I can be happy elsewhere routine.” The happiest we can be is with each other. My dream future consists of my wife, my kids, and grandkids sitting on the beach. We have everything we ever wanted, including time. And we are wealthy. We have dividends, rents, royalties, pensions, etc., all coming in passively. We are in control of our time and money.
But to get to this future, some sacrifices have to be made today. However, this combined sacrifice is what makes our relationship stronger. We are not in a rush (FOMO) to have vacations, motorcycles, RVs, expensive cars, etc., right now. Those may come in time, but now is the time to hustle.
JOMO, conclusion. Don’t get caught up in the hype. America will have you all kinds of screwed up. Here you can easily be spending all sorts of money, investing for capital gains, and staying single because of FOMO. Your Instagram feed will always show you someone happier than you are, at least for that split second.
As my friend Terry says, there are 86,400 seconds in a day, and it only takes one second to take a picture. Instagram is not a factual representation of a person’s actual life. The sooner you can realize this, the faster you can start to build your true life.
Skipping the hype, JOMO, is not going to excite other people. No one is going to pat you on the back. But over time, you will become the “star football player.” You will have the marriage everyone wants, the money coming in passively, and the time and resources to vacation and travel.
It takes time, education, love, and JOMO. Take a different path, and you will see excellent results. The true path to happiness is the long, slow road. The road of reading books on relationships and cooperating with your spouse and kids. The road of reading books on finance and investing and becoming a long-term investor. The long road of waiting to travel and vacation when your assets and investments can pay for your trips.
So what’s it going to be, JOMO or FOMO? Fast or slow? Capital gains or income? Single or married? The choice is up to you. Good Luck!
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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