---
title: 'How to Actually Escape the Paycheck Cycle'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=r57fJn7eLWo'
video_id: 'r57fJn7eLWo'
date: 2026-08-17
duration_sec: 1651
---

# How to Actually Escape the Paycheck Cycle

> Source: [How to Actually Escape the Paycheck Cycle](https://youtube.com/watch?v=r57fJn7eLWo)

## Summary

The video features a conversation about escaping the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle through consistent, automated investing, regardless of starting amount. The speaker emphasizes the importance of financial education and accessibility, sharing personal stories and strategies to build wealth over time.

### Key Points

- **Start Investing with Any Amount** [00:02] — The key is consistency and automatic, passive investing, regardless of starting amount. You can start with $1 or $10; the important thing is to put your money to work.
- **Grandfather's Story of Poverty** [01:24] — The speaker's grandfather, a refugee from Punjab, India, lost everything in 1947 and faced extreme poverty. He noted that investing was only for the rich; regular people didn't even know the concept.
- **Investing is Now Accessible** [04:25] — Unlike previous generations, investing is no longer reserved for a certain class. With a phone or computer, you can access apps for stocks, crowdfunding for real estate and startups, and even invest in gold passively.
- **Real Wealth is Built in Silence** [06:14] — In growing markets, everyone seems like a financial genius, but real investors are revealed during downturns. Real wealth is built quietly, while short-term wealth is loud and flashy.
- **Financial Education is More Accessible** [07:11] — YouTube and other platforms have decentralized education, making it easier to learn about investing. The speaker learned through books and audio CDs, but now you can watch real investors walk through deals for free.
- **ABB: Always Be Buying** [09:12] — The speaker promotes his book 'ABB: Wealth in Any Market,' which outlines a strategy for building wealth in the stock market by consistently buying, not chasing hot stocks.
- **Majority Mindset vs. Minority Mindset** [11:42] — The majority mindset is doing what everyone else does, which often leads to being broke and unhappy. The minority mindset involves thinking differently and not following the invisible scripts society gives us.
- **Statistics on Financial Struggles** [13:05] — 61% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, over 50% have less than $1,000 saved, and half have zero investments. Most are unhappy at their jobs, showing the majority mindset isn't working.
- **Learn How to Think, Not What to Think** [14:30] — Traditional schooling often tells us what to think, but true intellect is understanding both sides and finding where you lie on the spectrum. This requires learning things that make you uncomfortable.
- **Early Entrepreneurial Experiences** [16:13] — The speaker started mowing lawns at 10, delivering papers, and playing drums at weddings. At 16, he hosted teen parties, and in college, he started an event planning company, which funded his first real estate investment.
- **First Real Estate Investment** [20:34] — At 19, after the 2008 crash, he bought a condo for $8,000 that had sold for $150,000 a few years prior. This was his first experience with passive income.
- **Law School as a Compromise** [23:33] — He went to law school as a compromise with his parents, but never worked as an attorney. He focused on his business and investing, using the time to learn and grow.
- **Sacrifice and Focus** [25:11] — During law school, he lived frugally, sleeping on the living room floor, and invested every dollar back into his business and education. This discipline was key to his success.

### Conclusion

The video concludes that escaping the paycheck cycle is possible for anyone with the right mindset, education, and consistent action. By leveraging accessible tools and thinking differently from the majority, you can build real wealth over time.

