Wealth

Quick facts

Lorenzo Delano

Delano as a small boy with his mother, a home-video still

Delano leading a training workshop around a table

Delano on a cycle ergometer wearing a CPET mask, beside the Cosmed metabolic cart

Delano directing a MasterClass film shoot, holding a clapperboard

Delano gesturing while speaking on a panel stage in Dubai

Delano standing with Dr. John Demartini and a colleague in a hotel corridor

Delano in 2025 (Dubai)

Photograph by Mardo Männimägi

Identity(See Story)

Born: Lorenzo Delano7 December 1987 (age 38)Krugersdorp, South Africa
Phenotype: Blue eyes and brown hairAverage height (176 cm)
Ancestry: Western European (Dutch)
Ethnicity: Afrikaner
Language: Afrikaans; English; Mandarin
Citizenship: South African

Professional(See Knowledge)

Occupation: Applied taxonomist
Industry: Education, health, and tech
Works: Design methodologiesPublished designs
Skills: Knowledge organizationPedagogyProduction
Education: Self-directed (since age 13)Certified coach and designerMandarin distinction
Residency: United States (since 2026)

Psychological(See Nature)

Intelligence: RIOT: Full-scale IQ 112
Worldview: Enlightenment humanist
Personality: HEXACO: Disciplined, honest, and curious
Values: PVQ: Autonomy, achievement, and universal-care
Beliefs: PWB: Good, safe, and improving
Interests: RIASEC: Investigative, artistic, and social

Personal(See Pages)

About: Every claim referenced
Lifestyle: 12 habits, all 24 hours
Health: Elite VO₂max, optimal labs
Wealth: Debt-free, top-tier credit
Network: Each seat benchmarked

Your money system, not your income, sets you free.

Wealth refers to the three jobs of a balance sheet: security (insure, then earn), efficiency (spend and settle), and growth (invest what remains). Your wealth predicts your freedom: how soon your hours are your own.

Income is negotiable; the order is not: protect, then earn, spend, invest. Each is best measured against a named benchmark per account, never a balance. To master your wealth is to run yourself as a firm of one, with free cash on rules.

Security (Protection)

What you can risk is a function of cover (bought) and earning capacity (built), the two best predictors of how long a setback lasts. Mine: capacity and possessions insured before any upside; hours and assets earning on separate lines.



I insure my capacity and possessions before chasing any upside : HSA-qualified high-deductible plan; out-of-pocket maximum held within cash reserves : Own-occupation cover replacing ~60% of income : Coverage ratio >1.0 — insured at or above replacement cost Renters: Liability-first at $300k+ with replacement-cost contents Auto: None owned — non-owner liability while carless; 250/500/100 when owned Homeowners: No purchase planned anytime soon — the benchmark waits on ownership

I cover what my life or liability could cost other people : $1M+ excess liability, layered above renters and non-owner auto cover : Coverage ratio >1.0 of obligations — term only; minimal while no dependents


Income bought with my hours: the assets it leverages do not scale : Hourly rate ($500); leverages time Professional: Consulting and design engagements Salary: Employment — none held Wage: Hourly work — none held Prizes: Performance awards : Sales margin (higher is better); leverages materials and technology Commission: Sales of others’ products Capital gains: Assets sold above basis

Income my assets earn: people, capital, and technology scale where hours cannot : Percentage share (higher is better); leverages people and technology Royalty: Intellectual property licensed out Sponsorship: Audience access sold Affiliate: Referral percentages Platform: Content, subscriptions, and ad revenue : Coverage ratio ≥2.0 — returns covering expenses twice over; leverages capital Interest: Debt instruments and cash Dividends: Equity distributions Rental: Property lease income Insurance: Policy payouts and annuities : Share of income (lower is better); leverages nothing Bonuses: Discretionary awards Grants: Institutional awards and scholarships Donations: Personal gifts Inheritance: Estate transfers

Efficiency (Leverage)

How much you keep is a function of burn (chosen) and dues (owed), the two best predictors of how fast free cash appears. Mine: living costs under a third of income, one-off costs capped, tax paid in full, free cash with three rules.



