What can a person do to get ahead in America? After a month in Mexico City, I’m back in Florida visiting family, and all I can see are opportunities for getting ahead all around me. America can be a tough place to survive if you’re not in the right situation. But it can also be exceptionally easy to get ahead in America with the right moves.
In this post, I’ll share my personal approach for getting ahead in America. This is the exact blueprint for getting ahead I’ll be using if my feet ever permenantly land in America again.
I will start by discussing the best mindset for getting ahead, then we’ll go step-by step through the decisions I would make along the way.
The American Advantage
It’s true when they say that America is the land of opportunity. As I said in my post comparing Europe vs America:
Even if you’re not rich, America offers the greatest chance to live a life people in most of the world can only dream of. The American Dream is built on hustle—entrepreneurial spirit, low government interference, access to capital, and tech innovation have made the U.S. home to 39% of the world’s millionaires and over 735 billionaires, the most of any country by far.
And this wealth doesn’t only sit at the top. The average gross income per capita in the U.S. is significantly higher than in most developed countries. For example, Germany—Europe’s economic powerhouse—has a per capita income of around $55,000, while the U.S. sits closer to $83,000..
Why Getting Ahead in America Is Still So Hard
So the question begs: if America offers such strong advantages, why is it so hard to get ahead? Here’s why getting ahead is still so hard:
High cost of living — Housing, healthcare, childcare, and education are all among the most expensive in the world.
Debt culture — From student loans to credit cards, most Americans start adulthood already behind financially.
Consumer pressure — Status signaling and lifestyle inflation push people to spend as fast as they earn.
Healthcare system risk — One medical emergency can wipe out years of savings.
Stagnant wages vs. inflation — Many salaries haven’t kept pace with rising costs.
Complex tax and financial systems — Credit, insurance, and investing can feel like navigating a maze.
Job volatility — Layoffs, automation, and gig work make income less stable.
Social comparison — The cultural push to “keep up” drives decisions that sabotage long-term wealth.
So for getting ahead, there is opportunity. At the same time, there’s a steep hill to climb.
What’s a person to do? Here’s the blueprint..
Mindset For Getting Ahead In America
When I was in 9th grade, my class took an end of year field trip to Disney. By all accounts, it was a pretty standard day at the park – big crowds, hot sun, and long lines. But it was also a day where I learned one of the most valuable lessons of my life: it pays to go against the crowd.
After many hours of standing in those long lines, I lost patience. At some point later in the day, our group approached a ride with a long line ahead of us. In the front of the line was one of those velvet ropes, and everyone obediently stood waiting for the ride attendant let us in.
We stood there talking to kill time, but I couldn’t stop asking myself why we were all just waiting. Then I noticed something: about thirty yards down, another opening in the barrier. No rope, no attendant, just a sign telling guests they could enter as long as they did so in an orderly way.
So I grabbed my friends, we walked through, and saved an hour of standing around.
That day at Disney showed me that if you want to get ahead in America, you can’t just follow the crowd. Nowhere is that more true than with money — and that’s why the first step in my playbook is avoiding debt.
Avoiding Debt Is The #1 Way To Get Ahead In America
The last thing any of us need is another rant from me about debt.
Yet here we are with another rant from me about debt. I talk so much about living without debt and benefits of a debt-free lifestyle because I’m convinced that it’s the top thing a person can do to get ahead in America.
This lines up perfectly with what I’m saying about not following the crowd.
Our culture tells us that it’s normal to take on debt. It’s also not fun being the only person on the road driving an old car or not sporting the latest fashions. Because of this, many people do what everyone else does by taking on high debts so they can have all the things everyone else have.
Meanwhile in doing so, they strip themselves of the potential power to be harnessed from the #1 tool most of us have for getting ahead: our incomes.
Save & Invest As Much As Possible To Get Ahead
Let’s say you didn’t have all of that debt hanging around. How much extra cash could you save each month or annually? I’ll give it a WAG(wild a** guess) and say that most debt-free Americans could easily save 40-60% while still living comfortably .
It’s what I was doing a few years ago to quickly save up $100,000-plus in cash. And it’s what I’ll be doing when I get back to work from my sabbatical in a few months.
It’s simple: with no claims on our money from debt, our top priority should be to aggressively save / invest as much as we can.
I know it can be easier said than done, but I also know it can be done. So let’s continue forward with a talk about how we’ll pull it off.
Choose A Partner Who Will Help You Get Ahead
One of the worst things you can do for getting ahead is dating or marrying a spouse who will hold you back. As I stated in my advice to women on the topic of dating broke men:
Dating a broke man may make it hard to achieve even the first step of the BB financial order of operations which includes simply saving a portion of every dollar earned and not having debt.
A day to day struggle with finances isn’t ideal. And given the current median 401(k) balance of $35,286, women may want to strongly consider whether a broke man can help them move along the path of building wealth.
Or, as I mentioned in my personal recounting of the time I dated a woman who never paid for anything:
A girlfriend with expensive tastes who likes to spend $500 per month at restaurants and $10,000 per year on travel will cost you $16,000 per year for the privilege to date her.