## Transcript

$100,000 or $1,000. The key is being consistent and automatically and passively investing your money, no matter how much money you start with, but putting your money to work. But this requires you to now not just save and
spend all of your money. It requires you to now understand how the system works. Then it requires you to know how to invest your money. And this is where, you have to invest your money in real estate. Others are going to say you have
to go into crypto. It doesn't matter. This is where financial education comes this research for yourself and decide maybe I want to invest some in stocks, gold. Like I invest my money in five places. And so it's a way for me to now
get diversification across different asset classes. There are many different where you need that financial education to now know what to do and how to do it.
>> Thank you. >> I was blown away by like Yeah, >> I liked what you said about how a lot of this seems unattainable. I mean, I know investing was something only the rich people did,
>> but like you said, you can start with a dollar, you can start with $10. What are some other things that you think people think, oh, it's only something the rich day in their lives? >> So, it's funny. So I grew up with my
>> So, it's funny. So I grew up with my grandparents and about 15 years ago they moved back to Punjab, India and about a month ago they moved back to America actually to New York which is one of the reasons why I'm here and I was spending
time with my grandfather last night and I talked to him you know we talked about doesn't really understand fully what I do but he knows that I talk about money and education which he's very impressed by because he grew up through a very
different level of poverty that is hard to explain and the reason why is because he was a refugee. Both my par my grandparents were born on the west side grandparents were born on the west side of Punjab. So in 1947 my home state of
Punjab was severed by the Indian government and if you were sick which is a religion that I am and you lived on the west side you had to migrate east otherwise you were going to be killed. and he was on the west side. And so he
literally lost everything he had. Lost his home, his land, he lost his friends, his home, his land, he lost his friends, he left his family, he left his everything that he had. All he had were the clothes on his back and a sword in
his hand and that was it. And coming across, he like many others got attacked by a mob. And so he had to literally fight for his life. and he saw his uncle
that attack but then made it to the east side and along the way he lost his shoes and he describes it in a really funny way but he's like you know I it was just lost my shoes along the way and then made it to the east side of India had no
shoes no place to sleep no home no food to eat nothing and what he says is during that time the level of poorness that I faced there was no concept of
trying to feed somebody else. My only focus was being able to take care of myself. And so one of the biggest diseases that he says is that level of poverty, poorness, because when you're that level of poorness, poverty, you
want to do is take care of yourself. And so yesterday I was asking, I was like, you know, when you were growing up, was there ever a concept of investing? He said, yeah. And I said, you know, was it available for regular people? said, "No,
investing was for people who were rich. Regular people didn't even know what the concept of investing was." And um I asked him, "Did you ever invest your it started to get settled, they told me that I could buy these things called
shares." And I bought some of them. And I don't know what happened to them. Like he bought the shares. Like he has no idea if they made money, lost money. Like it was money he put into quote unquote shares, never saw that money
unquote shares, never saw that money again. And so you talk about is there anything now that people think that wealthy people can do or only wealthy people can do but regular people cannot. Yes. Because that time is different
where our parents' time or grandparents' time where investing your money was reserved for only a certain class of people. We don't live in that generation. Like if you have the ability and means to watch this and understand
what we're saying, you're very blessed and you have all the tools that you need because now either you have access to a phone or a computer, which means you can now if you want to invest in the stock market, there's so many apps out there.
my channel. I know you've talked about some before, too. I mean, there's so many. If you want to invest in real estate, but you don't have the means or properties because you don't want to deal with tenants because that can be a
big pain in and of itself, well, there's crowdfunding apps that make investing in real estate so much more accessible. If you want to invest in startups, you want to invest in startups, too." Well, there's crowdfunding sites that will
allow you to invest in startups, literal startups that are looking for cash. And now you can invest in these startups or I think the minimum is like a $100 but you know very small amounts of money. Uh it's highly risky. Many of these
companies will go bankrupt but you have the potential to now see huge returns because if one of the companies you invest in goes public or gets acquired money but again high risk. You can invest in gold passively. Like I invest
in physical gold. I do it completely passively where every month some of the money leaves my checking account and is automatically buying me physical gold. So there's really no excuse anymore where accessibility is not a reason for
why we cannot invest because the dollar amount is so low where if you have $1 you can start investing your money and now if you have access to technology to listen to what we're saying you can go out and start investing your money. The
last factor now that's missing is the education side because when you're in a growing market, everybody is a financial genius because now you can put your going to make money and everyone's going to look at you like, "Oh, you're a
financial genius. Just go on to Reddit and start posting about your stock games excited." But now when you start to go through slowing economic cycles and downward stock market cycles, this is where now you start to see who is a real
investor and who is a not so real investor. Because real wealth, I'm talking about real wealth is built in silence. While that short-term wealth, the flashiness, that richness is very loud. And people like to be loud and
