The Simple Path to Wealth

Your roadmap to a rich, free life — in just five minutes per week.

September 29, 2026

Big apologies from us here at Team JL if you missed out on the last newsletter! We're told the broadcast failed to reach many of you due to a technical snafu.

Our big topic for that one was what you should do if you inherit a bundle of individual stocks from a relative. You can still check it out here!

You can also get the lowdown on an upcoming live event with JL Collins and his daughter, Jessica—who's also the author of The Simple Path to Wealth Workbook!

If you preorder today, fill out the form, and share your proof of purchase, you'll get an exclusive invitation to the event in November.

THE SIMPLE NUMBERS

Can you afford to buy that house?

One way to decide is the 28/36 rule: Your housing costs (mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, HOA) should eat up no more than 28% of your gross monthly income, and your total debts (mortgage, credit cards, other loans) should be no more than 36%.

Let's say your household brings in $150,000 a year. Using a housing affordability calculator that puts estimated closing costs at 3%, property taxes at 1.5%, and homeowners insurance at 0.5%, you can afford a house that costs $500,000.

Which doesn't mean you should pay that much. As JL reminds us below, financial freedom often depends on not buying things at the very edge of your budget.

SIMPLE PATH OF THE DAY

A slice of timeless wisdom from The Simple Path to Wealth:

"I may not have owned a Mercedes, but I owned my freedom. Freedom to choose when to leave a job, and freedom from worry when the choice wasn’t mine."

A red brick building with a mansard roof surrounded by tall weeping trees — Resist the urge to purchase the grand manse (unless you really, truly can afford it).

ASK JL

Q: Hiya JL, I’ve heard you speak about doing things from a position of financial strength. It would great to hear more about what this means in practice, including how it supports those who follow The Simple Path. —Samuel B.

Hi Samuel,

Buying things from a “position of strength” is my shorthand way of saying “only buy things you can easily afford, and not the things you can technically afford.”

Any time you're stretching your budget to buy something—or worse, going into debt for it—that's buying from a position of weakness. Doing so makes you still weaker financially.

Buying a car with payments that push your income is an example.

So, too, is buying the most house your realtor and lender say you can technically afford. Remember, they both make more from the deal the more you spend. That much house, for you, makes everything financially tougher.

Buying from a position of weakness keeps people in debt and living paycheck to paycheck.

Buying from a position of strength frees up your income to build your wealth and leads to financial independence and freedom.

—JL

Got a money question keeping you up at night? Reply to this email and we'll get it over to JL.

WHAT WE'RE READING

📚 This spring, JL read Real Wealth: Make Money Work for You and delivered a strong review in his blurb: "Clear-eyed, effective real-world financial advice that just happens to be extremely well written and entertaining. I was impressed enough to pass it on to my daughter."

📚 Mr. Money Mustache weighed in last week on a question that's on many people's minds: "Will the AI Bubble Destroy Our Retirement?"

📚 Want the nicer car and the freedom to walk away from your job? One might cost you some of the other. In The Knot, Seth Godin helps us spot the competing wants that keep us stuck.

THE BIG QUESTION

Have you ever bought something from a position of weakness? Did you come to regret that big-ticket purchase—the car, the house—in the years that followed?

Reply to this email and we'll feature some of your responses in upcoming issues!

Here's a testimonial from a fabulously monikered reader who's following The Simple Path from a quite glorious location...

Hello Mr Collins,

I just finished reading your book. I liked it very much! Thank you for writing it.

I am 38 years old from Aruba, and I just started investing in the S&P 500 this year. I am the first generation of my family who's started investing. I am not a resident in the USA, but still this book has helped me a lot. Thank you. —W.S. Merryweather