Similarly, a girlfriend who prefers nature parks and streaming movies at home may only cost you $200 per month – but you still have to foot the entire bill.
What I’m getting at in both instances is that who you choose as a partner can make or break your ability to get ahead. From the tangibles — like how they handle money, career choices, or debt — to the intangibles of peace, support, and shared goals, the right partner multiplies your progress while the wrong one quietly drains it.
Live In A Modest Place
Before I left America to travel the world, I lived in an old studio apartment for $1,180 per month. That was 2023, but even back then prices had already inflated in my area to above $1,500 for average studios and 1-bedroom apartments in my area.
Prior to that, I rented for a year in a much nicer and trendier building for roughly $1,500. I moved because the rent was rising to $1600. So in the end I was able to save 25% on housing just by choosing to live more modestly.
This is exactly the kind of spread you should be hunting for if you want to get ahead in America.
While most people burn 30–60% of their income trying to live flashy, you can take the less glamorous route — an older, simpler place in a safe neighborhood — and come out ahead. The modest choice might not look as cool, but it’s the one that will put you ahead of the pack.
Don’t Buy A House. Invest, Save, And Live Close To Work
Why Renting Can Actually Help You Get Ahead in America
This one will ruffle some feathers, so let’s just get it out of the way.
If you follow the steps to this point, you’ll eventually amass a nice little lump sum of money. And that’s usually when people get antsy and start thinking about making a splash purchase on a house.
It may not seem like it based on my past comments, but I truly love the idea of owning a home.
What I don’t love is the idea of being locked under a 10–30 year mortgage. That’s debt on a massive scale, and it traps you in place at the exact time you need flexibility to keep getting ahead. Saving and investing until you can buy a house in cash is a far cleaner path.
Renting also keeps you nimble. Most careers today involve multiple job changes, and being flexible about where you live can open up better opportunities without the headache of selling property or being tied to one location.
But here’s the real win: living close to work. By renting smart, you can cut out the soul-crushing commute that eats away at your time and energy. Those extra hours every week can be reinvested into your health, relationships, or building the next stream of income.
That single factor alone gives you better odds of getting ahead in America — not just financially, but in the quality of your life.
Buying A Cheap Car Gets You Ahead In America
The other day I was cruising around Tampa in my rental when something interesting caught my eye. No, it wasn’t one of those funny bobbing inflatable figures outside a dealership — though that probably would’ve done the trick.
Instead it was a tiny little Ford Fiesta.
There’s a lot to love about cars like this.
They have zero “cool factor,” which means they’re not popular — and not popular means affordable. A few years old, they can go for under $9,000 on average. They’re also light, fuel efficient, and have small engines that barely sip gas.
On top of that, they avoid the major maintenance costs that sink larger, flashier vehicles.
The point is simple: every dollar you don’t spend on car payments, gas, or repairs is a dollar that can be invested in building wealth and getting ahead. That’s how something as basic as driving a modest car can quietly put you ahead of 99% of people in America.
Avoid Eating Out
It’s Mostly A Scam & Low On Nutrition
After spending so much time in Europe, I’m confident saying that one of the biggest scams in America is in the food department. Specifically, eating out.
Inflation has already exposed eating out for being woefully too expensive, so I don’t need to mention that. What I’ll mention instead is the hidden side of eating out which is the fact that the meals are terribly unbalanced – leaning cheap carb heavy with very little protein.
So you’re already paying a premium to purchase restaurant food — and the insult is that what you end up paying for isn’t even optimal for your health.
Cooking at home isn’t just cheaper, it’s how you stay in control of what goes into your body, and that energy compounds into better work, better focus, and ultimately a better shot at getting ahead in America.
Learn A Specific, Valuable Skill
Why Specialization Puts You Ahead of 99% of People in America
Doing just a couple of the things mentioned so far is enough to put you ahead of 85% of Americans. The final step — and the one that lands squarely in the career and earnings department — is what will push you into the 90th percentile: learning a specific, valuable skill.
Why does the average teacher earn far less than the average plastic surgeon? It’s not because one is more important to society than the other. It’s because teaching is a general skill that many people can do, while plastic surgery is highly specialized, difficult to master, and people are willing to pay a premium for it.
The lesson here is simple: the more finite, technical, and in-demand your skill is, the more valuable you become in the marketplace.
You don’t need to aim for medicine, but you do need to design your career path with this principle in mind. Pick something high-barrier, high-demand, and difficult to replicate, and you’ll maximize your earning power.
Final Thoughts On Getting Ahead In America
There you have it — my exact playbook for how to get ahead in America.
It’s not about striking it rich, hitting the lottery, or finding some secret shortcut. It’s about combining the right mindset with a handful of disciplined choices — avoiding debt, saving and investing, living modestly, choosing the right partner, and building a specialized skill.
Do all of this consistently over time, and you’ll not only get ahead financially, but in the quality of your life as well.