How to Get “Fuck You Money”
How You Can Truly Reach the “Fuck You Money” State That Goes Beyond Wealth.
Iused to believe that having a lot of money would grant me the freedom I desired, as society suggests.
When I was 19 and studying at the Portuguese Bank Training Institute, my friends Rodrigo, Andrey, and I set a milestone for what we believed to be “fuck you money”: $1 million by the age of 30.
Now, $1 million doesn’t seem like much because of inflation, but 20 years ago, it was a staggering amount of money for any Portuguese teenager.
To chase that $1 million milestone, I later spent 10 years wearing a suit and necktie and working 14 hours a day. I became what I now call a “necktie slave,” constantly tied to my corporate job without true freedom.
The result was that, 10 years later, I found myself not only financially strained but also emotionally and spiritually depleted.
I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I want people to become more self-aware, particularly of their slave condition. This self-awareness will help you reach that fuck you money stage.
Trust me, self-awareness will bring you lots of money!
Necktie Slavery
Last year, my friend Hanad — who spends most of his time traveling the world on a low budget, drinking beer, and enjoying life — visited me in Hong Kong.
In the mid-afternoon, I left my venture capital office in the center of the Hong Kong financial district to join him for a beer at a bar called Liberty, right next to the Stock Exchange.
At one point in our conversation, Hanad commented with admiration:
“All these guys are wearing neckties and expensive suits; they must make lots of money.”
To which I replied:
“They are all necktie slaves. Although some of these people wearing a necktie are rich, they are still slaves. Don’t be fooled by money.”
Just because someone wears a necktie and a nice suit doesn’t mean that they are free or happy.
I’ve spent 10 years wearing a necktie, too. But nowadays, when I see someone proudly walking around in a suit and tie, I think to myself,
“The poor guy doesn’t know he is a slave. I hope one day he takes the red pill.”
Having “Fuck You Money” is Not About the Money
Most people start doing better, and they move to bigger houses in richer neighborhoods. They see that their neighbors have better cars and even better houses and book the best restaurants.
Now, they feel pressured to get even better houses and better cars and dine at Dorsia.
This life is akin to a rat on a spinning wheel. It’s a treadmill effect. You need to make more and more to stay in the same place and forget your dreams. You need to make more just to keep up with the Joneses, not to reach true freedom.
As I said in the article, “I Quit My Job Because I’m Dying,” you chase a salary, which is what corporations pay you, so you forget your dreams.
It’s a never-ending treadmill.
Don’t be fooled by money. It doesn’t bring you true freedom.
True freedom is about being self-owned; it’s a state of mind.
Being self-owned is the ultimate fuck you money.
Having fuck you money is a state of mind.
The Hadza People Have the Ultimate “Fuck You Money”
I’ve been fascinated by the Hadza people, and I truly think they are some of the smartest and richest people in the world.
The Hadza are one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer communities in Africa. Although they live in Tanzania, they don’t consider themselves Tanzanians. They don’t give a fuck about countries or politics.
They live in egalitarian groups with no formal hierarchy or leadership. They make decisions by consensus.
Their possessions are limited to animal skins, some tools, bows, and arrows. Their limited material possessions help them maintain a lot of freedom and flexibility. They don’t have a calendar and move around according to the weather. They don’t even have a religion.
Hadza won’t care about politics, they won’t receive orders from anyone, and they don’t give a shit about laws.
In 2007, the Tanzanian government wanted to transform the region where the Hadza lived into a safari resort, so they tried to relocate the Hadza people to villages and give them houses for free.
In response, the Hadza showed them the middle finger.
The Hadza are probably the freest people in the world, which is equal to having lots of fuck you money but without money.
Thus, having fuck you money is not about how large a bank account is. It’s a state of mind.
The Hadza people have a state of mind of being self-owned. Although they are well aware of technology and the comforts of civilization, no matter how much you give them, they will go back to their original lifestyle.
They are the owners of their own opinions and are never squeezed to do something they would otherwise never do.
I think this should be the true definition of fuck you money.
Fuck you money is not having $100,000,000.
Fuck you money is being 100% self-owned and independent.
A Diogenes Level of Wealth
An example of someone who epitomized fuck you money in a philosophical sense was Diogenes, a Greek philosopher known for his extreme asceticism and defiance of social norms.
