A company will reject a $65,000 raise for an employee who’s been there 5 years, then pay $85,000 to replace them
A struggling worker can spend years being loyal, showing up early, staying late, and taking on extra responsibilities
When they finally ask to be paid what they’re worth, management suddenly has a budget problem
But the moment that employee quits?
Recruiters get hired
Job listings go up
Interviews get scheduled
The company somehow finds the money to bring someone new in
And the replacement might not even be better
They just negotiated a better starting salary
The uncomfortable truth is that loyalty doesn't always translate into higher pay
Sometimes, the longer you stay, the more money you leave on the table
Your company may value your work more than your salary suggests
It just has no reason to prove it while you're willing to accept less
At 21, he turned $3,000 into $1.2 million with crypto
By 23, he couldn't afford his rent
He bought a Mercedes, moved into a luxury apartment, paid his friends' bills, and spent $8,000 on one birthday weekend
His friends called him a genius. He stopped taking college seriously because he thought he'd won at life
Then the market crashed
His $1.2 million dropped below $200,000, but his lifestyle stayed the same
Six months later, almost everything was gone
No degree
No stable income
Bills he couldn't afford
The same friends who celebrated his millions weren't there when he needed help
His biggest mistake wasn't investing in crypto
It was believing that making money once meant he'd always be rich
He became a millionaire before learning how not to go broke
At 23, I made $4.8 million from gaming
By 27, I was checking my bank account before buying groceries
When my streams exploded, I started making $80,000 a month
I bought a $120K car, designer bags, a luxury apartment, and took expensive vacations like my income would never end
I never saved properly. I never invested
Every time money came in, I upgraded my lifestyle
Then my views dropped
Sponsors left
The gaming industry moved on
But my $12,000 monthly expenses stayed
I burned through millions trying to maintain a lifestyle I could no longer afford
Now I'm 27, starting from almost zero, watching people who earned a fraction of what I did build actual wealth
The most painful part?
I wasn't unlucky
I had enough money to secure my future for life
I just confused making money with being rich
I made millions, but I never learned how to keep a dollar
If you're young and suddenly start earning big money, please learn from me: your income can make you look rich, but your financial decisions determine whether you stay that way
I'm a boomer, and I've watched young men get rich in their 20s and lose everything.
The mistake?
They start spending like the money will never stop coming
$90,000 cars
Luxury apartments
Expensive vacations
Friends who suddenly need loans
Investments they barely understand
I once asked a young man, "How much of your money are you keeping?"
He laughed. "I'm young. I'll make it back."
A few years later, the income slowed down, but the bills didn't
Here's what I've learned:
Getting rich is one skill. Staying rich is another.
And too many young men learn the second lesson after the money is gone
A single mom accidentally destroyed her son’s future trying to make him happy
Every weekend, she gave him $200 to hang out with friends
She bought him designer sneakers, paid for trips, and covered every expense because she didn’t want him to feel less than other kids
She worked overtime to fund his lifestyle
At 22, he had no job, no savings, and no idea how to survive without her money
When she finally cut him off, he called her a terrible mother
She cried because she thought she had given him everything he needed to succeed
But she had confused giving him a better childhood with preparing him for adulthood
She spent 18 years making sure her son never struggled, only to discover she had left him completely unprepared for life
I used to tell my daughter that getting a raise was the answer to her money problems.
Then I watched what happened when she finally got one.
She was a single mom making $54,000 a year. Her new salary was $66,000.
She called me crying with relief. For the first time in years, she thought she could stop choosing which bill to pay late.
Three months later, she was still struggling.
Her rent had gone up. Daycare cost more. Her car needed repairs. And suddenly, relatives who never asked for money before had emergencies.
Even her own spending changed. She started buying better groceries instead of the cheapest options and replaced her worn-out tires instead of putting it off again.
I almost told her she needed to budget better.
Then I remembered something.
I retired believing that working hard, earning more, and living within your means would eventually give you peace.
That advice wasn't entirely wrong.
But I had underestimated how expensive it had become just to keep a household running.
My daughter wasn't irresponsible. She was finally paying for things she'd been forced to postpone.
I still believe people should live within their means.
I just no longer believe that earning more automatically means having more.
Sometimes, a raise doesn't improve your lifestyle.
It simply pays for the life you've already been struggling to afford.
I bought my daughter a house with a yard because I didn't want her growing up feeling like we were struggling.
That decision nearly made us struggle for real.
I was a single mom making $94,000 a year. After taxes, health insurance, and retirement contributions, I brought home about $5,600 a month.
The mortgage was $2,150.
Manageable, I thought.
Then came property taxes, homeowners insurance, utilities, and repairs. Another $1,100 a month.
My SUV payment was $680. Insurance and gas added $290.
Daycare, groceries, and everything else ate up most of what remained.
I stopped saving. Then I started putting emergencies on a credit card.
The embarrassing part?
My daughter loved the house. She had a backyard, her own room, and space to invite friends over.
I loved seeing her happy.
But one night, after a $1,700 plumbing repair, I sat in my car outside the house and cried because I couldn't figure out how I could afford to own it and still afford to live.
I used to think financial success meant giving your child more than you had.
Now I wonder if I confused giving her a better childhood with giving her a more expensive life.
My daughter didn't need a bigger house. She needed a mother who wasn't terrified every time something broke.
