My parents have a 3rd grade education from Vietnam. They’ve lived in America for over 30 years and still can’t hold a 2-minute conversation in English. And yet—they raised three kids who all became financially independent in their 30s and 40s. No financial literacy. No generational wealth. No handouts. Just grit, perspective, and an unshakable work ethic. My brother and sister came to the U.S. at 14 and 15 years old. They became casino dealers earning $60-80k/year in Las Vegas. They built their first million by their 40s. I’m the only one who was fully raised here. American schools. American culture. College degree. I hit my first million in my early 30s. So how the hell did we all get here? Truthfully, money wasn’t the inheritance. Philosophy was. Here’s the real wealth we were handed down:
(1) Obstacle is the Way
In our home, struggle wasn’t a punishment. It was the path. It’s a belief rooted deep in Chinese and Buddhist values—very much aligned with Stoicism. Suffering wasn’t something to run from. It was something to honor, to face, to learn from. Stress, anxiety, failure—those were signals that you were growing. The lesson was simple: life gets hard. And when it does, you don’t shrink. You rise. We didn’t have therapists. We had resilience. We didn’t have affirmations. We had grit.
(2) Victimhood Keeps You Small
My parents raised three kids on minimum wage in a foreign land—and never once applied for government assistance. Not because they didn’t qualify. Because they didn’t believe in waiting for someone to save them. “Others have it worse than us,” my mom would say. “They need the help more.” That mindset was our inheritance. Not “who can give us more”—but how do we give more of ourselves.
(3) Money Doesn’t Make You Rich
When we arrived in America, 20 of us lived in one small house. A four-bedroom home where five people shared a room. And still—my mom would say, “We are the lucky ones.” She wasn’t being delusional. She was practicing radical perspective. In Vietnam, people didn’t have food. They didn’t have beds. Here, we had a shot. We weren’t handed the American Dream—but we were given a chance to pursue it. And that, in her eyes, was wealth.
(4) Hard Work Isn’t Optional—It’s the Standard
There was no glorification of rest. No self-care Sundays. No waiting to feel “motivated.” You work tired. You work scared. You work confused. You just fcking work. Because survival doesn’t care how you feel. Survival cares about what you do. And what you do every day builds the life you want.
(5) Entitlement is the Enemy
My parents never expected anyone to make life easier for them. Not America. Not their boss. Not their kids. They taught us this truth: If you want something, earn it. If you lose it, rebuild it. Nobody owes you shit. Nobody cares about you. Nobody wants you to win. It’s You against You - every. single. day.
(6) Wealth is a Mindset Before it’s a Number
We didn’t grow up with money. But we grew up with the mindset that we were never stuck. That no matter where we started, we had everything we needed to create something better. That mindset—that refusal to stay small—is what built the millions.
I didn’t get here because I was the smartest or the most talented. I got here because I was raised by immigrants who believed one thing: You don’t need a perfect plan. You need a backbone. And a reason to never stop. I’ll leave you with this:
I’m not a self-made millionaire.
I’m the product of an immigrant philosophy that said: You may not have much, but if you have your mind, your hands, and your will— you have everything you need to build the life you want. Unconventionally Yours, Sam