One day, the Macedonian king Alexander the Great bumped into Diogenes and asked him if there was something he could do for him. Diogenes could have asked for money, a house, or a horse. Instead, Diogenes replied, “Yes, you are blocking the sun, get the fuck out.”
Alexander left, saying, “If I weren’t Alexander, I’d like to be Diogenes.”
C-level Slavery
Having fuck you money is (mostly) not about money or how senior someone is in a corporation.
In 2019, while I was a corporate slave at HSBC, I realized that no matter how high someone is in the hierarchy, they can still be a slave.
Noel Quinn, HSBC’s CEO, was in a tricky situation back then.
The Chinese government turned against HSBC after the bank disclosed Huawei’s financial statements to U.S. and Canadian authorities, leading to the arrest of Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou. The Chinese government saw this disclosure as a betrayal, leading to significant tensions between HSBC and China.
Long story short, Noel Quinn, a 62-year-old man, would have to spend the next few years bowing and licking Chinese government shoes, most likely against his will.
Noel Quinn has a lot of money. According to the records, he was paid $13 million in 2023. However, that’s still not fuck you money.
Having fuck you money means: no matter how much they pay me, I will not do something that I don’t want to do.
No matter how much you pay a Hadza person, they would never do anything they wouldn’t otherwise do.
You need a lot more than money to say fuck you money.
Fuck you, money, in and of itself, isn’t a real concept.
The whole idea of fuck you money doesn’t work if you are still being paid by the Matrix and you are still stuck inside a contract, and your words are controlled.
There are a lot of people with a lot of money who can’t say what they think. There are a lot of people who, if they say what they really think, would lose their jobs or contracts.
They are rich NPCs, but still NPCs. Running around on autopilot. Predictable.
To say fuck you, money, you need not only to have money but also to have a state of mind. You need to be truly self-sufficient like the Hadza tribe.
He is free, who owns his own opinion.
Self-Ownership
Here’s the definition of a free person: someone who can never be squeezed to do something that he would otherwise never do.
Finally, at the age of 39, I reached this stage. To reach it, I had to intensively save and invest, then quit my job and downsize by moving to a cheaper place.
However, I finally feel free. I do what I want, whenever I want, with whoever I want.
Today, I woke up at 6 am and started writing this article. Then, at 8 am, I brought my laptop to the coffee shop continued writing there until 10 am. Then I went home, played with my cat, and went to the gym.
I barely schedule any meetings as I don’t want to be a slave to my calendar. If someone wants to talk to me, I tell them, “Call me around 4; we might be able to talk.”
Only if you are free with your time are you free with your opinion. You are the owner of your own opinions.
How to Break Free
It’s okay to work as a corporate slave and play the game. Most of us need to play this game. But the goal of winning the game is not to fall into the “keeping up with the Joneses” trap.
The reason to win the game is to be free of it!
Stop unconsciously comparing yourself to the Joneses, staying in the rat race, and leveling up against them again until you die.
The reason to play the game is to be free of the game. Not to continue playing bigger games that will trap you until you die.
And once you have enough, simply stop playing the game!
You have no responsibility to anyone else in the world other than yourself and your close family and friends.
Separate the Needs from the Wants
While walking through a market in Athens, Socrates said, “There are so many things that I don’t want.”
We often confuse our wants with our needs. People get caught in the rat race consumerism trap because of this confusion.
You and I need exactly the same as the Hadza: food, a protective roof, and a little social life and love. All the rest is redundant and dangerous to our freedom. The freedom to say, “fuck you, I don’t wanna do that.”
If I could go back in time to my early 20s, I would teach myself to separate the needs from the wants.
I’ve spent too much money renting a nice apartment when I could have lived with my mom, going to clubs because the others were going, and buying clothes because others were also doing the same.
Not anymore.
I will never be that guy who preaches about financial freedom while flexing a Lamborghini. Instead, I will be that guy who tells you to save money, live below your means, invest, and then quit the game.
Conclusion
In the pursuit of true freedom and fuck you money, we must recognize that it’s not about the size of our bank account but rather a state of mind.
I’m not saying to ignore the money. Please, go get that money!
What I’m saying is that you need more than money to have fuck you money.
We must strive to be self-owned and unapologetically authentic. If you do this, you might be able to retire with way less money than society tells you to retire.
Only by separating our needs from our wants and breaking free from the rat race can we attain the ultimate form of wealth:
The freedom to live life exactly as we choose, without being beholden to anyone or anything.
— Henrique Centieiro 🕺🏻