As I was writing last week’s newsletter about freedom and independence, I stumbled across a highlighted quote in my copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad that really grabbed my attention:
Wealth is a person's ability to survive so many number of days forward—or, if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?
Chatting with Rich Dad Poor Dad author and fellow Collective Inner Circle member Robert Kiyosaki during a mastermind meetup
I've read this line dozens of times before, but this time it hit differently. While we most often think of wealth in dollar amounts – account balances, portfolio value, monthly income, etc. – Kiyosaki suggests measuring wealth in something far more valuable: time.
Think about that for a moment.
Instead of saying "I need $X amount net worth to be wealthy," what if we asked "How many months or years could I survive without working?"
Rethinking "Work"
But before we can measure this "survival time," we need to clearly define "work."
I consider it any activity that requires your active effort to generate cash flow.
That includes:
A W-2 job
Running a business
Even what I do – actively putting real estate deals together
If it takes your time and attention to create the returns, it's “work.” Which means it doesn't count toward your true survival time.
The Survival Time Formula
This reframing leads us to a simple but powerful way to calculate actual wealth: your passive cash flow (not from "work") minus your monthly living expenses.
If this number is positive, you can theoretically survive indefinitely. Your wealth isn't depleting – it's self-sustaining.
But notice what's not in this equation: equity.
That's because you can't survive on equity alone – it has to be converted to cash flow somehow. (See You Can’t Eat Equity.)
And this is where most traditional retirement planning goes wrong, in my opinion.
Take someone with a $1.5M brokerage account following the standard 4% withdrawal rule. At $60,000 per year in withdrawals, they might survive 30 years if the market cooperates. But they're forced to constantly sell off assets, watching their nest egg shrink month after month, hoping that Mr. Market will extend their survival time.
Now compare that to someone with $15,000 in monthly passive cash flow from syndications. With $10,000 in monthly expenses, they're not just surviving – they're adding $60,000 per year to their investment capacity. Their wealth isn't depleting, it's perpetually renewing and even growing.
The Ultimate Time-Wealth Builder
This is precisely why I'm so passionate about cash flowing investments, like real estate syndications. Each new investment increases your survival time thanks to truly passive cash flow.
Yes, there's work upfront in vetting deals and sponsors (very important work, for sure). But once your capital is deployed, there’s no more ongoing effort from you to produce the returns.
You're not trading time for money – you're buying time with money.
And things really start to get interesting when you stack multiple investments. Not only does each new cash flowing deal extend your survival time, but you can reinvest excess cash flow into even more deals, creating a perpetual motion machine of passive income.
Survival → Freedom
What I love most about measuring wealth in time rather than dollars is how it transforms your daily decisions.
When you know you could survive indefinitely on passive cash flow, you gain the freedom to:
Spend more time with family
Finally launch your own business
Take that risky but exciting startup job
Make choices based on passion rather than necessity
This is true wealth – not having the biggest number in your bank account, but having the freedom to spend your time exactly as you choose.
The Next Step
So I'll leave you with two questions:
If you stopped working today, how long could you survive?
And more importantly: What steps are you taking to increase that number?
If you're ready to start building real time-wealth through passive cash flow, let's talk.