If you can’t beat them, join them. That is one of my favorite proverbs. It can be applied toward a lot of situations in life.

But one of my favorite situations to apply it toward is the stock market and wealth building. I see a lot of people out there beating the drum of inequality and pointing their fingers at wealthy people.

But here’s the thing. You only have so much time and energy in a day. If you spend all of your energy on negativity and your perceived ills of the world, this is going to beat you. Instead, why not join in?

Why not join in on the amazing party that is wealth building via the stock market? Why not reallocate your time and energy toward building wealth, passive income, and freedom in your own life?

Today, I want to tell you how anyone can join in and become fabulously wealthy over time, even if you’re starting from $0. Ready? Let’s dig in.

Let me start by giving you some background on me so that you know who I am and where I’m coming from.

I was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1982 to a man and a woman who really had no business having children. Grew up on welfare in a very rough neighborhood. My dad split when I was eight. And my mom gave me up as a ward of the state when I was 11.

Sounds like a great start in life, huh? Well, check this out. It actually gets worse.

After being adopted and muddling my way through school, I went to college. Yay! Except I only racked up a ton of student loan debt and dropped out at 21 after my mother committed suicide.

The struggles gotta end there, right? Can’t get much worse. Well, it kind of does get worse.

I meandered my way through basic jobs until landing a position as a service advisor at a car dealership making about $30,000 per year. Having just enough income to cover my bills, I stayed broke and in debt throughout most of my 20s.

So. Let me ask you a question. Do I sound like prime material for building wealth? Am I a great candidate for the stock market?

Of course not. You’d instead expect me to be one of those people complaining about my lot in life and shaking my fists at the wealthy.

But I never did that. I never blamed anyone for my situation. Where does that get you? How is hating successful or wealthy people going to help you? It’s not. You can’t beat successful people in this way, because they don’t care about your complaining. They’re too busy doing the things that led to their success. Don’t try to bring others down. Instead, join in. Be inspired by the wealth, success, passive income, and freedom that others have, and then get busy building your own wealth, success, passive income, and freedom.

This is exactly what I started to do my late 20s after being fired from my job during the depths of the financial crisis in 2009.

I moved halfway across the country – from Michigan to Florida – in order to get access to better job prospects, lower taxes, warmer weather, easier car-free living, lower expenses, and a better overall set of circumstances for building wealth and passive income. See, I took action for myself, because getting mad at others who are up on mountaintops isn’t going to help me climb up there for myself. A victim mentality and self-pity won’t result in money raining upon you like manna from the sky.

After landing a new job, selling my car, and moving into a meager apartment, I started to save more than half of my net income and invest that capital into high-quality dividend growth stocks.

I took advantage of the US stock market that I saw as an incredible engine of wealth creation for so many other people out there. I never thought about beating them. I joined them. I joined into this amazing world of wealth, investing, passive income, success, and freedom. And the more I learned, the more motivated and determined I became.

I read Warren Buffett’s biography – The Snowball – twice. And you know what I learned?

Most of what Buffett did can be replicated by almost anyone out there. Sure, not to his scale. Not to billions of dollars. But living below your means? Working hard? Not constantly becoming a victim of lifestyle inflation just because you have more money? Investing in the US stock market? Carefully researching companies for investment? Buying high-quality dividend growth stocks when they’re undervalued? These are simple concepts that almost anyone can use to build significant and sustainable wealth, passive income, and freedom.

And guess what? I used those simple concepts.

These simple concepts helped me to go from below broke to hitting my first $100,000 in just three years, as I described in another video we shot recently. The first $100k is the hardest. And once you get that first $100k, the rest of the journey becomes so much easier.

From that initial six-figure sum, I grew things aggressively and became financially free at 33 years old.

Starting from in debt at 27, I became financially free at 33. That’s only six years. Sounds fast. But let me tell you, it doesn’t seem all that fast in real-time when you’re waking up at 6 a.m., taking the bus, working 12-hour days, side hustling, researching stocks at midnight, getting six hours of sleep, and forgoing all of the material or experiential purchases others are making.

But it’s all worth it. Financial freedom is worth whatever so-called “sacrifices” it requires. Because what could be a bigger sacrifice than not being free?

You know what, though? You want the truth of the matter? A lot of people don’t want to make those sacrifices. It’s easier to decry those who are wealthy and successful. That doesn’t require any hard work or sacrifice at all. But guess what? That won’t get you anywhere. If I had spent those six years of my life feeling angry about my childhood and being resentful of how I wasn’t wealthy like other people, where would I be right now? Yep. I’d still be broke. Can’t beat them, so why not join them?

Where am I now at in life?

I’m in my late 30s, financially free, and living off of the five-figure passive dividend income my six-figure dividend growth stock portfolio produces for me. I live in Thailand, which is about as far – physically and philosophically – as one can get from Detroit, Michigan. When I say that if I can do this, anyone can – I really mean it. Don’t let negativity infect your life. Trying to bring others down won’t lift you up. Don’t get mad at others up on mountaintops. Instead, use their lofty positions as motivation and inspiration for you to climb up there for yourself and enjoy the freedom that will provide you.

— Jason Fieber

P.S. If you’d like access to my entire six-figure dividend growth stock portfolio, as well as stock trades I make with my own money, I’ve made all of that available exclusively through Patreon.

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