The recurring cost of running my life, held under a third of income : Gross margin >70% (income surviving the recurring burn) Home: Facilities (rent; utilities; services) and consumables (groceries; detergents; toiletries) Health: Care (fitness; beauty; therapy; childcare; eldercare; pet care) Mobility: Transit (rideshare; public transit) and vehicle (lease; fuel; charging) Finance: Insurance (health; disability; property; umbrella; life) and services (fees) Personal: Experiences (dining; entertainment; education) and goods (software subscriptions)

The lumpy costs, capped so they never set the pace : Operating margin >65% (income surviving all burn) Home: Equipment (furniture; appliances) and repairs (services) Health: Medical (out-of-pocket; diagnostics) Mobility: Vehicle (repairs) Finance: Services (professional fees) Personal: Goods (devices; clothing; toys) and experiences (travel)


Credit kept expensive to lose and cheap to use : FICO >800 (the top scoring tier) Payment history: 35% (never a missed payment) Utilization: 30% (balances under 10% of limits) Credit history: 15% (average account age, kept long) New credit: 10% (inquiries kept rare) Credit mix: 10% (revolving and installment both held) : Debt service ≤36% of gross (the lenders’ own ceiling) Housing: ≤28% of gross : Blended cost of debt <5% APR Credit cards: Paid in full monthly (0% effective) Unsecured: Personal, student, and business loans (none held) Auto loan: None preferred; <7% APR if held Mortgage: Market rate; refinanced when it pays HELOC: Revolving credit secured on home equity SBLOC: <6% APR (borrowing against the portfolio)

Paid in full, on time, and never a percent more than the law asks : Effective rate <15% (money arriving) Federal: Income (progressive); self-employment (15.3% — Social Security and Medicare) State: Income (0–13% by state; a relocation criterion) Deductions: Standard or itemized (charitable giving); QBI (pass-through income) : Effective rate <5% (money leaving) Sales: State and local, by jurisdiction Excise: Fuel, tires, and specific goods Fees: Tolls, permits, and licenses : Effective rate <2% (assets held) Property: Local rates on real estate held : Effective rate <15% (assets transferred) Capital gains: Long-term rates (0/15/20%) by holding past one year Gift: Annual exclusion per recipient; unified with the estate exemption above it Estate: Federal exemption; none owed below it

I run myself as a firm: free cash has three uses, each with a rule : Repayment margin ≥15% (principal retired first) Unsecured: Maximum pace (the highest rate, retired first) Secured: Minimum schedule (the lowest rate, held longest) : Payout margin ≤15% (the owner’s draw and the giving) : Savings margin ≥70% (the compounding engine) Investments: The standing portfolio (cash, funds, and shares) Ventures: The active positions (real and equity)

Growth (Allocation)

How far your remainder goes is a function of investments (standing) and ventures (active), the two best predictors of the horizon you can afford. Mine: three months of burn in cash, future me funded first, the market bought whole, businesses mine first.



Three months of burn in cash: enough to be calm, too little to be lazy : Current ratio ≥3.0 (cash covering obligations three times over) : Working capital (one month of expenses) : Reserve capital (two months of expenses, in high-yield savings)

Future me funded first, dreams funded on a date: both before the market gets a dollar : Contribution ratio 100% (every shell filled to its annual limit) : Employee and employer contributions (both sides maxed) : Triple-tax-advantaged (deductible in, untaxed growth, untaxed out) : Post-tax in, untaxed forever : Every dream priced, dated, and funded (the system pays its owner) : Goal-dated Treasuries, CDs, and principal-protected notes (maturing when the purchase arrives)

The market bought whole, with a small budget for opinions : Maximum allocation (a hedge against retirement shortfalls) ETFs: Broad index funds (blend, value, and growth; held for decades) : Treasuries and TIPS held as ballast (rising in the seasons equities fall) : <20% of the portfolio (tuition capped) Stocks: Individual positions (micro to mega caps)


