How to Master Card Tongits and Win Every Game You Play
Let’s be honest: the idea of building an “endless fortune” sounds like a fantasy, something reserved for tech billionaires or lucky heirs. But what if I told you that the principles for creating lasting wealth aren’t about secret formulas or getting wildly lucky? They’re more like building a great sports franchise—a long-term strategy that requires patience, smart team-building, and, crucially, avoiding the traps that promise quick wins but drain your resources over time. I was thinking about this recently while playing NBA 2K26, of all things. There’s a mode called MyTeam where you build a custom squad from players across eras and, now, even different leagues. The core idea is fundamentally interesting and fun, a fantastic strategic sandbox. But here’s the catch: long ago, games like this adopted mobile-style microtransactions, and it completely changes the nature of the game. As a solo player dedicated to not spending a dime beyond the initial purchase, I can have a blast crafting my team, especially with the new intergender squads adding a fresh dynamic. The moment I take my team online, however, the fantasy crumbles. I’m instantly matched against opponents who have essentially paid their way to the top, assembling unbeatable rosters not through savvy management or time investment, but through their credit card. That experience is a perfect metaphor for what lasting wealth is not. It’s not about “paying to win” in the real world, because that game is rigged and exhausting. True, endless fortune is built on foundations that can’t be bought. It’s built on strategies that compound over decades, not days.
So, what are these strategies? The first, and non-negotiable, is to master the psychology of spending versus investing. This is the solo-player mindset. In the game, it’s the discipline to enjoy building your team with the cards you earn, not the ones you buy. In finance, it’s the conscious decision to direct capital toward assets that generate more capital, rather than toward liabilities that depreciate. I make it a rule to automatically invest 20% of every paycheck before it even hits my checking account. This isn’t a vague goal; it’s a system. Over the past 15 years, this simple automation, boring as it is, has done more for my net worth than any single stock pick. It’s the anti-microtransaction. You’re not paying for a temporary boost; you’re buying future freedom. The second strategy is diversification, but not in the bland way it’s often discussed. It’s about building your portfolio like a championship team from different eras. You need your reliable veterans—broad market index funds, which might be your 1990s Michael Jordan, steady and proven. But you also need some rookies with high potential—this could be a small, calculated allocation to assets like cryptocurrency or sector-specific ETFs, which are like adding a thrilling new prospect to your lineup. The key is that no single player, or investment, should be able to sink your entire season. My own portfolio breakdown is roughly 60% in broad-based ETFs, 30% in individual blue-chip stocks I believe in for the long haul, and a speculative 10% in alternative assets. This mix has allowed me to weather downturns without panic, because the core of the team is always solid.
The third strategy is all about income streams. Relying on a single salary is like having a one-star team; if they get injured, the game is over. Lasting wealth comes from multiple channels. For me, this started with a side hustle in freelance writing over a decade ago, which now accounts for about 25% of my annual income. It then evolved into dividend stocks, which pay me quarterly just for owning them, and some modest rental income from a property I purchased in 2018. The goal is to build an “intergender squad” of revenue—different sources that perform well under different economic conditions. When the market is down, maybe the rental income is steady. When my industry contracts, the dividends keep flowing. This isn’t about working 100-hour weeks; it’s about structuring your assets to work for you. The fourth strategy is continuous learning and adaptation. The financial landscape changes faster than sports video game rosters. Tax laws shift, new investment vehicles emerge, and global events reshape markets. I dedicate at least five hours a month to reading financial reports, listening to analyst podcasts, and reviewing my strategy. This isn’t about chasing hot tips; it’s about understanding the fundamental rules of the game so you can adjust your playbook. I learned about Roth IRA conversions in a deep-dive article years ago and executed one that saved me an estimated $40,000 in future taxes. That knowledge was worth more than any lucky trade.
Finally, and this is the most personal one, is defining what “fortune” means to you. For a long time, I chased a number I thought represented success. But observing the hollow “victory” of those pay-to-win players online clarified something: wealth without purpose or time to enjoy it is just a high score on a screen nobody else cares about. My fifth strategy is to build wealth for something. For me, it’s financial independence by age 55, the ability to fund my nieces’ educations, and the security to take career risks. This vision is what makes the disciplined, sometimes boring, work of strategies one through four meaningful. It turns saving from deprivation into empowerment. It’s the difference between grinding in a game mode you hate just to have the best team, and playing a mode you genuinely love, slowly building something you’re proud of, regardless of who you face online. The players who paid for their teams might have a higher win percentage tonight, but I’m playing a completely different, and much longer, game.
In the end, building an endless fortune isn’t about a dramatic, one-time windfall. It’s the opposite. It’s the quiet, consistent application of these five strategies: spending mindfully, diversifying intelligently, cultivating multiple income streams, committing to lifelong learning, and anchoring it all to a personal purpose. It’s about opting out of the “pay-to-win” economy that surrounds us, in games and in life, and choosing instead to play the long game. The rewards of that game aren’t just a number in a brokerage account. They are patience, resilience, and ultimately, a profound sense of control over your own time and destiny. That’s a fortune no microtransaction can ever purchase.