9 Wealth-Building Skills That Help You Retire Early (Even If You’re Starting Late)
- Silivere Bakomeza
- Oct 4, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: May 15, 2025
Retiring at 65 is optional now.
If you understand the money game, build systems, and develop real conviction—you can walk away from the rat race long before most people are even ready to start.
This isn’t theory. These are the 9 foundational skills used by every self-made millionaire who retired early—and it works no matter how late you start.
Let’s get into it.
1. Choose Your Friends Wisely
Your environment is your financial baseline. Spend time around people who hate money, fear investing, or glorify being broke—and you’ll stay stuck.
Wealthy people don’t just invest in stocks—they invest in better conversations.
Do this: Audit your 5 closest friends. Are they building, investing, and growing? If not, it’s time to level up your circle.
2. Change How You See Life
Wealth isn’t about luck—it’s about belief.
If you don’t think it’s possible for someone like you to become wealthy, you’ll subconsciously reject every opportunity that comes your way.
The people who retire early didn’t get handed special tools. They just stopped waiting for permission.
Do this: Write down one limiting belief you were raised with—and flip it. Then act on that new belief for 30 days straight.
3. Break Free from Limiting Beliefs
Geography doesn’t determine success. Neither does your past.
Millionaires are created in war zones, single-parent homes, remote villages, and trailer parks. The only requirement is belief plus discipline.
Do this: List 3 skills you already have. Pick one and ask: “How can I turn this into income in the next 30 days?”
4. Read—Then Read Some More
The average millionaire reads more than 50 books a year. The average broke person scrolls social media for hours a day.
Reading rewires your brain. You get smarter without trial and error. And you learn from people who already did it.
Do this: Pick one money book this month. Start with The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel—or binge-read my MSTR blog updates.
5. Learn Personal Finance (Before It’s Too Late)
Making money is not the same as keeping it.
People making $100K still go broke because they don’t know how to budget, track, or grow their money. The system loves financially blind people—it profits from them.
Do this: Write down every expense and cut what doesn’t serve you. Redirect that money into savings or investments.
6. Open a Real Savings Account
Emergency funds aren’t optional—they’re survival.
3–6 months of living expenses in a high-yield savings account gives you power. Without it, one crisis can wipe out your momentum.
Do this: Automate $25/week into a savings account that pays at least 4%. Let it build in the background.
7. Stay Away From Bad Debt
Not all debt is created equal.
Bad debt keeps you broke, high-interest credit cards, car loans you can’t afford, payday loans.
Good debt builds: real estate, education that improves income, business capital.
Do this: List all your debts. Sort them by interest rate. Pay off the highest-interest ones first. Cut up the cards if needed.
8. Start Investing—Even With $1
Wealthy people don’t just work—they own things that grow in value.
Stocks, ETFs, crypto, private equity, businesses. The tool doesn’t matter. Ownership does.
You don’t need $10,000 to begin. I personally invest $50/day into MicroStrategy ($MSTR)—because conviction is more powerful than hype. The key is to start, stay consistent, and let time do its thing.
Do this:
Open Robinhood, Webull, or Acorns. Pick one ETF or company you believe in. Automate $5 or $10/week. Done.
Related:
9. Build Multiple Streams of Income
One income is a liability. If it dries up, you’re done.
The rich build multiple cashflow streams—so that one slows down, another keeps them going.
Right now, my income comes from content, investing, affiliate partnerships, and business consulting. But it didn’t start that way. It started with one blog post and one small check.
Do this: List 3 possible income streams you could build:
A niche blog
A digital product
A vending machine
Pick one. Start now. Grow later.
Bonus: Make Money While You Sleep
This one separates the middle class from the wealthy:
Passive income.
It’s not a myth—it’s a system.
And once it’s working, you’ll never go back.
Do this: Pick one thing you can automate:
A blog with affiliate links
A dividend-paying stock
A simple product that solves one problem
Final Word
You don’t have to wait until 65.
You don’t have to be born rich.
You just have to take these 9 skills seriously.
Master them—and you won’t just retire early. You’ll retire free.
Start Your Investing Journey Today
Here are the platforms I personally use and recommend:
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