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The Rule of 4: The Only Financial Plan You’ll Ever Need To Make “F*ck You” Money In 10 Years

04 July 2025

Let’s cut through the noise.

If you’re still reading finance blogs, watching TikTok “traders” with fake Rolexes, or debating whether to buy gold, crypto, or whatever the next shiny asset is — stop. You’re wasting time. This is the only financial plan you’ll ever need. I call it The Rule of 4, and it’s the only guaranteed way to build F*ck You Money in a single decade.

Let me define that real quick:

F*ck You Money n
The amount of wealth required to say “f*ck you” to your boss, your industry, and the government — without worrying about the financial consequences.

I Gave You the Blueprint… You Just Didn’t Notice

In 11 Unpopular Reasons Why I’m Rich And You’re Not, I wrote 11 chapters. Only one of them is about money. The other 10? All about character, mindset, and doing the hard stuff no one wants to do. But Chapter 4 — The Rule of 4 — was the real blueprint. It’s the formula I designed using excel spreadsheets when I was 19 and used to become a multimillionaire long before I could legally rent a car in the States.

And here it is. Simple. Brutal. Effective.

The Rule of 4 (Pay Attention)

  1. Figure out how much your dream lifestyle costs per year.
    (Let’s say $100k for simplicity — but this works if your dream is $1 million.)
  2. Double it.
  3. Double it again.
    Yep, 4x your dream lifestyle = the income target.
  4. Earn that amount, and invest HALF of your after-tax income into a blend of:
    • Leveraged real estate
    • Unleveraged, actively managed portfolios (shares, fixed interest, investment-grade alternatives)

That’s it.

So, if you want to live on $100k per year, you need to earn $400k per year.

Guess what happens at that income level? You land in the highest tax bracket (around 50% in most Western countries). That means your $400k becomes $200k after tax. You spend $100k on living well — and you invest the other $100k.

Do that for 10 years, without fail, and you’re financially untouchable.

Don’t Even Think About Investing Until You’ve Got This Sorted

Let me be very clear:
Investing won’t make you rich, only you will.

If you’re starting with $5k, $50k, or even $500k and you think you’re going to generate what they nauseatingly refer to as “passive income” — you’re dreaming. Actually, you’re delusional.

To turn $5k into a $100k income stream, you’d need to make a 2,063% ROI.
With $50k, you’d need a 209% ROI.
With $500k, you’d still need 23.6% annually — every year.

Even the best investors on Earth — Buffett, Saylor, Dalio, you name it — don’t put up those numbers. And the TikTok bros in hoodies definitely don’t.

The real goal is to build a base that earns you a 10% net annual return, sustainably, for life.

There are only two ways to get that kind of return with controlled risk:

Not crypto.
Not forex.
Not your cousin’s “startup.”
And definitely not that NFT collection with the pixelated goat smoking a cigar.

So… How The Hell Do You Earn 4x Your Desired Lifestyle?

Here comes the fun part:

Ask yourself right now:
Can you earn 4x your desired lifestyle income in your current job or business?

No? Then guess what?

You’re in the wrong f*cking career.

Does that sting? Good.
Now do something about it.

If you’re an employee, figure out how to climb, move sideways, or shift industries entirely. If you run a business that isn’t cutting it — fix it, grow it, or kill it and start again. Look around: are others in your industry earning what you want to earn? If yes, learn from them. Or outwork them.

But whatever you do, don’t even think about quitting your current job until the new one is paying. Especially if you have a family.

If you need to build a side hustle, congratulations — you now have two full-time jobs.

Still want the dream?

Good. Then build it while your family sleeps.

That means your second business gets built from 8pm to 6am — after your workday, after the kids are fed, after your partner is asleep. You don’t get to trade sleep for mediocrity. You trade sleep for freedom. You get comfortable being exhausted. Because the alternative is being resented by your family or broke for life.

99% of people won’t do this.

That’s why 99% of people never get F*ck You Money.

When You’re Finally Ready To Invest

You don’t DIY your wealth. You build your income, then you buy the best team money can buy to manage and protect it.

That means:

Let them each play their own lane. Don’t let one dominate your whole portfolio, and for the love of God:

Your wealth isn’t a roulette table. Don’t get sucked into the dopamine trap.

In Summary: The Rule of 4 = Living like a bum and working like a psycho for 10 years so you can live luxuriously for the rest of your life

Forget passive income.
Forget early retirement.
Forget shiny objects and loopholes.

Just do this:

  1. Earn 4x your dream lifestyle.
  2. Pay the ridiculous tax.
  3. Invest half of what remains
  4. Spend the rest

That’s it.

You want F*ck You Money?
You want to walk away from any job, any boss, any government handout, any crisis — and still live free?

Do. This. Now.

And if you’re still arguing with me after this article, you deserve what you get. The rest of us have work to do.