The real “secret” to accumulating wealth in the past 10-20 years was timing. Getting the right job at a company with equity before the equity went up, then putting it into the stock market and real estate before those went up.

Some of those doors have gotten much harder to get through. The days of falling into a FAANG job by being willing to relocate to the right city and know enough to practice LeetCode for a few weeks have passed. It’s possible that the days of putting modest money into the S&P 500 and getting 8-9% year after year have also passed, but I don’t predict the future as well as I’d like.