$10m Isn’t Enough To Retire: Jordi Alexander On Survival, Wealth, And Building Judgment

In this episode of When Shift Happens, I sit down with Jordi Alexander, founder of Selini Capital, to unpack one of the most pressing questions of our time: how do we build real wealth in a system where traditional money, retirement, and investing strategies no longer work? 

Jordi, a seasoned trader and crypto investor, argues that retirement as we know it is a myth. In a world where fiat currencies lose 15% of their purchasing power every year, even $10 million is no longer enough to secure a lifetime of comfort. Instead, we must focus less on static retirement goals and more on staying economically valuable to thrive in a changing world.

Escaping Survival Mode

Jordi’s reflections are deeply personal. He recalls years spent in “survival mode,” where financial pressure drained his creativity and ability to think long term. “When you’re in survival mode,” he explains, “you’re constantly putting out fires instead of building.” That endless defensiveness kept him and his team from achieving their full potential until he realised that breaking free required an intense period of frontloading, working harder than ever just to escape gravity’s pull.

Once out of survival mode, Jordi argues, life changes dramatically. “It unlocks superpowers,” he says, because your energy shifts from fear and defence to building and scaling. This progression, first from survival, to stability, then offense is a life-changing philosophy.

The Death of Retirement

Perhaps Jordi’s most provocative insight is his claim that traditional retirement planning is dead. For decades, people were told to save diligently, invest in stocks, and one day cash out at 65. That framework, he insists, no longer makes sense. “Even $10 million isn’t enough anymore,” he says. With fiat currencies consistently diluted, the purchasing power of savings erodes by around 15% each year.

Stocks, once a reliable hedge against inflation, no longer keep up. “Why cash loses value is obvious,” Jordi notes, “but even stocks can’t beat inflation now.” For him, clinging to old models is a recipe for disappointment. Instead, he urges people to remain economically productive well into later life, not just to stay wealthy, but to stay relevant.

“You can’t retire from being valuable to society,”. Economic viability, in his view, is about more than money. It’s about having skills, judgment, and contributions that matter regardless of how the world changes.

The Lure of Gambling and Financial Death Wishes

Jordi is candid about the darker side of modern finance. He describes today’s obsession with meme coins, hyper-leveraged trading, and gambling platforms as a kind of “financial death wish.” Like lottery tickets, these instruments leverage on hope and the intoxicating dream of a sudden escape from mediocrity.

“There’s a utility in the period between buying the lottery ticket and the numbers coming out,” he explains. “It gives people imagination, hope. That’s the hook.” The problem is that most people never escape this loop. They mistake dopamine for wealth and keep resetting their lives after each spectacular loss.

For Jordi, the sustainable path isn’t about quick wins. It’s about compounding judgment, productivity, and long-term bets. I chipped in, “Crypto is a get-rich-slow scheme and a get-wrecked-quick scheme,”.

Building Wealth Without Luck

At the heart of Jordi’s philosophy is the idea that luck is overrated. What truly compounds over time are judgment, skills, and productive labour. “If you’re useful in this world, you’re going to make so much money,” he says, pointing to the extraordinary packages offered to top AI researchers today.

For younger generations, Jordi’s advice is blunt: don’t waste your time trying to gamble your way into wealth. Focus on acquiring skills, developing social intelligence, and putting yourself in industries that are growing. For those already further along in life, he emphasises the importance of judgment — choosing who to trust, which trends to back, and how to allocate resources when opportunities and noise are equally distributed and available. 

“Judgment is currency,” he stresses. In a world of infinite information, those who can discern truth from hype will always win.

Offense, Defense, and Bitcoin

Wealth, in Jordi’s framework, comes down to a balance between defense and offense. Defense means securing enough capital — he uses $10 million as a benchmark — to cover life’s essentials indefinitely. Offense is what you do with the rest: concentrated bets, entrepreneurship, and bold moves that can take you to the next level.

Bitcoin sits squarely in the offense bucket. Despite its volatility, he views it as the base asset of the new economy. “It’s what everyone in crypto ends up stacking,” he says, even those who launch their own tokens. While he believes the four-year cycles are over, he still sees Bitcoin as early in its journey compared to assets like gold.

Ego, Burnout, and the Long Game

No philosophy of wealth is complete without attention to psychology. Jordi admits his own ego once clouded judgment, pushing him toward burnout. He recalls sleeping just four hours every two nights, until his body shut down entirely. “Frontloading is necessary, but burnout puts you back in survival mode,” he reflects.

His answer was a reset: deconstructing the ego, rebuilding from a blank canvas, and learning to protect his time.The fixed rules teach discipline, patience, and nuance and those lessons spill over into trading and entrepreneurship.

A Timeless Thesis

By the end of our conversation, Jordi’s thesis is clear. Retirement is a myth. Wealth isn’t a destination. The only way forward is to keep upgrading your skills, judgment, and networks, staying economically productive as the world shifts around you.

“There’s no world where my thesis is wrong,” he says. “You should always be improving your resources, your knowledge, your habits, your connections, and be ready for the huge shifts that are coming.”

For listeners, the lesson is both sobering and liberating: stop waiting for the day when you can quit the game. Instead, play smarter, grow sharper, and stay valuable. That, Jordi believes, is the only true path to freedom in the modern economy.