The Long View

Nick Maggiulli: Climbing the Wealth Ladder

August 11, 2026·54 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Today on the podcast we welcome back Nick Maggiulli. He’s the author of a new book called The Wealth Ladder: Proven Strategies for Every Step of Your Financial Life. His first book was called Just Keep Buying. In addition, Nick writes a wonderful blog called Of Dollars and Data, which is focused on the intersection between data and personal finance. In his day job, Nick is the Chief Operating Officer and Data Scientist at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University. Episode Highlights 00:00:00 Writing The Wealth Ladder 00:05:30 The Six Levels of the Wealth Ladder 00:09:52 How Wealth Changes Across Net-Worth Levels 00:16:16 Why People Rarely Fall Down the Wealth Ladder 00:21:00 Spending Rules and the 0.01% Rule 00:29:25 Career Choices, Income, and Opportunity Costs 00:37:42 Investment Risks and Ascending the Wealth Ladder 00:44:29 Money, Happiness, and Life Beyond Wealth More From Morningstar Jim O’Shaughnessy: Investing Lessons From a Lifelong Learner Dan Haylett: ‘The Retirement You Didn’t See Coming’ David Bach: ‘Start Enjoying Your Life Sooner’ If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com. Follow Christine Benz (@christine_benz) and Ben Johnson (@MstarBenJohnson) on X, and Christine Benz, Amy Arnott, and Ben Johnson on LinkedIn. Visit Morningstar.com for new research and insights from Christine, Ben, and Amy. Subscribe to Christine’s weekly newsletter, Improving Your Finances. If you want more Morningstar podcasts, check out The Morning Filter and Investing Insights. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Podzilla Summary coming soon

Sign up to get notified when the full AI-powered summary is ready.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.

Listen to This Episode

Get summaries like this every morning.

Free AI-powered recaps of The Long View and your other favorite podcasts, delivered to your inbox.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.