Hey there! Welcome to the Independent Money newsletter 👋 We’ll be exploring the latest financial news and discussing how it affects entrepreneurs like you. Plus, we'll share some awesome wealth creation insights from successful entrepreneurs that you won't find anywhere else.

Let’s dive in! 🏊‍♂️

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In this newsletter, we’ll discuss:

• Tax Savings Tip: Ankur Nagpal (founder of Ocho) shares an incredibly valuable tax savings tip for entrepreneurs making $300K+ a year.

• Money Lessons From Couples Married For 10+ Years: Ramit Sethi runs a popular podcast where he talks to couples about love and money. Here are 5 lessons to have a healthy relationship with your partner about money.

• Inside the Personal Finances of a Content Creator: Jason Levin tells us his go to money hack and more.

Tax Savings Tip

Are you making over $300,000 per year as a business owner? If so, check out this tip from our founder:

Money Lessons From Couples Married For 10+ Years

Ramit Sethi runs a popular podcast on managing money with your partner.

Here are the five common pieces of advice from these couples that he recently shared on Twitter:

1. Make sure you have chemistry when it comes to money. If you and your partner share the same values, money management is a lot easier.

2. Don't try to change the other person. Change is possible, but very few of us truly meet our partner where they are and work to create a shared vision together. Without that, change is really hard.

3. Talk about money A LOT. My wife and I have time set aside every month.

4. Make big financial decisions together. By getting the big stuff right, you don't have to worry about your spouse's daily latte habit.

5. Lean on each other when times get rough. By working as a team, you can play to each of your strengths and learn from each other.

Interview with Jason Levin

I ghostwrite content for founders and venture capitalists, write a weekly newsletter, and just published my first book.  

Since 2020, I’ve been writing my weekly newsletter Cyber Patterns about content strategy and career hacking now up to 10,000+ readers. Last week, I published my first book Memes Make Millions, a deep dive into the many ways very online, very funny people make money.

You’ve interviewed a lot of highly successful people in your book – what’s one piece of advice that’s stuck out to you as you’re on your entrepreneurial journey

The #1 piece of advice came from Charlie Light, an entrepreneur who built a meme page named John W. Rich based on a fictional rich old man. Doesn’t sound like anything special, but it is—let me explain why.

Charlie’s funny viral tweets led to a bunch of tech CEOs asking him to ghostwrite for them to help them get attention on their Twitters and startups. Within a couple years, Charlie grew a $40,000+/month ghostwriting agency and then sold the agency.

Here’s what Charlie told me about why his account is so special.

“Biggest key here is to make sure you develop a unique voice. John Rich has jokes that are unique to him; they just wouldn’t make sense if a generic meme page posted them. While many of the memes I post could be posted by any meme page, I made another layer for my audience by creating running jokes, like John’s never-ending marriage problems.

John W. Rich could’ve been just another finance meme page. But instead, he’s his own character like straight out of a book. He has his own intricacies, problems, struggles, whatever that are unique to them. Forget the fact he’s completely fictional. You need to do the same with your account and brand accounts. Build up the story around you and your brand, the lore, show a distinct personality, your unique struggles, show your face and the high moments, the lows, the real stuff. Your competitive advantage on social media is being uniquely you.

What were the key milestones or turning points in your entrepreneurial journey?

Growing an audience makes everything in business easier. I had been failing on the internet for 10+ years. Then I dedicated serious time to growing an audience. Even 10k on Twitter makes everything easier: finding customers, hosting events, forming partnerships, meeting new people, whatever. You’ve got leverage and distribution. It’s like getting triple mushrooms in Mario Kart where you speed up a lot faster in your entrepreneurial journey.

What’s one “money rule” you live by?

Scared money don’t make money. You gotta spend money to make money. I learned this in startups hardcore where VCs will give a founder with some half-baked idea $1 million. Meanwhile, you want to be a full-time creator and you’re not gonna spend $20 on Photoshop or $8 on Twitter Blue??? C’mon, you gotta invest in yourself—or no one else will!

Where can our readers follow you to learn more?

All my long-form thoughts are at Cyber Patterns! All my half-baked ideas and dank memes are on Twitter or X or whatever it’s called @iamjasonlevin. Oh, and don’t forget to join the memelords and grab a copy of Memes Make Millions!

What’s Happening at Carry?

Here’s what you can expect in the coming weeks

See the full list of events here. ⏰

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If you want more resources on building wealth as an solopreneur/entrepreneur, check these out:

• The Solo 401k handbook 

• What is a Solo 401k?

• How to Open a Solo 401k

• Solo 401k Contribution Calculator