flashy, but that's not how the real wealth is built. Now, the nice thing though, and this is one of the biggest blessings ever, is that this financial education is now so much more accessible than ever thanks to YouTube for
than ever thanks to YouTube for decentralizing education because I was never exposed to this type of education. Like, my parents are not investors. When I wanted to invest in real estate, I had read a few books about investing in real
estate. And I'm a horrible reader. Like, English is my second language. I'm not the best reader. I'm very slow at it. But I started reading books because I listening to these uh audio CDs. That was how I learned. And then I went out
and I just did it and I made a ton of mistakes. But now if you want to learn go on to YouTube, search real estate investing, and you can see real real estate investors walking through their deals. Like on my channel, I walked
through my worst real estate deal ever. Talked about every single mistake that I made. It was the most painful deal that I've ever done. and it's the only deal to date that I've ever lost money on and you can watch it for free. And so the
accessibility factor of learning is so much easier because before if you wanted to learn how to invest in real estate, you'd have to at the very least go out and buy a $25 book. So it means you got to go to the bookstore, buy a book, and
then you got to read it, which is tough. I mean, it takes time and it takes a lot YouTube and watching a 25minute video, which can teach you a big chunk of what of course, there's value for books, there's value for classes, there's value
for videos, there's different levels of type of education that you can get, but that level of education is so much more accessible now where, you know, you say for wealthy people? Well, there's a lot of pe things that people think are
reserved for wealthy people, but now because of the education, everything is so much more accessible where if you have the drive, you have the mindset, all the tools are on your fingertips. And now it just requires you
to go out and take the action and believe is possible for you. The way you build wealth in the stock market is not by chasing hot stocks. It's through what I call ABB, always be buying. And I just wrote a brand new book called ABB,
wealth in any market, where I break down the exact strategy of how you can build wealth in the stock market and turn your extra money into income or more wealth. market to build wealth. And because you're watching my video, I'm going to
give you a digital copy of my book completely free. I have that link for the description below. And when you sign up for the book, you're also going to get access to Market Briefs, which is my newsletter for investors, completely
what's happening in things like the economy, housing, stocks, crypto, and global markets. It's read by hundreds of thousands of investors every single and market briefs all for free, all you have to do is sign up, and I have that
below. [clears throat] The reason why I call myself the minority mindset is because I say all success starts with your mindset. If you don't believe you not going to be able to do it. I mean, there's there's no other way. But if you
believe you can do it, if you have the right mindset and then you're willing to put in the work to learn and you're willing to make nothing can stop you. It might take some time. Like it took me a solid decade to
figure out how to do it, to build a business, to invest my money the right way, to to really build wealth. It took me a solid decade, which sounds like a lot because we all want to become rich tomorrow.
work, nothing can stop you. And this is where, you know, understanding that the real long-term game is a long-term game. The real wealth is built in silence. and and then if you look back six months, you'll be surprised by how far you've
come. And then you look back two years and you can't even recognize how far you come. And then you look back five years and it's a completely different life. But it requires that first step. And you're not comparing yourself to
somebody at the finish line. Just look at where you are and see where you want to be and just keep making small steps forward because the accessibility factor is there where we we have never been able to access this level of research,
education and tools to do the things that can make regular people wealthy but and actually do it. >> Yeah. You spoke about the minority mindset, which by the way, since I first
discovered you years ago. I've always loved that and the meaning behind it. What is the majority mindset? >> So, the minority mindset, we'll start majority because the minority mindset has nothing to do with the way you look,
mindset of thinking differently than the majority of people. So, what is the majority mindset? Well, the majority mindset is what most people are doing. And the way I like to say it is if you're doing what everybody else is
doing, 80 to 90% of the time, you're doing something wrong. You could be more something more fulfilling, doing something that makes you more happy if you do something a little bit different. Because most of the times we build a box
around ourselves. We create these invisible boxes around ourselves and our minds where we think this is how life is supposed to be. You're supposed to go to supposed to then put aside 10% of your income for your savings. You're supposed
complains about their job. You're not supposed to travel that much because who travels for 6 months out of the year? You're not supposed to be able to do because that's only for certain types of people. We give ourselves these
invisible scripts, these invisible scenarios where we tell ourselves this that's how it's always been done and this is what everybody else does. But if doing, you're going to end up just like everybody else, which the majority of
everybody else, which the majority of people is broke, miserable, unhappy, and not fulfilled. So if that's not what you want to do, you can't keep doing what everybody else does. And it sounds mean like just do you why would you say that
the majority people are broke and miserable? Look, statistics. There was a new study that came out, I think it was yesterday, that 61% of paycheck. Now, there's always varying statistics where sometimes it's 61%,
sometimes it's 69%, sometimes it's 72%. But we know the majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. We also know that the majority of Americans have less than $1,000 saved up for an emergency. So, more than 50% of
