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Stacking Benjamins

Build Income Beyond Your Paycheck (SB1790)

59 min episode · 2 min read
·
Mel Abraham

Episode

59 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Personal Finance, Investing, Fundraising & VC

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Five Income Levels: Progress from active income (trading hours for dollars) through business income (delegating tasks), asset-based income (real estate rentals), residual income (royalties, licensing), to portfolio income (stocks, bonds, ETFs) for maximum time leverage.
  • Savings Rate Priority: A 10% savings rate at 1% return reaches $100,000 in 9.6 years, while 5% savings at 10% return takes 11.7 years. Savings rate matters more than investment returns, especially early in wealth building journey.
  • 80% Freedom Target: Structure income so the top three levels (asset-based, residual, portfolio) fund at least 80% of lifestyle expenses. This creates freedom to stop active work during life emergencies without selling assets or draining accounts.
  • Value-Based Income Growth: Increase hourly value by solving more complex problems rather than working more hours. One CPA increased rates from $175 to $350 per hour in one year by specializing in business valuations with specific certifications.

What It Covers

Mel Abraham explains how to build income streams beyond active employment through five income levels, creating financial freedom by generating 80% of lifestyle costs from asset-based, residual, and portfolio income sources.

Key Questions Answered

  • Five Income Levels: Progress from active income (trading hours for dollars) through business income (delegating tasks), asset-based income (real estate rentals), residual income (royalties, licensing), to portfolio income (stocks, bonds, ETFs) for maximum time leverage.
  • Savings Rate Priority: A 10% savings rate at 1% return reaches $100,000 in 9.6 years, while 5% savings at 10% return takes 11.7 years. Savings rate matters more than investment returns, especially early in wealth building journey.
  • 80% Freedom Target: Structure income so the top three levels (asset-based, residual, portfolio) fund at least 80% of lifestyle expenses. This creates freedom to stop active work during life emergencies without selling assets or draining accounts.
  • Value-Based Income Growth: Increase hourly value by solving more complex problems rather than working more hours. One CPA increased rates from $175 to $350 per hour in one year by specializing in business valuations with specific certifications.

Notable Moment

Abraham stopped all speaking engagements after a cancer diagnosis in 2019, relying entirely on passive income streams to fund treatment and living expenses without selling assets or taking emergency withdrawals from retirement accounts.

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Episode Transcript

Stacking Benjamins is not for everyone. Side effects may include euphoria, increased ability to meet your goals, and aggression from people wondering, quote, what the hell your secret is. Stacking Benjamins may be habit forming especially if you stick around for the entire episode. Wink wink. Please check with your doctor to see if Stacking Benjamins is right for you. Live from Joe's mom's basement, it's the the Stacking Benjamin show. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug, and let's rev it up, baby. Wait. Before you rev anything, you gotta have something to rev, don't you? So let's help you build that money engine with today's mentor, the Mel Abraham. In our headline segment, one publication is out with their list of the seven moves you should make to begin 2026. What are they? We'll share and of course, help you decide if they're truly what you should be doing with your time. And I know you've been waiting for it. I'll also help you wow your friends the rest of the week with another helping of my amazing financial trivia. And now two guys who I described as amazing when they managed to make it out of bed by eleven. Wow. Amazing. Good job, guys. It's Joe and oh You know how much I would love to sleep in till eleven? Like every day, like clockwork of course, like 05:45. I'm like, oh, crap. And the day's begun whether I wanted to or not. Hey, everybody. Welcome to, Old Havas Die Hard podcast. I'm Joe Saul Sehy. And another guy who, I don't think he's a big fan of sleeping in either. Mister OG is here. What? Oh. Oh, look at that. His face. I poked the bear. I mean, I get up at the crack of 07:45, so yes. It's still pretty good, but that's not eleven. No. I couldn't. No. No. I know. We all talk a big game, but it's A kid's shirt. 11. I know. You're 17, it's pretty hard. My niece who used to, you know, wake up early every day, went to college. I don't know what happens to people when they go to college because I used to be like that in college too. Oh, gee. I could sleep till eleven. My niece, all the way through the holiday season, like, the whole week we were there, man, she she would crawl out of bed at noon. Didn't matter what time she went to bed. She'd crawl out of bed at noon. It was it was pretty incredible. I was so jealous. I was a 100% jealous. Well, the good news is you don't have to be jealous of anything today because the Mel Abraham is here with us. And if you're a fan of Mel's like I am, you're gonna love his mentorship today. If you haven't yet read one of his, USA Today best selling books on money or seen him on a stage. If you've been to any financial conference, …

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