Becoming Rich Beyond Money: Four Ways to Leverage Wealth for a Fuller Life

For many entrepreneurs, financial success is the ultimate goal. But what happens after you reach it? According to Noah Rosenfarb — entrepreneur, investor, wealth strategist, and EO South Florida member — the answer lies not in accumulating more money, but in using that financial freedom to create a life rich with purpose, experiences, and impact.

Speaking during a recent EO DealExchange webinar moderated by EO Nebraska member Joseph Frost, Noah outlined his framework for becoming “rich beyond money.” With decades of experience as an entrepreneur and investor, including multiple exits and more than $1 billion in real estate deals, he has lived the journey from wealth accumulation to building a life filled with meaning.

Noah Rosenfarb (EO South Florida)

1. Put Your Money to Work

The foundation of freedom is financial security. Noah encourages entrepreneurs to approach wealth planning with the same rigor they bring to their businesses: strategy, testing, and expert advice.

“Leverage technology to develop your plan for how you are going to get from where you are now to where you want to be,” Noah explains. That includes experimenting with passive income streams before exiting a business and working with a tax strategist to preserve wealth over time.

He urges entrepreneurs to aim for at least 20 percent of their desired passive income before selling their company, so they can test which models — real estate, private credit, angel investing, or something else — align best with their goals.

 

Creating Wealth Beyond Money 

Put your money to work: Approach wealth planning with the same rigor you bring to your business: strategy, testing, and expert advice.

Buy back your time: Rethink how you spend your days and reclaim time for what matters most.

Invest in relationships: Facilitate regular family gatherings and trips.

Give back: Whether it is philanthropy or mentorship, find a way to give back.

2. Buy Back Your Time

Once financial freedom is established, the most valuable thing money can buy is time. Noah challenges entrepreneurs to rethink how they spend their days and reclaim time for what matters most.

He also recommends practical exercises, like the “lottery ticket test.” Imagine you won the lottery tomorrow: What would you start doing, stop doing, or do more of? Noah has repeated this exercise annually for 20 years and found that most of the changes he envisioned did not actually require lottery winnings, just courage and intentional planning.

For him, that intentionality has meant structuring summers away from work and, most recently, planning a trip around the world with his family while homeschooling his daughter. “I could definitely make more money staying home and grinding,” he says, “but I want to have more fun.”

3. Invest in Relationships and Experiences

Beyond money and time, Noah emphasizes investing in relationships and creating memorable experiences. He has even facilitated family retreats with outside experts to strengthen his family’s bonds. “They have been very valuable,” he said. “We have developed our family mission, vision and values.”

He also speaks openly about creating traditions, like sponsoring family reunions: “You fly, we buy,” he tells his loved ones. These gatherings, he notes, ensure that his wealth translates into connection and bonding rather than just financial inheritance.

The same principle applies outside the family: Schedule the experiences you want. “If you had all the time and money in the world, how would you spend it?” he asks. “What does your perfect week look like? Who are the people you want to spend time with? What are the things you want to be doing, and then what are the experiences you want to have, and how do you start scheduling those experiences on your calendar?”

4. Give Back

For Noah, the ultimate return on wealth is purpose. Philanthropy remains an important piece of his framework: Noah and his family have chosen to focus their giving on education, food security, and Jewish causes, and he encourages others to take a structured approach, perhaps by finding a philanthropic mentor and deciding as a family what causes matter most. Plus, he notes, donating time and expertise to a new generation of entrepreneurs can be just as rewarding.

“Sharing your experiences with others is one of the greatest ways to find meaning in your life,” he said. “In EO, we have so many opportunities to do that through mentoring and through coaching and advising. We can also participate in GSEA, where we have younger students who are building businesses. We have mentorship programs. We have Accelerator. So, getting involved in EO and sharing your experience is a great way to create meaning.”