Intro

I think this concept is the fundamental key of learning to navigate the world. There's an old saying: there's only two currencies--your time, and money. I'd like to rebut that. To me, there's only two currencies: but it's your time and your skills, which can be used to exchange value in any way you see fit.

Why I Use Money As The Currency of Discussion

The world operates on money. You exchange it for goods. You use it for influence. You can pay bail. You can bribe. People will be friendly to you to try to get it, or get from you the connections to get it themselves. Your home costs money. Your car costs money. In reality the only true value is in exchange, but money is the primary medium for that. But realize everything else can be valued that way too. I'm using money because it's the accepted medium of exchange, but the exchange itself is the value. Not all values can be acquired with money, but most can. For that reason the post is about monetary value, but it's more-so about the abstract accruement of value.

What do I mean?

Let's look at things that don't require money but can provide value as well. One area that leaps out to me is high SMV (looks, charisma, etc)--also using that example because this is a sexual strategy sub, and y'all will relate to it.

You will never be outright paid for your SMV. Therefore, it's monetarily useless to max it out, right? Yeah, maybe a simpleton may think that. But let's take a look at two hypothetical guys.

Guy A: Low SMV, only works hard on school and in his career, but is actually brilliant. He averages earning 200k throughout his life. He's a tech guy. Let's say he works 30 years making that. 30x 200k means this guy makes 6 million pre-taxes, maybe 4 million post-taxes give or take.

Now let's take this guy who makes 4 million dollars in his life and assign him a woman. Well, his SMV is dog shit, so despite being a high-earning tech guy, he can choose (let's say) a HB8 woman who makes $30k per year on average and mostly doesn't work. Mostly is a gold digger. Or he can choose a HB4 who makes $50k on average over 30 years.

Let's just say he picks the uglier girl who makes more. Let's say that adds roughly a million to his 4, bringing him to 5. Ignore that he's already made a trade-off in value that effects his quality of life (and that him working to make 200k/year likely means high stress & high working hours--another trade-off that can be viewed monetarily). So he's got 5 million dollars total household net worth.

Alright, like I said, this man sucks at dating because he didn't value that. So he gets divorced. That means these assets get split. That 5 million he ever made? That's now 2.5 million for him lifetime. His SMV is dog shit, like I said, so he won't have another potential female to contribute to his 2.5 million--that's it for him. 2.5 mill. And he made 200k per year. Keep that figure in mind.

Now, let's look at Guy B.

Guy B: This guy isn't that interested in being a "career dude." He's as smart as Guy A, but he doesn't want to work himself to death. He wants fun. He's exciting. He maxes out his SMV. He's got his charisma down to a T. He uses that to make 100k per year on average for his 30 years. Again, take taxes out, and let's say this man earns 2 million lifetime.

But this guy is a socially savvy, Chad-like guy. He can pick his woman among nearly anyone. When he's 30 and Guy A is 50, he meets Beta Guy A's 24 y/o daughter. Because Guy A's household (even though he no longer has access to it) earned pretty high, Guy A can still leave some money to his daughter. Let's say he leaves that million dollar home he purchased back when he made 200k (or his wife leaves it to her, since it's hers now). Let's just say in this example Guy A did marry that HB8 rather than the HB4, so the daughter is also a HB8. His daughter was raised well, so she makes 70k/year (since women still tend to earn less than men). Across 30 years that's 2.1 million, minus taxes we'll say 1.5 million. Plus a million dollars inheritance. You've got 3.1 million now.

3.1 million + 2 million = 5.1 million, and these people don't divorce because the man is Chad and the woman's SMV declines, not allowing her hypergamy to land her a better mate than the one she attracted at 24. So he comes out ahead by 2.6 million, and because he's so Chad-like, that full 5.1 million is under his sphere of influence. Unlike Guy A, who had he not divorced his wife, would still probably have to submit to her wishes to spend their respective 5 million.

Basically, Guy B worked half as hard, earned half as much, and walked away with double. People truly do not understand the importance of good mate selection. What if Guy B used his Chad-ness to attract a heiress to a fortune? A perfect 10/10 (non-monetary benefit)? He can trade that advantage he has in the SMP as he likes, but it manifests monetarily regardless.

Why Am I Saying This?

I think people tend to think: net worth = income. That is patently false. Net worth accrues many ways. Smart investments, smart partnerships (LTR), managing money well without overspending, etc.

Personally, I want to live my life. I'm only here once. You could not pay me an infinite amount to work 80 hour weeks. While you get money, what I lose I consider to be more valuable than the money I could not spend while working that. I am not saying do not try to earn money. Definitely do. But realize that net worth--which is what you're truly aiming for, not high income--is a result of good planning in all facets of your life, not just an income. You can finish ahead of Doctors and the like by playing the game well, without working nearly as hard as them. Work smart--not hard.

Secondly, for those that plan to marry or have kids, I used the LTR example precisely for you. Realize that all of your work you ever do is on the line when you marry. It can make or break you. If you choose perfectly and have every option possible, you don't need to truly work in the traditional sense that much, and you come out a winner. If you work and earn tons of money but choose poorly for marriage, you still end up in the shitter. Your LTR is legitimately the biggest financial risk/reward commitment of your life. It can definitely bolster you a lot with the right woman. But it can also hurt you tremendously.

Conclusion

Ensure that you place the correct value on everything you do. Working 60-80 hour weeks throughout your 20s? Realize what you're losing--you'll never get that time back. You could build your skills and get paid more efficiently, losing less time in the trade-off for money. For example owning a business may cost an upfront amount of time for 3-5 years, but if successful, you can now work much less and still reap rewards.

Realize that there's more and less ideal types of work. For me, working on SMV and women is fun. And it yields benefits. Monetary benefits. I'd rather go game girls and find a girl like the one Guy B gets than spend my time grinding in a corporate setting like Guy A does. If you love your work, it's easier to excel in it. Maybe some people like whatever job they do and want to spend all their precious time on Earth doing that. Maybe you don't but still want the money associated. This is to say that that's possible.

Finally, realize that it's still impossible to get something for nothing. Your two available currencies are time and skills. You've got a set amount of time--on average, about 20-40 years of work with an average being likely close to 30-35. And within that, you can use more or less of that time working--but you've still just got those years. However, you can build any skills you want and profit off of them. What you cannot do is profit a high amount off of few skills. If you don't have skills, you will need to use a lot of time to profit a lot. That's why skill-building is imperative. But again, that skill can be in anything that people will pay to access. For some, that's tech. For some, that's sales. For some, that's teaching. For some, people will pay to date you. For some, you can be profit off of investments. For some, it's being born to your parents. There's money in everything. Find out how to access it. Expand your view beyond the traditional income = net worth mindset, and capitalize on all opportunities that come your way.

Low time and low skills = low pay. High time and low skills = moderate pay. Low time and high skills = moderate pay. High time and high skills = highest pay. Use your time and skills wisely. There's a lot to do out there in the world, and we only live once.

Been posting for a long time on AskTRP giving advice. First new thread created providing value in TRP. Cheers guys.