Climbing the Wealth Ladder

Where do you think you are on the wealth ladder? Just starting out and struggling to save? Sitting on six figures and wondering what’s next? Or maybe you’ve hit a financial milestone—but it doesn’t feel as life-changing as you expected.

Today’s episode is all about understanding what changes—and what should change—as you move up the financial ladder.

My guest is Nick Maggiulli, author of The Wealth Ladder, a new book that introduces a six-level framework for wealth building and financial strategy. We dive into the key questions we all face on the journey to financial independence:

• How do you break out of Level 1 when you’re living paycheck to paycheck?
• Is a side hustle actually worth your time—or just another distraction?
• And how should your mindset and money strategy evolve as your net worth grows?

Plus, we explore his 0.01% spending rule and 1% earning rule—two powerful benchmarks to help you spend smarter and pursue income opportunities that truly move the needle.

More about Nick: He is the Chief Operating Officer and a data scientist at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He's also the author of the blog Of Dollars and Data and the books Just Keep Buying and The Wealth Ladder.