Sometimes the best financial advice isn’t new. It’s just forgotten.
In Episode 714 of the Earn & Invest podcast, I sat down with historian Joseph S. Moore, author of How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked—and Didn’t. His premise is simple but fascinating: What if we looked at three centuries of financial advice and asked a very basic question—what actually worked?
Moore didn’t set out to become a financial historian. Like many of us, he stumbled into it after a financial scare.
In 2005 he bought a townhouse using what was then called a “NINJA loan”—no income, no job, no assets. If you remember the era leading up to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, these loans were everywhere.
By 2008 he realized he might be in serious trouble. At the urging of a church financial class he reluctantly attended, he took a hard look at his finances and decided to sell the house. The timing turned out to be almost miraculous. He sold just before the housing market collapsed.
That close call sparked a question that eventually became a decade-long research project:
What financial advice has Americans followed throughout history, and did any of it actually work?
Moore started digging through centuries of advice manuals, pamphlets, and books aimed not at elites but at everyday people trying to get ahead.
Then he did something unusual.
He tried the advice himself.
Over time, applying many of these strategies, he ended up building a net worth of more than a million dollars. But the most interesting discoveries weren’t about specific tactics. They were about mindset, opportunity, and how we misunderstand wealth.
The underrated power of optimism
One of Moore’s most surprising findings is that optimism might be one of the most important financial traits—and one of the most undervalued.
If you listen to modern media, it often feels like the economic sky is falling. There’s what Moore calls a kind of “despair industrial complex” that profits by convincing us that upward mobility is gone and the American Dream is dead.
History tells a more complicated story.
Moore pointed out that poverty rates in the United States have fallen dramatically over time. But the more interesting finding came from research by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In a study of about 15,000 families, one of the strongest predictors of financial success wasn’t inheritance or education.
It was an internal locus of control: the belief that your actions actually matter.
In other words, believing that you can influence your financial future may be half the battle.
This insight also reshapes how Moore thinks about financial “gurus.” While academics often emphasize complex mathematical models, many popular financial personalities do something different.
They sell hope.
And hope—if it motivates people to take action—can be powerful.
House hacking isn’t new
Another fascinating discovery is how many “modern” financial strategies are actually centuries old.
Take house hacking.
Today people talk about renting out spare rooms or running Airbnbs as if it’s a new innovation. But historically, taking in boarders was one of the primary ways working-class families paid off their homes.
In cities like Chicago, families routinely rented out extra bedrooms. Sometimes every bedroom.
And the people managing these arrangements were often women.
In fact, Moore’s research highlights something rarely acknowledged in financial history: women were major contributors to household wealth. They sold butter, eggs, and other goods, ran boarding arrangements, and generated income that rarely showed up in official statistics.
Much of early American wealth-building happened quietly inside the household economy.
The forgotten strategy of mobility
Another historical pattern surprised me: Americans used to move a lot.
In the 1800s, roughly one in three Americans changed addresses every year. People chased opportunity wherever it appeared.
Today, despite transportation and communication being easier than ever, we are far less mobile.
Moore argues that this reduced mobility might be one reason many people struggle financially. Historically, if your skills were more valuable somewhere else, the solution was simple:
You packed up and went.
Opportunity often required movement.
Slow time and fast time
One of my favorite ideas from the conversation was Moore’s concept of slow time versus fast time.
Most of life happens in slow time.
These are the long stretches when nothing dramatic seems to be happening economically. During slow time you prepare—building skills, relationships, and capital.
Then occasionally fast time arrives. A market boom. A recession. A major technological shift.
If you’re prepared, fast time becomes opportunity.
Moore shared the story of Norman McGee, who spent the 1920s studying banking while facing the limitations of Jim Crow America. When the stock market crashed in 1929, McGee used his knowledge to buy distressed properties and eventually became one of the first Black stockbrokers in the country.
Fast time rewards the prepared.
Concentration versus diversification
Modern financial advice often emphasizes diversification.
Moore agrees diversification is important—but mainly for protecting wealth.
Historically, people who built large fortunes usually did so through concentration.
Think about entrepreneurs, inventors, or professionals who became exceptionally skilled in a single domain. As Andrew Carnegie famously advised:
“Put all your eggs in one basket—and then watch that basket.”
The point isn’t reckless risk. It’s focus.
Wealth often comes from developing extraordinary skill or ownership in one area, not spreading energy across dozens of pursuits.
The myth of effortless compound returns
Moore also challenges a few modern assumptions about investing.
Today we take index funds and low-cost diversification for granted. But for most of American history, building a diversified portfolio was incredibly expensive. High minimum investments and trading fees made it difficult for ordinary investors to participate.
This raises an uncomfortable reality: the famous 4% rule and assumptions about consistent long-term market returns may not be as historically universal as we think.
In fact, Moore cited research suggesting that saving just 10% of income historically would have failed to fund retirement in many scenarios. A much higher savings rate—closer to 40%—was often required for certainty.
The takeaway isn’t pessimism.
It’s humility about the models we rely on.
Passion doesn’t always come first
After the interview, I reflected on Moore’s emphasis on concentration.
Many people know me as the “purpose guy.” I spend a lot of time thinking about meaning, fulfillment, and living intentionally.
But that doesn’t mean purpose has to arrive immediately.
For someone in their early twenties, the most important step may simply be finding work they’re good at and that pays reasonably well.
Passion often develops later.
You can explore interests during evenings and weekends while building financial stability. Over time, that stability creates freedom.
And freedom gives you something incredibly powerful:
Agency.
Agency to pivot.
Agency to experiment.
Agency to align your work with your deeper purpose.
Financial independence isn’t the finish line.
It’s the moment when life becomes more flexible—and possibility opens up.