You’ve heard of comparing apples to oranges, but have you ever compared apples to broccoli? When a farmer harvests apples from an orchard, the crop grows back year after year without having to replant the trees. However, crops like broccoli must be replanted in the garden every year.

Similarly, the key to building generational wealth is to plant an orchard, not a garden. Most people live off of money they earn from a job. Their income is directly proportional to the time they work. Once they spend the money, they have to work again. This is why so many people are stuck in the rat race. They depend on their 9-5 to support their families, yet they don’t feel like they’re building anything of substance. On the other hand, investors make their money work for them. Their passive income far outpaces their time investment. 

From One Tree to an Orchard 

Each passive income stream is like an apple tree. You don’t have to cut down, or sell, the tree in order to get paid. Real estate is a great example of an apple tree investment. The investor can rent out their property, collect rent payments from the tenant, and still maintain ownership of the property. Meanwhile, the amount of work they devote to “working” with their investment is extremely minimal. 

After you have your first apple tree, the next step is to continue investing until you have enough apple trees to cover your family’s cost of living. However, you don’t stop there.

The goal of wealth building is to have an orchard. Generational wealth is built by creating multiple forms of passive income until you have enough to:

• Cover your expenses
• Leave a legacy for your family
• Give everything above and beyond your family’s target living allowance AWAY to Kingdom-minded causes. 

Growing your orchard is all about maximizing your ability to be generous and make a difference. With that, here’s how you can grow an orchard and build generational wealth. 

1. Plant the Seeds

Every orchard starts from the smallest of seeds. The first step is to invest in yourself. If you’ve already gained knowledge, gotten out of debt, and saved for an emergency fund, you’re ready to start investing with some gusto. Opening a Roth IRA and purchasing a personal home are great first steps. Interest grows in Roth IRAs tax-free, which means you get to keep more money upon withdrawal. If you’ve already made those moves, any of these six forms of passive income can be a great way for you to plant your first tree.

2. Be Patient for Growth 

Everybody has a story when it comes to money. Some people grew up rich, others grew up poor. Some grew up in families who gave tithes and offerings, others did not. Some people were raised in a financially literate household, and for others, consumer debt was commonplace. We all have different battles to break through when it comes to money. Whether you know it or not, your financial stewardship will pioneer a new frontier for your family. 

If you feel like you’re starting from scratch, be patient with yourself. When grown from a seed, apple trees can take up to ten years to produce fruit. So, it may take some time to see outward progress in your financial journey. Be encouraged–growth is happening below the surface. 

In addition, the bigger the apple tree, the longer it takes to produce fruit. Dwarf apple trees will produce fruit sooner, but they’ll die after about 15 years. On the other hand, normal apple trees take longer to produce, but they can sustain fruit production for over fifty years. 

Here’s the point: to maximize fruitful years, patience is required.

3. Diversify by Grafting

Did you know that experienced orchard owners don’t plant apple seeds? Instead, they escalate the production of their harvest by 75% through a practice called grafting. Apple trees grown from grafting produce fruit in just 1-3 years. And, it tastes better!

Essentially, grafting involves taking a branch from one tree and combining it with the root stock of another. The farmer has more control over the end product. They can choose what kind of variety they want the tree to produce. If they want, they can make it so that one tree produces multiple kinds of fruit.

There are two powerful principles in this:

A. Lean into other people to accelerate your growth. 

When you partner with another “tree”, whether it be a mentor, business partner, or coach, you can grow exponentially quicker, and the fruit of your labors will be higher quality.

B. Diversify your portfolio. 

Grafting makes it so that a single tree can produce multiple kinds of fruit. A man named Sam Van Aken has grafted trees that bear 40 different kinds of fruit—each! Your investment orchard will serve you best if you diversify your streams of income. Graft different strategies into your portfolio and see what happens.

4. Prune Your Portfolio Regularly

No investment is 100% passive. In the same way that an orchard owner needs to prune trees and spray for pests, building generational wealth requires some portfolio maintenance. Keep tabs on the current economic climate and have a team of trusted advisors that can help you identify your blind spots.

5. Leave a Legacy

Remember, the goal is to have an orchard, not a garden. When you have multiple passive income streams, your investments can accelerate future generations in your family and beyond. This entails more than building wealth. You need to be able to teach your family members and beneficiaries how to steward the money you’re going to pass down to them. That way, they’ll have the financial acumen and character to keep it!

Remember, apple trees grown by grafting the DNA from other trees grow much faster than the ones grown from scratch. You have the ability to give your family a head start! 

At the legacy stage, you can give away everything above your target living allowance (how much money it costs for you and your family to live each month.) The goal is to invest in Kingdom-centered causes that further God’s will in the earth.

So, are you ready to work toward your orchard? Deuteronomy 8:18 affirms that God has given you the power to get wealth. By his grace, God will show you how to integrate your faith and finances for maximum impact.