Assets I can stand on, hold, or hand over : Pending (a piece of the earth owned) : Owner-occupied at minimum viable (a use asset, not an investment) : Income property at positive leverage (cap rate above the cost of debt) : Pending (a hedge, not a bet) Gold: Precious metals (physical or allocated) Crypto: Digital assets (an allocation, never a thesis) : Pending (the return includes the owning) Collectibles: Element specimens, antique furniture, and historical artifacts

Ownership in businesses, mine before anyone else’s : Pending (equity built to sell at a multiple) Business: An operating company held at or near 100% : Pending (others’ businesses, backed where I have edges) Venture: Early-stage equity in high-growth startups (SAFEs and priced rounds) Private equity: Stakes in mature private businesses (buyouts, GP stakes, secondaries)

References (Data)

My data derived from underwriting, banking, accounting, and analysis

Insurance: Underwriting (2026–present); coverage for claims on health, disability, property (opens in a new tab), liability (opens in a new tab), and life (opens in a new tab) • policy (multiple providers)
Banking: Source records (2026–present); recording and storing source transactions for all income, expenses, and payments categories • statements (Chase; Mercury)
Credit: Scoring (2026–present); scoring financial behavior across five dimensions to assess lending and leasing risks • score (FICO)
Accounting: General-ledger mapping (2026–present); organizing and reconciling business transactions into financial statements for lenders, the state, and owners • statements (Xero)
Performance: Analysis (2025–present); consolidating banking, credit, and accounting into personal performance statements • ledger (Google Sheets)

References (Guidelines)

The policies and standards informing my benchmarks

Credit: the five FICO factor weights — payment history 35%, utilization 30%, history 15%, new credit 10%, mix 10%. myFICO (opens in a new tab)
Load: the 28/36 qualifying ratios — housing and total debt service against gross income, the lenders’ own ceiling. CFPB (opens in a new tab)
HSA: IRS Publication 969 — the qualifying plan and the triple tax advantage behind the health shell. IRS (opens in a new tab)
Retirement: IRS Publication 560 — the solo 401(k)’s employee and employer contribution mechanics and limits. IRS (opens in a new tab)
Transfer: IRS Topic 409 — the 0/15/20% long-term capital gains schedule earned by holding past one year. IRS (opens in a new tab)

The randomized experiments informing my benchmarks

Health: Finkelstein, A., et al. (2012). The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: evidence from the first year. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127(3). Oxford (opens in a new tab)
Deductibles: Manning, W. G., et al. (1987). Health insurance and the demand for medical care: evidence from a randomized experiment. American Economic Review, 77(3). PubMed (opens in a new tab)
Cards: Prelec, D., and Simester, D. (2001). Always leave home without it: a further investigation of the credit-card effect on willingness to pay. Marketing Letters, 12(1). DOI (opens in a new tab)

The natural and quasi-experiments informing my benchmarks

Property: Billings, S. B., Gallagher, E. A., and Ricketts, L. (2022). Let the rich be flooded: the distribution of financial aid and distress after Hurricane Harvey. Journal of Financial Economics, 146(2). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Windfalls: Holtz-Eakin, D., Joulfaian, D., and Rosen, H. S. (1993). The Carnegie conjecture: some empirical evidence. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108(2). Oxford (opens in a new tab)
Subscriptions: Einav, L., Klopack, B., and Mahoney, N. (2025). Selling subscriptions. American Economic Review, 115(5). AEA (opens in a new tab)
Scores: Dobbie, W., et al. (2020). Bad credit, no problem? Credit and labor market consequences of bad credit reports. Journal of Finance, 75(5). NBER (opens in a new tab)
Leverage: Mian, A., and Sufi, A. (2011). House prices, home equity-based borrowing, and the US household leverage crisis. American Economic Review, 101(5). AEA (opens in a new tab)
Tax: Benzarti, Y. (2020). How taxing is tax filing? Using revealed preferences to estimate compliance costs. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 12(4). AEA (opens in a new tab)
Contributions: Chetty, R., et al. (2014). Active vs. passive decisions and crowd-out in retirement savings accounts: evidence from Denmark. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(3). Oxford (opens in a new tab)
Access: Kalda, A., et al. (2021). Smart(phone) investing? A within investor-time analysis of new technologies and trading behavior. NBER Working Paper, 28363. NBER (opens in a new tab)
Gambling: Baker, S. R., et al. (2026). Gambling away stability: sports betting’s impact on vulnerable households. Journal of Financial Economics, 183. DOI (opens in a new tab)

