Ralph Waldo Emerson wisely said, “It requires a great deal of boldness and a great deal of caution to make a great fortune, and when you have it, it requires ten times as much skill to keep it.” This is true for every investor. Building wealth is hard, but keeping it is even harder.

The path to success is not a straight line. It demands bold moves. Investing in markets, businesses, or new ventures often feels like a leap into the unknown. But without boldness, nothing truly great happens. You need the courage to take risks. At the same time, those risks must be calculated. This is where caution comes in.

When you’ve made your fortune, a new challenge emerges: protecting it. Wealth invites complexity. There are markets to navigate, taxes to manage, bullshitters to avoid, and risks to hedge against. This is where the skill comes in. Without the right people and strategies, wealth can vanish as quickly as it was made.

It’s not just about keeping the money safe—it’s about growing it wisely. Maintaining wealth requires discipline. You need the right team, simplicity, planning, diversification, smart asset allocation, financial literacy for the next generation, a deep understanding of compounding, and a long-term perspective.