Our Writers · 2026-10-22
The First $100,000: Charlie Munger's Rule and the Simple Maths of Getting Rich
Warren Buffett's late partner Charlie Munger had one piece of advice for people who wanted to get rich: get to the first $100,000. Taiwan's Tianxia magazine (天下雜誌) recently revisited it under the headline "To get rich, first save $100,000".
Why the first step is the hardest
At the beginning almost all growth comes from what you put in. A small sum earning a few percent a year adds pocket money; the same return on a large sum adds a salary. Until the pot is big, saving — not investing genius — does the work.
Where compounding takes over
Once the pot is large, returns start to add more each year than new savings do. That tipping point is the moment people on our richest list reached decades ago, only with far bigger numbers.
Patience beats cleverness
Business Insider Japan (Business Insider Japan) quotes the billionaire investor David Einhorn complaining that young people lack patience for building assets. Munger's rule is a patience rule.
Financial freedom is a mindset as much as a sum
Global Views Monthly (遠見雜誌) writes that the point of financial freedom is not the wealth itself. Saving for a goal you care about is what keeps people going through the slow first years.
Start where you are
10 Investments That Could Help Build Wealth Starting With Little Money (Yahoo Finance) and The Passive Income You Need To Build Wealth at Any Income Level (Yahoo Finance) show that the start can be small; regular amounts invested over many years matter more than the size of the first one.
What the rich avoid
Epoch Times (大紀元) lists three things the rich avoid buying that ordinary people often buy. Every dollar not spent on depreciating things is a dollar towards the first $100,000.
Figures: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires and companiesmarketcap.com as shown on our rankings on 22 October 2026; net worth is an estimate and moves every trading day. This article is information, not financial advice.
Sources:
查理蒙格：想致富就先存到10萬美元 (天下雜誌); 「若者たちは、資産形成や住宅購入への忍耐が足りない」。億万長者投資家アインホーン氏が苦言 (Business Insider Japan); 真希望20歲就懂的致富思維：財務自由的重點不是財富，而是「這件事」 (遠見雜誌); 10 Investments That Could Help Build Wealth Starting With Little Money (Yahoo Finance); The Passive Income You Need To Build Wealth at Any Income Level (Yahoo Finance); 富人避而不買而普通人常消費的3種東西 (大紀元).