My Path to Generational Wealth: Finding the Right Trade-Offs

At the beginning of his investing journey, Humphrey Yang started small.

“When I first started, my goal was to invest consistently, so carving out a percentage of my paycheck did not come naturally,” he said in an email interview. “And it was hard because I missed that money.”

Yang said he hasn’t forgotten the trade-offs he made as a beginner investor. There were things he said he would have preferred to spend the money on — going out with friends, for example, or concerts or other experiences — but he was thinking about his future.

“That's the not so glamorous part of investing, sometimes you are trading off a short-term bit of fun for longer-term and future fun,” he said.

Today, the Bay Area content creator shares investing information he's learned over the years, as well as perspective gained from years working in different industries, including financial advice and tech on his various social media platforms. That includes his YouTube channel @humphrey, as well as on Instagram and TikTok as @humphreytalks. Here's what Yang is doing to build generational wealth and to help his audience do the same.

What strategies has Yang used to build wealth?

Yang said setting an expectation that a percentage of his income would go toward investing was important because he knew that money would compound into more dollars in the future.

In addition to investing a portion of his paycheck, Yang also sought out other income streams.

“In the beginning, I was just working a salaried job, but I would find ways to make extra money on the side through reselling or flipping items,” he said, and even that looks a little different now.

“These days, since I’m a creator, there are plenty of income streams you can tap into with an existing audience, affiliates are a big part of my business now, but was something I did not even think about even ... three years ago.”

Although Yang found ways to make and invest money, he also invested in himself. And all of these experiences have helped him become a better content creator today, Yang said.

“A lot of what I did in tech was applicable to content creation including A/B testing, marketing, psychology, and analyzing data and applying new hypotheses toward my content. Having a finance background made my content creation have a specific focus and having that credibility of being a financial advisor was important to me.”

An alternative perspective to FIRE

While many may be drawn to the FIRE movement (financial independence retire early), Yang said that he views it a little differently, and it was not an initial driver for him to grow his money.

That’s because with FIRE, the premise is to spend as little as possible and save intensively — as much as 50% or more of your income — to have enough to leave the workforce early.

“I definitely understood the principle, but for me, I actually enjoy working — I think I get a lot of fulfillment out of it,” he said, although he did see some similarities between FIRE and his personal financial goals.

“I did however, want to get to a point where my investments could fund my entire life in the future, I think the "retire early" part just didn't resonate with me.”

What does generational wealth mean to Yang?

Yang didn’t start investing with generational wealth in mind, but he said he saw the value of money early on.

“While money isn’t everything in life, it does make basic needs and certain things easier,” he said. “I think having ‘generational’ wealth is something to aspire to in order to cover basic needs and make life easier not only for myself but any future offspring.”

He painted a picture of what that might look like, starting with an emergency fund.

“Things don't stress you out as much when you have, say, an unexpected car maintenance that costs you an extra $500 that month. Having the ability to buy food for yourself consistently, and pay rent/bills without worrying if you're going to make it that month is a huge privilege once you establish your financial foundation.”

When it comes to a foundation for building generational wealth, he stressed the importance of defining what wealth is first.

“Wealth is just the difference between your earnings and your spending,” he said. “Either decrease your spending or increase your earning, or ideally — both at the same time.”