Let’s be honest, when we hear “building an endless fortune,” our minds often jump to images of Silicon Valley IPOs, crypto moonshots, or getting impossibly lucky. But what if I told you the most powerful wealth-creation strategy I’ve ever encountered has nothing to do with a hot stock tip and everything to do with a principle I learned from a video game? Stick with me here. I’m a solo player in life and in games, dedicated to not spending a dime beyond the initial purchase. I love the fantasy-sports mode in games like NBA 2K, where you build a custom team from legends across eras—it’s fundamentally interesting, a pure test of strategy and knowledge. In NBA 2K26, creating intergender squads has been a blast, giving the whole game a fun, fresh look. I can grind, make smart trades, and build a team I’m proud of. The fun, however, hits a wall the moment I go online. Suddenly, my carefully crafted team is squashed by players who have simply paid their way to the top with microtransactions. Their advantage isn’t earned through skill or time; it’s bought. And that’s when I realized the virtual economy of MyTeam is a perfect, if cynical, metaphor for a broken approach to wealth: seeking a quick, paid shortcut to the top. Sustainable wealth isn’t about that. It’s about building your own game, on your own terms, where the rules reward patience and strategy, not just the size of your wallet. So, how do we build a real, endless fortune? Forget get-rich-quick schemes. Here’s a five-step guide drawn from much harder lessons than any game could teach.

The first step is the most boring and the most important: redefine what “fortune” means to you. Is it a specific number in your bank account, or is it the freedom that number provides? For me, it’s the latter—the freedom to choose how I spend my time, like enjoying a game without feeling pressured to pay to compete. This clarity is your compass. Without it, you’re just running on a treadmill, chasing someone else’s idea of success. I aim for what I call “enough-plus.” “Enough” covers my needs, a safety net, and my core comforts. The “plus” is for growth, generosity, and whimsy. This target isn’t a static number; it’s a feeling of security and possibility. Once you have this vision, every financial decision becomes easier. Does this purchase or investment move me toward my “enough-plus,” or is it a microtransaction in my real life, giving me a short-term boost but undermining my long-term strategy?

Next, you have to build your foundation, and that means mastering cash flow. Income minus expenses. It sounds childish, but most people are leaking money without realizing it. I track my spending not down to the last penny, but I know, for instance, that my recurring subscriptions—streaming services, software, that gym membership I barely use—add up to about $150 a month. That’s $1,800 a year! Automating your finances is the secret weapon here. The day I get paid, a set percentage—let’s say 20%—is automatically whisked away into investment and savings accounts. Another 50% covers fixed costs. The remaining 30% is for living and fun. This system runs in the background, like a good AI teammate in a game, handling the fundamentals so I can focus on the strategy. You’re paying your future self first, before you can even think about spending on today’s distractions.

Now, with a surplus being created automatically, we get to the engine of wealth: investing. This is where people panic, thinking they need to pick the next Tesla or time the market. Don’t. Think of yourself as the commissioner of your own financial league. You’re not picking individual star players who might get injured (or, you know, tweet their company into oblivion). You’re buying the entire league. For 90% of people, including me, this means low-cost, broad-market index funds. Something like an S&P 500 index fund has returned an average of about 10% annually over very long periods. I put my automated contributions there, consistently, every month, regardless of whether the market is up or down. This is the anti-microtransaction. You’re not paying for a shortcut; you’re paying for ownership in thousands of companies, and you’re letting compound interest—what Einstein supposedly called the eighth wonder of the world—do the grinding for you. Time is your greatest teammate here. Starting early is the ultimate advantage. If you invest $500 a month starting at age 25, assuming a 7% annual return, you’d have over $1.2 million by 65. Start at 35, and you’d have roughly half that. That decade is worth about $600,000. Let that sink in.

The fourth step is often ignored: protect what you’re building. An endless fortune isn’t endless if one disaster can wipe it out. This is the defensive playbook. It means having an emergency fund with 3-6 months of expenses in a boring, accessible savings account. It means appropriate insurance—health, disability, renters or homeowners. It’s not sexy. It doesn’t generate returns. But it’s the force field that keeps your long-term game from ending prematurely. I think of it like this: in that basketball game, if my star player gets injured, I need a deep bench. In life, my emergency fund and insurance are my deep bench. They allow me to take calculated risks in my career or investments without fearing total ruin from a single bad break.

Finally, step five is about continuous learning and adaptation. The rules of the money game change. Tax laws shift, new investment vehicles emerge, your own life circumstances evolve. I spend maybe an hour a week reading about personal finance, not to chase trends, but to understand the landscape. This isn’t about becoming a day trader; it’s about being a literate and informed team owner. Furthermore, true wealth creation often ties directly to increasing your earned income. Investing in your skills, negotiating your salary, or building a side hustle can turbocharge steps two and three. My own journey involved a career pivot that took two years of night classes—a huge investment of time and money upfront that multiplied my earning potential later. It was the ultimate long-term play.

So, there you have it. Building an endless fortune isn’t about beating the pay-to-win players at their own game. It’s about refusing to play that game altogether. It’s about defining your own win condition, automating your fundamentals, investing in the whole market with relentless consistency, protecting your gains, and never stopping your financial education. It’s slower. It’s less flashy than hitting a lucky stock or winning a jackpot. But just like the satisfaction I get from building a winning MyTeam squad through smart management alone, the satisfaction of building a secure financial life through your own discipline and strategy is profound. It’s a quiet confidence that no market dip or online opponent with a credit card can ever take away. That’s the real endless fortune: not just the money, but the freedom and peace of mind that comes with knowing you built it yourself, one smart, steady play at a time.