10 Money Lessons from The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco

The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco is a hugely popular finance book.

It goes completely against society’s norms of going to school, getting a job, saving your money, and retiring at 65 years old.

DeMarco has received global recognition for how he’s helped millions of people like you grow their wealth, in the fastlane.

In this blog, I’ll take you through 10 priceless lessons from The Millionaire Fastlane, to help you escape the rat race and achieve financial independence.

You Are The Driver

It’s a lesson on personal accountability, rather than financial literacy, and it’s the first step to achieving financial freedom.

If you want to become rich, you have to acknowledge that you’re the driver, and your financial situation is the vehicle you’re driving.

You’re no longer a passenger, blaming everyone else for your misfortunes.

• The government

• Your boss

• Your parents

You name it.

You have full control, and if you’re ever going to achieve financial success, it’s gonna be down to you, and you only.

The Millionaire Fastlane Exists For Everyone

So many people will preach to you that becoming rich is a slow process, and will take decades to achieve, but ask yourself, what’s the point of achieving financial success if you’re too old to enjoy it?

In 2023 and beyond, there are opportunities everywhere to become the next

• Mark Zuckerberg

• Jeff Bezos

• Elon Musk

Let your mind be free and acknowledge the possibilities this world has to offer to you.

Act Quickly to Win

The millionaire fastlane depends on several factors, and none are more important than the speed of:

• Your effort

• Your mindset

• Your determination

DeMarco also emphasises the need to implement systems into your work to improve your efficiency, instead of only focusing on the end result.

If you spend all your time thinking about the destination, there’s no guarantee that the journey you pick will be the quickest.

So, focus on the present, and optimise every single day for maximum output.

Money is An Illusion

Don’t desire money for the wrong reasons.

In today’s age of image and social media, people chase money to look rich, buying up:

• Flash cars

• Designer clothes

• Expensive jewellery

But in truth, money won’t buy you happiness directly.

Money will buy you time, and happiness from money comes from spending that time doing the things you love, rather than working a job you don’t like, just to pay for things you bought to impress other people.

The Money Formula

Your salary is a great tool for building long term wealth, but it won’t help you get rich in a shorter time frame.

DeMarco says that the true formula for wealth is this.

Wealth = net income + asset value.

Your net income will include your salary, but your main task in getting rich is to increase your net income, whilst avoiding poor spending and developing bad money habits.

Starting a business in your spare time involving something you enjoy, or something you’re good at, can quickly grow your income.

Practice Good Money Habits

Many people, especially DeMarco, believe that it’s your money habits that contribute the most towards your financial situation.

Whilst your income is important, it’s also just as important to make sure you aren’t wasting your money on things that won’t help you get rich.

• Looking to impress others

• Impulsive buying

• Living paycheck to paycheck

Are great ways to ensure you’ll never achieve financial independence.

Your Job is A Prison

You’re sacrificing 5 weekdays, all for 2 days of freedom.

Is this really how you’re meant to be living?

That’s not for me, and I’m sure it’s not for you too.

This is a lifestyle you can’t escape without the financial discipline I mentioned in lesson 6.

Living paycheck to paycheck will keep you enslaved until you’re too old to be of any value to the company, that will replace you without a second thought.

The Illusion of Compound Interest

Compound interest is great, but the problem lies in the time it takes for you to start seeing good results.

It could be years, or in some cases, decades.

If you just rely on compound interest, you won’t get rich fast.

The true blueprint to getting rich fast is to build a business, and increase your income first.

Once your income is increasing, you can then begin to work on growing the money you have.

The Money Tree

DeMarco will tell you that your salary is the slowlane to wealth, and the fastlane involves 5 core money trees to wealth.

• The rental system.

• The software system.

• The marketing system.

• The information system.

• The human resource system.

Building and monetising valuable systems, for clients who have a lot of money, is the fast way to wealth.

The Fundamental Law of Wealth

There’s a simple calculation when it comes to building wealth, and it’s all about value.

The two parameters are amplitude: how much of your product or service is sold.

And magnitude: the price you’re selling something for.

Use these parameters to determine what you need to achieve for financial success.

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