When Jim Chuong was a teenager, his parents told him to get an education.
” For what ? “, he asked.
“To get a good job later,” he was told.
” For what ? », he asked again.
“To earn a good living,” they replied.
“So we study to make a lot of money?” », he wanted to know.
Uncomfortable, his parents ended up conceding that, yes, we study to earn a lot of money.
This statement made no sense to him. “The adults around me were following this path. They worked hard. But they weren’t rich. Everyone was stressed about money. »
Jim concluded that studying was a distraction, and it was better to concentrate on the money part.
Now 52 years old, Jim Chuong is financially free. A multi-millionaire, he left his office job at the age of 40, when he realized his investment income was higher than his salary.
“I realized that I didn’t like it, spending my days in sales meetings, performance review sessions… Life is too short. »
PHOTO PROVIDED BY JIM CHUONG
Canadian investor Jim Chuong
I met Jim Chuong, who calls himself “The Lazy Canadian Investor,” on the social network X. But his real online presence is on Instagram and TikTok, where his posts generate 15 million views per month.
Father from Toronto, son of immigrants who arrived in Canada penniless, Jim Chuong gives financial lessons, criticizes cases reported in the media, and takes pleasure in pointing out the mistakes made by just about everyone with the ‘money.
He says things bluntly – that seems to be the source of his success.
“You’re not broke because of the $5 you spend on your coffee every day,” he said recently. You’re broke because you have an $800,000 mortgage. »
Tableware at St-Hubert
His breakthrough about money came when he was 15 years old. Jim worked part-time washing dishes in a St-Hubert restaurant for minimum wage, $4.25 an hour at the time.
“If I wanted to make $4 million, I realized I had to work a million hours. And even if I was paid 10 times more, I still had to work 100,000 hours! It was impossible: after 8 p.m., I was dead tired. »
Jim figured the money lessons should surely be in a book.
So he read about investors Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett and John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard firm, whose book The little book for investing with common sense talks about best practices in investing. The classic The Millionaire Next Door: the surprising secrets of rich Americans became one of his favorite books.
“These books lifted me out of poverty,” he says.
Jim Chuong understood that trying to get rich with your salary was a bit like trying to keep warm with a piece of wood: it’s one of the ingredients, but it’s useless without the other elements.
It is only once invested that our salary begins to enrich us.
“I also learned that the greatest source of wealth in history is stocks, especially American stocks. »
Becoming an “average” student after making his achievements on money, Jim Chuong studied engineering at the University of Toronto – mainly to please his parents.
He then used his salary to accumulate index exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and shares in Berkshire Hathaway, a conglomerate led by Warren Buffett.
Jim Chuong invested every month and never stopped, even during the stock market crash of the early 2000s and the financial crisis of 2008, when the market terrorized investors.
“I was too ignorant to be afraid. Buffett, Lynch and Bogle had taught me that you should buy without worrying about crashes, so that’s what I did. »
In 2009, during the American real estate crisis, Jim Chuong also purchased several single-family homes in bank repossessions in Arizona and Tennessee.
“I would make ridiculous offers, and the bank would accept them because no one else was buying…I did all this over the phone, with real estate agents I found by Googling. »
Its properties are managed by firms which take a percentage of the rents. “I never go there. I don’t know my tenants. I don’t unblock toilets. I am an investor. »
Ten years ago, Jim Chuong quit his office job to spend time with his mother, who was very ill and later passed away.
He then decided to make a living from his investments.
“If my mother hadn’t gotten sick, I would probably still be working today, accumulating more investments. My life would be very different. »
Today, a productive day looks like this: going for coffee with your dad in the morning, getting in shape at the gym, doing your shopping, planning your next family trips, taking care of your condo, spending time with his daughter – it was she who taught him how to post on Instagram and TikTok.
Many people think that it takes motivation to get rich. Jim Chuong doesn’t believe it. “The motivation is there one day, and it’s gone the next. What is needed is discipline. You have to stop spending your money to impress others. »
One of the themes that fascinates him is Canadians’ appetite for debt.
“People go into debt to buy the biggest house they can, and then they don’t have money to invest in productive assets. If you minimize your debts and buy financial assets, you are automatically ahead. »
Does he see as many investment opportunities today as when he started?
“In the 1990s, it was like now. The stock market was rising sharply. Technology dominated. The trick is to invest constantly and not be intimidated by the ups or downs, and don’t try to beat the market. The lazier you are, the better your results will be. »
Jim Chuong in three quotes
2 million investments and $500,000 house = happiness. $500,000 investments and $2 million house = misery.
“You can’t tell by eye if someone is rich. If they wear it, drive it or show it to others, it’s not invested, it’s spent. »
“Use the money so that, over time, your job is less and less necessary for your survival. Eventually, your employer will no longer have any power over you. At this point, your job will become a hobby. »
Check out Jim Chuong’s TikTok account