You Think You Can Afford Netflix? This Wealth Expert Says Check Your Investment Portfolio
October 28, 2025
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Financial content creator Andrei Jikh just dropped a financial reality check that’s making waves across social media: that $13 monthly subscription you barely think about? You can’t actually afford it unless you have $3,900 invested and earning passive income.
In a recent appearance on the “Iced Coffee Hour” podcast with hosts Graham Stephan and Jack Selby, Jikh laid out a controversial framework for understanding what it truly means to “afford” something—and it’s radically different from how most people think about money.
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Most people measure purchases in hours worked. A $100 purchase costs five hours of your life if you make $20 per hour. Simple math. But according to Jikh, that’s the wrong way to think about recurring costs.
“The dividend investing mindset measures cost in terms of how much money needs to be invested for that thing to passively exist in your life,” Jikh said on the podcast. He uses the 4% rule as his standard—meaning you need enough money invested in the market at a 4% yield to cover an item’s recurring cost.
The math is startling. That $13 monthly subscription – $156 per year – requires $3,900 invested to truly be “affordable” under this framework. Don’t have that investment? “You cannot afford that,” Jikh said.
While building a massive investment portfolio is the eventual goal, Jikh said something that might surprise wealth-building enthusiasts: “The quickest way to financial freedom is not necessarily building a bigger portfolio, but literally by removing those recurring costs.”
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This approach is “way easier to do” than trying to reach the invested capital required by the 4% rule, according to Jikh. Eliminating a significant recurring cost like a car payment can be equivalent to saving $100,000 for retirement in terms of financial impact.
Once passive income streams start covering expenses—whether from dividends or other sources—items begin to feel “free.” Jikh described this as the “stacked freedom effect,” where suddenly your phone bill feels free, then car insurance, eventually even a mortgage payment.
Perhaps Jikh’s most profound insight challenges the entire consumption economy: “Not wanting something is just as good as having it,” he said.
He shared a mental trick that wealthy individuals use. “Simply having the ability to buy a desired item is often as good as owning it,” he said. The choice becomes whether to save and acquire the ability to buy, or to simply want fewer things.
“The relief felt when buying an item often comes from the peacefulness that results from not wanting it anymore, not from the actual act of owning the thing,” Jikh said on the podcast.
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This “mastery of delayed gratification” extends beyond saving money—it’s a fundamental shift in how you perceive desire and ownership. Wealthy individuals “project into the future, seeing an older version of themselves grateful that their younger self saved and invested, rather than buying items for immediate pleasure,” according to Jikh.
Jikh didn’t hold back when discussing systemic forces keeping people trapped: the school system teaches people to “work and follow in line,” the American dream narrative leads to crippling student loan and mortgage debt, and once burdened with these obligations, people become “stuck,” unable to risk starting a business or significantly boosting income.
“To achieve the level of wealth of the 1%, one must do like what the 99% don’t want to do,” Jikh said on the podcast, advocating for counter-intuitive behaviors like skipping restaurants, aggressively saving, or commuting by bicycle instead of owning a car.
The message is clear: financial freedom requires redefining both affordability and desire—and most people aren’t ready for either conversation.
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This article You Think You Can Afford Netflix? This Wealth Expert Says Check Your Investment Portfolio First originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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