April 2026
Welcome to edition #27 of Better qDay! This month we review a book about the journey to personal financial success, an anti-productivity book for those of us who have ever growing to-do lists, and our final read translates ancient wisdom to modern day parenting problems.
The first book this month is also the second book I have covered from this author, a weird coincidence similar to last month. I previously covered Nick Magiulli’s Just Keep Buying here and he retrospectively thinks that book is most relevant for those in level 3 of his wealth ladder.
Here are the author’s levels of wealth based on net worth, what they represent, where the majority of net worth is held (in order), and how he thinks most reach the next level:Level 1: <10,000$; every dollar matters; cash and vehicles; raise your income and build emergency savings
Level 2: 10,000-100,000$; grocery prices matter less; vehicles and primary residence; raise your income (education often offers great leverage here for increasing future earnings)
Level 3: 100,000-1,000,000$; restaurant prices matter less; primary residence and retirement accounts; buy assets or start a side hustle
Level 4: 1,000,000-10,000,000$; vacation prices matter less; primary residence, retirement accounts and stocks; diversify your investments or create a business
Level 5: 10,000,000-100,000,000$; home prices matter less; business interests, stocks and retirement accounts; sell a business
Level 6: >100,000,000$; what are prices; business interests and stocks; primary concern becomes protecting wealth
The author demonstrates how money is relative using the “0.01% rule” to explain spending decisions. If something is less than 0.01% of a person’s net worth, they could easily spend that every day and even with extremely conservative investment assumptions never decrease their overall net worth. One common problem is that people usually spend based on their income and not net worth which hinders their ability to build wealth. An even more conservative approach to build wealth is to spend based on liquid net worth.
The author reviews data demonstrating that the typical millionaire (level 4) is in their 60s, only 5% of those in level 4 were age 30-39 and that number only goes up to 14% for those age 40-49.
Interestingly, the author notes based on his analysis of longitudinal US household financial data that over 60% of the groups in level 3 and 4 are still in level 3 and 4, respectively, after 20 years. This demonstrates how hard it can be to break out of these two levels in particular and leads us to what might be the most important question in all of personal finance. How much is enough? The author then dives into his personal journey up the wealth ladder and offers some interesting input about when to stop climbing.
Link: The Wealth Ladder by Nick Maggiulli
Our second book was recommended to me by a dear friend while we were discussing the busyness of life. The book is called Meditations for Mortals and is broken down into 28 chapters that are recommended to be read in a unique format of one short chapter per day. And, if you know me, you know I love daily habitual learning!
The author opens by introducing the idea of imperfectionism - life as a human being is limited but this isn’t a problem to solve. Instead, we should embrace our finite existence which will provide perspective.
Here are some of my favorite excerpts:
You’re pretty free to do whatever you like but you must face the consequences of your choices.
The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook. All of us must decide how much energy we have to care.
Do things “daily-ish” - make imperfect progress here and now.
Were you expecting to have no more problems at some point in your life?
The goal should not be a life without problems but a life with ever more interesting and absorbing ones.
Pay yourself first with time. You’ll never mark off all the little minor tasks to get to what you really want to do.
Rachel and I are entering an exciting phase in our lives where our friends who want kids are starting to have children as well. Our next book - The Parent’s Tao Te Ching - does a great job of providing practical parenting advice pulled from Taoism.
As someone who was unfamiliar with Taoism before reading this book, Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy and religion attributed to Lao Tzu in the 6th century B.C. that emphasizes living within the natural flow of the universe. Taoism is represented by the Tao Te Ching, which is the one of the most popular books in the world.
Below are a few of my favorite thoughts:
Children have never been very good at listening to what their parents tell them. But they never fail to imitate them.
When you are with your children be one with them. Love them as they are in this very moment. Being with your children can be like meditating. Be entirely with them in that moment.
Beware teaching them to climb the ladder of success. Children learn from failures. They must have permission to try and fail and learn they will still be okay.
You can control them through threats and punishment and they will learn to fear. You can control their behavior through praise and reward and they will learn to look outside themselves for approval and for worth. You can watch over their every movement every action and every decision - making sure they do it right - and they will learn to always doubt themselves. Or you can love and guide without controlling or interfering and they will learn to trust themselves. If your child fails at something merely express your confidence in their ability to handle the consequences. If they behave irresponsibly merely point out the consequences to themselves and others. Do not slip into the downward spiral of blame shame and control. It doesn’t work.
Fascinated by the ordinary. It is you who thinks of then instead of now. Who thinks of there instead of here. When they are doing something they are doing only the thing until they move onto the next thing.
Remove one minute each day from doing something and instead spend one minute more being present with your children.
If you are like me and enjoy daily-ish learning, these bits of wisdom naturally lend themselves to that form of consumption. Enjoy these thought provoking words and think about them the next time you are with your kids!
Link: The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents
Is there anything that connected with you this month? Hit reply and let me know.
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