Building Wealth
A calmer way to think about money, goals, and growth
Listen to a podcast-style discussion of this article or download it here
What happens when you stop chasing returns and start asking what wealth is actually for?
Know what you want. Spend less than you earn. Understand how compounding works. Give it time.
It’s the kind of advice that won’t go viral on social media, precisely because it’s true.
I’m delighted to share this conversation with Matt | The Finance Coach, an incredibly sharp and practical voice on SubStack. Matt has built a reputation for cutting through the noise of personal finance and helping people focus on what actually matters. His approach is refreshingly grounded: less about flashy strategies and more about building a solid foundation that holds up over time.
Matt consistently brings his advice back to foundations. Not tricks. Not shortcuts. Not the latest trending asset class. Foundations.
So much of what Matt advocates, from defining your goals before picking your investments to understanding the quiet power of compound interest, reflects principles that decades of psychological research have shown to be critical for sound financial decision making.
His answers here are clear, considered, and genuinely useful. I’ve added my own reflections after each response, not to compete with his insights but to layer on some additional context from the world of behavioural science.
What follows is our exchange, with my commentary in italics.
When people say they want to build wealth, what do you think they usually mean, and where do you see them getting it wrong early on?
Matt: Freedom. They’re looking for freedom, and people have come to believe that it’s found in having wealth. In some sense it is: in the physical world, money provides you with options, protection and freedom.
In terms of getting it wrong early on, I tend to see people focusing too much on asset returns and chasing them, whether that’s buying a dodgy crypto coin or trying to beat the markets by picking their own stocks. Whereas, if they focused that energy on increasing their income and making regular deposits into average-performing assets, they would reach their goals much more quickly.
Ryan: Matt’s instinct here is spot on, and it’s backed by serious research. Self Determination Theory, developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, identifies autonomy as one of the three fundamental human needs. When people say they want wealth, what they’re often really saying is they want the autonomy to make choices without financial constraint.
The second part of Matt’s answer is equally important. The tendency to chase returns rather than focus on consistent contributions is a textbook example of what behavioural economists call the “action bias”: the urge to do something exciting when the boring, reliable approach would serve you far better. The maths consistently favours the tortoise over the hare.
How do you think about the balance between simple rules of thumb and more personalised financial strategies?
Matt: Everyone is different; each person has unique experiences and life circumstances. Financial advice can never be one-size-fits-all. Especially when looking at statements online, opinions and advice can be polarised to gain more attention. In reality, what is right for someone’s situation usually sits somewhere between the opposite ends of that spectrum.
Ryan: This is a really mature take, and it touches on something that psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer has spent his career exploring. Gigerenzer’s research shows that simple heuristics, or rules of thumb, can actually be remarkably effective in many situations. But the key word is “many,” not “all.”
The problem Matt identifies with polarised online advice is essentially the algorithm at work: extreme positions generate engagement, moderate and nuanced positions do not. The result is a financial media landscape that rewards confident, one-size-fits-all proclamations over the more honest answer, which is usually some variation on “it depends.”
If someone is just starting out and feels overwhelmed, where do you think they should focus their attention first?
Begin with the destination
Matt: Finance is a big topic, and there is a lot of information that people need to digest. It’s not something that can be done quickly, so I understand why some people feel overwhelmed. Normally, if you feel overwhelmed, it means you’ve already started looking into it and realised how much you don’t know, which means you’re on the right track.
At this point, you really have two options: speak to an adviser or take the journey of learning yourself to become financially astute. However, no matter which route you choose, the first thing you can do quite easily is understand your goals. What do you want to achieve if it were financially possible? What does your dream retirement look like? This forms the basis of all planning.
Ryan: I love Matt’s reframe of overwhelm as a sign of progress rather than failure. That shift in perspective alone could save someone from giving up at exactly the wrong moment.
His emphasis on starting with goals aligns beautifully with decades of research by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham on goal-setting theory, which consistently shows that clear, specific goals dramatically improve motivation and outcomes. Without knowing what you’re aiming for, every piece of financial information feels equally urgent and equally confusing. Define the destination first, and suddenly the map starts to make sense.
How do you think people should define financial success beyond just net worth or income?
Matt: Security, flexibility and freedom. There are many people with high incomes who have none of these things. Financial success is achieved through the funds left over after income minus expenditure. It’s not really about the money itself; it’s about what it represents.
Ryan: This is deceptively simple and profoundly important. Matt’s observation that high income doesn’t guarantee security or freedom echoes what psychologists studying the hedonic treadmill have been telling us for decades.
We adapt to higher incomes remarkably quickly, and without the gap between earning and spending that Matt describes, more money simply funds more consumption. The research is clear: beyond a certain threshold, additional income contributes very little to wellbeing unless it’s accompanied by the kind of intentionality Matt is advocating. It’s not what comes in that builds wealth. It’s what stays.
Looking back at your own journey, what belief about money changed your behaviour the most?
Matt: It may sound generic, but understanding how compound interest works, and how each aspect of the compound interest formula impacts the outcome, changed everything for me. Once I understood it deeply, it became very clear that real wealth, built on a strong foundation, can only be generated through this principle.
This can happen through many avenues, such as starting your own business, investing in the stock market, or buying commodities or property. At some level, within all of these investments, compounding is working for you.
Ryan: Matt says it might sound generic, but I’d argue it’s one of the most important answers in this entire conversation. Research on what’s called “exponential growth bias” shows that humans are really bad at intuitively understanding how compounding works. We think in straight lines, but compound growth curves upward.
This means that most people systematically underestimate the long term impact of consistent contributions and patience. Matt’s insight that compounding operates across all forms of wealth building, not just stock market returns, is particularly valuable. Whether it’s skills, relationships, business equity, or financial investments, the principle is the same: small, consistent inputs, given enough time, produce results that feel almost unfair in hindsight.
Final thoughts
What stands out most about this conversation with Matt is how consistently his advice circles back to foundations. Not tricks. Not shortcuts. Not the latest trending asset class. Foundations.
Know what you want
Spend less than you earn
Understand how compounding works
Give it time
The behavioural psychology research supports every thread of Matt’s thinking. Clarity of goals predicts financial success. Patience outperforms impulsivity. Intentional spending trumps high income without direction. And the quiet, unglamorous magic of compound growth remains the most reliable path to genuine wealth that most people still underestimate.
If there’s a single takeaway from this conversation, it’s that building wealth isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about being the most patient, the most intentional, and the most honest with yourself about what you actually want your money to do for your life.
If you want more of Matt’s practical, no-nonsense approach to building wealth, I’d highly recommend checking out his Substack, Matt | The Finance Coach. And if this conversation resonated with you, I’d be honoured if you subscribed to Financology as well. We’re all just trying to make better decisions with our money, one thoughtful step at a time.