Charlie Munger didn’t believe in shortcuts, but he did believe in thresholds. And if you ever asked how to get rich, he had a number ready: $100,000. Hit that, he said, and you’ll have the drive to keep going. Fail to hit it and you’ll be spinning your wheels forever.
Munger, who died in 2023 just weeks shy of his 100th birthday, was best known as Warren Buffett’s brilliant right-hand man — but he built a billion-dollar fortune by focusing on what worked and ignoring what didn’t.
One piece of wisdom that resonates with investors is his point of building wealth. In the late 1990s, during a shareholder meeting, Munger said, “The first $100,000 is crazy, but you have to do it.”
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This statement highlights the initial hurdle many face in accumulating savings. Munger’s transparency highlights the challenge of reaching the first $100,000.
“I don’t care what you have to do,” he said. “If it means going everywhere and not eating anything that wasn’t bought with a coupon, find a way to get your hands on $100,000.”
The reason behind Munger’s focus on that initial amount? The power to combine. Once you have this foundation, the path to greater wealth becomes smoother. With compounding returns, $100,000 can grow significantly over time, providing a solid foundation for long-term financial goals.
“After that, you can get off the gas a little bit,” he said.
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Munger made this statement in the mid-1990s, and adjusted for inflation, $100,000 at the time is roughly equivalent to about $200,000 in 2025, based on US Consumer Price Index data. The number itself has changed over time, but the idea behind it has not. The first significant fund of capital is still the most difficult to assemble, and everything that follows depends on clearing this initial hurdle.
That belief stayed with Munger to the end of his life. In 2023, during one of his last full-length interviews discussed on the “Acquired” podcast, he summed up the outcome of that early move in one line: “You only have to get rich once.” The remark echoed a theme he’s returned to repeatedly over the decades — build a sustainable financial foundation once, and the rest of your decisions become less constrained.
This perspective also helps explain why Munger’s career didn’t start with stocks. Before becoming Buffett’s longtime partner at Berkshire Hathaway, Munger was a real estate attorney. He understood early on how ownership, cash flow and patience can work together over long periods of time. Real estate was not an afterthought in his thinking. It was fundamental.
For people trying to apply that lesson today, real estate remains one of the most common ways to build toward that first six-figure milestone. Rental income, equity growth and long tenures can create a boost that salaries alone often struggle to provide. While not everyone can buy an entire property, access to real estate no longer requires this level of capital.
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Platforms like Arrived provide an example. Arrived allows investors to buy fractional shares of rental homes, giving them exposure to rental income and property appreciation without owning or managing a full property themselves. The best part? All you need is $100 to get started.
For people working for their first $100,000 or its inflation-adjusted equivalent, constant real estate income can complement traditional savings and investment strategies.
Munger never claimed the process was easy. He claimed it was worth it. The discipline required to build that first base—whether through work, savings, investments, or real estate—is the same discipline that keeps wealth intact later on. Once that base is in place, the combination has room to operate, and the pressure to constantly shuffle begins to fade.
A financial advisor can help translate these principles into a plan that fits real life, weighing income, risk tolerance, time horizon, and how assets like stocks and real estate should work together. The goal is not to replicate Munger’s fortune. It’s to apply the logic to it: get to a solid base once and let time do the rest.
Some elements of this story were previously reported by Benzinga and have been updated.
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This article Charlie Munger Said, ‘Find a way to get your hands on $100,000,’ even if it means going all over the place – The Magic Number If You Want to Be Rich originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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