The administrative and historical records informing my benchmarks

Cash: Dimson, E., Marsh, P., and Staunton, M. (2002). Triumph of the Optimists: 101 Years of Global Investment Returns. Princeton University Press. Princeton (opens in a new tab)
Liquidity: Farrell, D., Greig, F., and Yu, C. (2019). Weathering volatility 2.0: a monthly stress test to guide savings. JPMorgan Chase Institute. JPMC (opens in a new tab)
Indexing: Fama, E. F., and French, K. R. (2010). Luck versus skill in the cross-section of mutual fund returns. Journal of Finance, 65(5). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Hedge: Bessembinder, H. (2018). Do stocks outperform Treasury bills? Journal of Financial Economics, 129(3). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Trading: Barber, B. M., and Odean, T. (2000). Trading is hazardous to your wealth: the common stock investment performance of individual investors. Journal of Finance, 55(2). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Attention: Barber, B. M., et al. (2022). Attention-induced trading and returns: evidence from Robinhood users. Journal of Finance, 77(6). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Space: Jordà, Ò., et al. (2019). The rate of return on everything, 1870–2015. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 134(3). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Gold: Erb, C. B., and Harvey, C. R. (2013). The golden dilemma. Financial Analysts Journal, 69(4). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Crypto: Auer, R., et al. (2022). Crypto trading and Bitcoin prices: evidence from a new database of retail adoption. BIS Working Papers, 1049. BIS (opens in a new tab)
Collectibles: Dimson, E., and Spaenjers, C. (2011). Ex post: the investment performance of collectible stamps. Journal of Financial Economics, 100(2). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Exits: Hall, R. E., and Woodward, S. E. (2010). The burden of the nondiversifiable risk of entrepreneurship. American Economic Review, 100(3). AEA (opens in a new tab)
Private equity: Kaplan, S. N., and Schoar, A. (2005). Private equity performance: returns, persistence, and capital flows. Journal of Finance, 60(4). DOI (opens in a new tab)

The panels, cohorts, and surveys informing my benchmarks

Disability: Meyer, B. D., and Mok, W. K. C. (2019). Disability, earnings, income and consumption. Journal of Public Economics, 171. NBER (opens in a new tab)
Life: Bernheim, B. D., et al. (2003). The mismatch between life insurance holdings and financial vulnerabilities. American Economic Review, 93(1). AEA (opens in a new tab)
Self-employment: Hamilton, B. H. (2000). Does entrepreneurship pay? An empirical analysis of the returns to self-employment. Journal of Political Economy, 108(3). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Independence: Benz, M., and Frey, B. S. (2008). Being independent is a great thing: subjective evaluations of self-employment and hierarchy. Economica, 75(298). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Enterprise: Moskowitz, T. J., and Vissing-Jørgensen, A. (2002). The returns to entrepreneurial investment: a private equity premium puzzle? American Economic Review, 92(4). AEA (opens in a new tab)
Forecasting: Tetlock, P. E. (2005). Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? Princeton University Press. Princeton (opens in a new tab)

The theory and simulation informing my benchmarks

Diversification: Markowitz, H. (1952). Portfolio selection. Journal of Finance, 7(1). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Education: Evans, J. L., and Archer, S. H. (1968). Diversification and the reduction of dispersion: an empirical analysis. Journal of Finance, 23(5), the ten-stock answer; Statman, M. (1987), Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 22(3), argues thirty or more. DOI (opens in a new tab)

The industry figures informing my benchmarks

Incidence: Council for Disability Awareness — the roughly one-in-four odds of disability before retirement that put own-occupation cover ahead of life cover. CDA (opens in a new tab)