A family can make $120,000 a year, own a house, drive two cars, and be one unexpected bill away from financial disaster.
That should scare more Americans than it does.
Imagine a family bringing home $8,000 a month after taxes.
Their mortgage, property taxes, and insurance cost $2,600.
Two car payments and auto insurance: $1,150.
Groceries: $900.
Childcare: $1,000.
Utilities, phones, and internet: $450.
Credit card payments, gas, medical costs, and other expenses: another $1,300.
That leaves them with just $600.
And that’s in a normal month.
Now imagine the water heater breaks. One child needs an unexpected medical procedure. One parent misses two weeks of work.
Suddenly, the family that looks financially comfortable is putting emergencies on a credit card.
The interest starts accumulating. The balance grows. Next month gets tighter.
And nobody around them understands why they’re struggling.
Their neighbors see the house, the cars, and the family vacations from last summer.
They don't see the $600 margin separating their lifestyle from a financial crisis.
Here's the terrifying part:
You don't have to be poor to be financially vulnerable.
Sometimes, you can do everything society told you meant you were successful and still have almost no room for life to go wrong.
MY BOSS: "We’re giving you a 4% raise this year to help with inflation."
ME: "Thank you, I appreciate it."
Then I sat down and did the actual math.
* Base Salary: $65,000
* 4% Raise: +$2,600/year (about $216/month before taxes)
* Take-home increase after federal/state tax, 401(k), and health benefits: ~$140/month
The same week:
* My landlord increased rent by $125/month.
* My auto insurance renewed at +$30/month (no accidents, no tickets).
* My health insurance premiums went up by $20/month.
My "raise" left me -$35 behind where I was last year.
Companies call a 4% bump a "cost of living adjustment" to make you feel rewarded, but when fixed expenses rise faster than gross income, a raise on paper is literally a pay cut in reality.
A higher number on your paystub doesn't mean you're getting ahead if the cost to exist moves faster than your salary.
Chuks retweeted
The most complete (meme)coin guide video ever made
Almost 2 months later and I just finished the last episode of the script-- all other episodes are filmed and ready, besides EP13
Subscribe to @ spyzer_crypto on Youtube to make sure you don't miss it
Genuinely can't wait to share it with you all. Once it's completely finished, we'll prob have to make some minor changes to make sure it doesn't get taken down
Chuks retweeted
I was going to graduate with a first class. At least, that was the plan.
Told myself it was UNILORIN or nothing.
Didn’t get admission on my first try. Wrote JAMB again, and the alternative was pre degree 😂. Aced both!!!
Then came the suggestions to change schools.
People who had attended UNILORIN told me to change my plans. The school was tough, highly competitive, and apparently, I was making a mistake.
😂 But isn’t that exactly why I chose it? LET’S GO!
Finally got in, and I had just one thing on my mind.
I fell in love with reading. Holidays? I was reading. Free time? Reading. I was one of those guys you’d rarely find in class, but come to my room and you’d find books everywhere.
I had complete notes for almost all my courses, sometimes even halfway through the semester, thanks to @emmyb0y , whom I’d always disturb to send me all his notes and jottings immediately after his exams 😂. That guy deserves his flowers.
The minimum I read in a day was 10 hours. TEN.
I wanted that first class so badly.
Then came the final stretch.
Somewhere along the line, I lost faith in myself. I became confused. I still wanted it just as badly, but I wasn’t as sure of myself anymore.
I kept going, though. And sometimes, I can’t help but wonder: what if I had done double? Just maybe.
The day I checked my portal, I broke down.
My sisters were shocked. They had watched me share my results over the years, the streaks of As and the occasional Bs. They knew how much this meant to me.
It hurt. More than I can properly explain.
But life doesn’t always hand you the ending you spent years working towards.
And even in the middle of my disappointment, I had something to be grateful for.
My people showed up.
My BGs females, my First Class boys and girls, my family since predegree, and the amazing people I met on campus along the way.
Some friendships started before we even got into the university. Others started on campus. Somehow, we all became part of one another’s stories.
And seeing them show up for me meant more than they probably know.
Maybe the first class dream didn’t go exactly as planned. Maybe there are still parts of this journey I’m learning to make peace with.
But I know the boy who wrote JAMB again, aced pre degree, spent holidays buried in books, and gave this dream everything he had.
I’m proud of him.
Six years later, we begin the real journey.
Chuks retweeted
Day 1 of Techcoinsmaxxing:
+8.775 SOL
I think I finally found my edge trading tech coins.
Still a lot to learn, but I’m starting to understand what works for me and what doesn’t.
Let’s see how far I can take this.Grateful
Chuks retweeted
Opened a free discord server on (meme)coin education
516 members in less than 24h 🫶
Still gotta approve lots of people in the verify queue
I'll also post general breakdowns in there on what's happening in the market ( solana:CSocnzcRpgSCr1naKcNTieWZUxb6rABe45j844m7pump ), the link to join you can find through my website in my bio
Opening a FREE Discord server to give all the people that want to learn more about crypto an honest place to start from
Educational material, giveaways, 1on1 with me and much more
You don’t wanna miss this, instructions on how to join are in my lastest video on TikTok -> search for @ spyzercrypto
Thanks for all the support!
Chuks retweeted
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