Americans have less than $1,000 saved up. 50% of Americans have zero up. 50% of Americans have zero investments at all. That means no IRA, real estate investments, no gold investments, nothing. Half of
investments, half Americans have no investments. We also know that half of America is not happy at their jobs. Actually, more than half America, I are not happy at their job. This might be a pre- pandemic number, but I would
bet that even today, the vast majority of Americans are not happy at the job. Americans are not happy with their lives. So now if you look at the statistics, the majority of people are not happy in many different aspects of
what everybody else does just because that's the system. This is where it's like, come on, think think about that for a second. If you don't want to be like everybody else, you can't keep doing what everybody else does. But the
issue that I have with the traditional school system is that many of us are told what to think as opposed to being told how to think. And the reason why this is so important nowadays is because education has become so much more
podcasts. And so if education is more accessible, now we can learn whatever we want. Many times we don't know how to think and we don't know how to learn because you know social media we've heard of these rabbit
holes. There's there's documentaries on this where if you watch uh anything on social media whether it's finance, whether it's uh your diet, you start to go down a rabbit hole where social media is going to show you more and more and
more of the same thing. And this is good if you're learning something good and healthy, but it can also be bad if you're learning something that's not that anybody who thinks differently than you is wrong, stupid and dumb. And you
start to get immersed into this whole lifestyle of thinking that this is the only way to think. But that's not how you learn because true intellect is being able to understand both sides and then find where along the spectrum you
lie. And so this requires you to now learn. So what does that mean? You learn things that make you feel uncomfortable. When you look back at your childhood and your formative years and your young adult life, what do you look and say,
"Wow, these were defining moments that really formed my mindset on money and my values around money." >> So, when it comes to money particularly, I think there's two different aspects. one is the earning side and and one is
more kind of like now the investing side because growing up I always wanted to help my parents. I love my parents to death. They are huge supporters of me now. Uh but I always wanted to help them. And so when I was a kid I wanted
to uh earn money. So the first thing I did I was probably 10 years old. I started mowing my neighbor's lawns and my parents stopped me. They said don't do that. focus on studying so you can become a doctor one day. So I was like
okay like you know kind of starts building this question of you know are for money? When do we work for money? And then I became a paper boy. I earned seven cents a house. So I would deliver uh 100 papers every Wednesday and earn
that but I did it anyways because I knew this is what I wanted to do. And then as things started to get a little bit more serious on the earning side where I started to play this drum, Indian drum called a toll at weddings, Indian
weddings. And my parents were really not for that. They they wanted me to focus on my studies and stop doing these like other fun whatever hobbies that I was doing. But that really was a major turning point for me because when I
started playing this drum, I got to meet a lot of local Indian DJs and all of us were like this kind of like little group of hustlers trying to figure it out and of hustlers trying to figure it out and we had the idea to start hosting teen
parties for kids in my high school. So now I was 16 years old. We made a deal with one of a local Indian restaurant that was looking for exposure and we said that we would start hosting teen parties here. I'd promote it to my
friends in my high school. My DJs, they didn't charge me to to perform there. And now we started a little side hustle and I were hosting teen parties and making a little bit of money. And I thought it was a hobby because I was
with this? I know I got to become a doctor. This is just for fun. So it ends because now I got to go to college. I go to college and I don't know what to university here. I think everybody goes to college to study hard and become
this, you know, professional in college. And I get there and I don't know what to bring. I brought like five things with me. I know it was a microwave. It was a sleeping bag. It was like my backpack and two other small things. I didn't
have a towel. I just kind of dried off like this. And I didn't even have a bag for the first however long when I was in college because I don't know what was in college because I don't know what to bring. And I get there and everybody
to bring. And I get there and everybody around me is partying, drinking, blowing money that they don't have. And I was mind blown. I was like, "Where do you all get this money? And why are you spending it all on on alcohol?" Like, it
just didn't make sense to me. And I don't drink. I never drink. I don't smoke. I never smoked. it just wasn't my scene. But I still needed something to do on Friday nights. So instead of now going to the parties, I was like, well,
why don't I bring this teen party idea back into college? And so that's what I a bunch of clubs, venues, restaurant, bars on campus. And some of these owners would say, "Yeah, you need 10 grand to host a party here." I said,
keep going, right? You learn to kind of talk to people. And eventually I found party here. we're not going to charge you a penny. Just give us half of the you bring in. I said, "Okay, that works. Now we're in business." And that's how I
started now, my college event planning company. And that gave me some cash now pretty big. It took some time to get there, but eventually I was contracted This is Inn Arbor. I went to the
college night every week. And on top of that, I would also host my own um monthly events and I was also hosting concerts. I was hosting some shows and grew pretty big in the four years that I was in college and I started making some
my bank account. I started reading business books and I'm studying for the MCAT and that's when also real estate prices happened to be at rock bottom prices happened to be at rock bottom after the 2008 crash. And I started
investing in real estate when I was in college. I was 19 years old. I took me M my MCAT on August 22nd and August 23rd I closed on my first rental property. channel I teach how you can start investing your money yourself. But for
