Can an employee become rich?

An overused saying in the wealth space is "you can't get rich working for someone else".

One of the benefits of working as an accountant and tax agent for so many years is, I get to see behind the scenes and validate comments like these.

The truth is, you can become very wealthy working for someone else, especially when your steady income stream is combined with long-term investing and the power of compounding.

I understand the logic behind the comment. The argument is of course that your earnings are capped as an employee and your earning potential infinite as a business owner.

But more and more, I am seeing employees starting to earn very large amounts of money.

And more and more, I am seeing business profits squeezed.

The truth is, how much you earn is ultimately a matter of personal responsibility.

You can pursue a well paying career and work for employers and in industries that pay well.

You can continue to progress through the business, undertake additional study and make yourself more valuable.

You can pursue jobs that pay based on outcomes instead of a recurring pay check.

Or you can choose to not progress your career and work in a low paying industry.

Likewise, you could start a business, scale it and earn a large amount of money.

Or you could be like many business owners, working 80 hours a week to make ends meet, working in a business where you personally earn less than the minimum wage.

There's no doubt there is an attraction to being a business owner. But if you pull back the curtains, there's a lot of ways to build wealth. Don't let an overused and outdated saying diminish your enthusiasm.

Some of my richest clients never owned a business, and they are better for it.

There are so many ways to be wealth. The choice is yours.