some of you working with a financial adviser, somebody who is a professional will be a better option because now it's more hands-off and you can work with a professional who will manage and invest your money for you. And that's why I
The reason why I like Money Pickle is because first they get to know you and what your needs are and then they match you with a vetted financial advisor who would be best suited for your needs and then they give you a free consultation
call with the financial adviser. That way you can get a feel of the financial adviser and see if they're right for you or not. That way you don't have to go through a high pressure sales process with somebody who might not even be a
in learning more and you have over $100,000 in assets, the process is pretty simple. All you have to do is complete a short form. I have that link takes a few minutes to complete and once you do that, Money Pickle will review
your answers and then pair you with a vetted financial adviser who they believe is best suited for you. It's a completely free process. That initial consultation again is free. And then if you decide to move forward, then you can
negotiate and discuss what your rates and terms look like with that financial adviser directly. So if you want help managing your money and you want to work with a vetted financial adviser, my sponsor, Money Pickle, can help get you
paired up with a financial adviser at no additional cost. So if you want to learn more, I have that link for you down in the description. Now, it was a very different time where it cost me $8,000. Uh that was the full price of the condo
because I was, you know, we're in Michigan where the biggest economic drivers in our state were Ford, GM, and Chrysler. GM had just declared
bankruptcy, and Ford was on the verge of bankruptcy. So, the real estate market really understand what was happening. I can look back and tell you what happened, but the condo that I purchased was sold for 150 grand a few years prior
and bought it for 8 grand out of foreclosure from the bank. And now this is my first experience with any sort of like real investing, real passive income. I was very fortunate, but when it took a lot of effort for me to get
there because I knew a lot of people on campus who had way more money than I did, but weren't doing what I was doing. you know, whether it's because, you that mindset. I was looking at things differently than the way they were, but
that opportunity. >> And so then you went to law school. >> Yeah. So I told my parents I didn't want to be a doctor and they didn't believe me. And then after a lot of fighting, a lot of arguing, eventually we came to a
compromise. My parents said that if you want to maintain any pride in the family, you have to at least become an attorney. [laughter] I was like, "Okay." it didn't seem like that big of a deal to me because I've always been in
school, so I didn't mind school. I liked learning. But the best part about law school was that I knew you could do law school part-time, which meant I could and everything that I was doing full-time. So, I was like, "All right,
let's do this." So, uh, I went to law school. I spent the first year, year and a half full-time while still working on my business full-time. So, it was very tough. But then the second half I did part-time and I was working on my
business um and everything else that I was doing. So, it was it was a unique experience because I knew I wasn't there to become an attorney, was going to do. And so in law school, this is where now I didn't put much
this is where now I didn't put much focus into my actual law classes. I liked learning. I especially like the tax classes, the business classes could relate to. But I knew I wasn't there to become an attorney. Now, it was
stressful because, you know, I said like I didn't know what I was going to do. So couldn't sleep. I had a lot of anxiety because I didn't know what I was going to do. And I knew that if I couldn't
figure it out that I would graduate law school and look like a fool and have to lot of nights where I just stayed up at night. And for me it became a big motivator because now I was working all the nights that I couldn't sleep. So I'd
work early morning. I'd work late at night. I mean all I did was work and I I was making good money. I was making six figures but I was spending nothing. six figures but I was spending nothing. Like my rent was about $400 a month. It
was actually it was under $400 a month and that included all of my utilities. even have a room. Like I slept on the living room floor. I would drag a mattress down into the living room in the evenings, put down the sheets, go to
sleep, wake up, fold the sheets, put them on the sofa, and then pick up the mattress, put it in the living room, and go out and study and work all day, and then come back and just go to sleep. So I mean I created this environment where
there was nothing else like all I did was work and study and every dollar that Either I was investing it into something like real estate or I was taking this money investing it back into my business and my own education. So I was really
putting every penny and every minute that I had back into myself because I knew I needed to do something and I was going to do whatever it took. Then I graduated law school and I was never worked a day as an attorney. And uh so
it was one of those things where I became an attorney. I gave my parents a degree the degree that they wanted but I never worked a day as an attorney. But it was just um one of those things I did because that's what I thought I needed
>> Do you feel like it was worth it? I mean you spent all these years going to law school. I'm sure tons of student loans or you you fronted the money up. So, I take out any student loans because for one, I had a huge scholarship and the
second part I just paid um with cash whatever I had to pay for. So, it was I and my rent was super cheap. So, my cost is super low. Uh but the time if I have worked on my business even more. Maybe it would be a little bit further,
but I met some really cool people. Um and uh now I get to say that I went to figure out what business you should start in this economy, in this video, business ideas that you can start this weekend, even if you don't have a lot of
generation goes through a major economic shift, which creates new business opportunities. In the 1800s, it was railroads. This was the first time that railroads. This was the first time that people were able to move easily from one