Many people associate work with punching the clock, the 9-to-5 slog and saving for retirement. The trouble is, an hourly rate alone will never make you wealthy and drains your most precious resource: time. Fortunately, you have alternative strategies. Unfortunately, you’ve probably never heard about them, as they’re usually reserved for the super-rich.

Multimillionaire entrepreneur, angel investor and member of The Oracles Nik Halik wants to change that. “With the right money-building strategies, you can buy back your economic freedom and free up the hours necessary to manifest your highest goals.”

Halik knows something about mastering time. He may be the living embodiment of the Latin maxim “Carpe diem.” After investing in property and the financial markets to earn himself total financial freedom in his twenties, he’s become a best-selling author and founded several successful financial consulting companies.

As an extreme adventurer, he’s also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, HALO-skydived above Mount Everest’s summit, broken the sound barrier in a MIG-25 jet and deep-sea dived to the shipwrecked Titanic to have lunch. He even became a certified Russian-trained cosmonaut, rocketed to the edge of space and served as a backup for the “Soyuz TMA-13” NASA flight to the International Space Station.

In his new book, “5 Day Weekend,” Halik shares how to live a life rich with purpose, while living a “5-Day Weekend” lifestyle. From an entrepreneur whose companies have impacted more than one million lives in more than 51 countries, here are five fundamental ways to game the grind, multiply your money, and set yourself financially free once and for all.

1. Reclaim your cash.

“The foundational step is putting your house in order and stopping the leaks in your financial bucket,” explains Halik. “More than 10 percent of people’s income is lost to Uncle Sam, big banks and Wall Street. Get immediate cash flow by reclaiming income drained from these sources.”

One way to do this is by looking for hidden fees in conventional investments, such as 401Ks and IRAs. For example, if you opt in to receive paperless documents electronically, most IRA custodians will waive all maintenance fees. You can also avoid an advisory fee by using a self-directed IRA, rather than one managed by an advisor.

2. Pay yourself first.

“Many people pay themselves last,” Halik points out. “Pay yourself first.” As a reminder to do this, he used to send himself a monthly invoice.

Another way to ensure that you’re prioritizing your income is by creating a “sweep account” that automatically transfers a percentage of your monthly income into a savings fund. “Save at least 15 percent of your income,” insists Halik. “It can then be used as seed money to fund future opportunities and investments.”

3. Create your own bank with ‘The Rockefeller Formula.’

Instead of borrowing money, Halik recommends setting up a properly structured, overfunded whole life insurance contract that builds cash value, and then borrowing against the accumulated funds.

Along with the Rockefeller family, this strategy was used by Walt Disney, J. C. Penney, the Rothschild family, JFK, Roosevelt and even John McCain, who secured financing for his 2008 presidential campaign by using his life insurance policy as collateral.

“Once your policy has built enough cash value, you can take out a loan against your policy at any time and for any amount up to 90-plus percent of the cash value,” explains Halik.

4. Build seed capital with a side hustle.

Once you have a rock-solid financial baseline, accrue more cash with a side hustle. “It’s not about working more hours, it’s about creating another income stream that’s entrepreneurial,” shares Halik.

To best analyze income opportunities, he recommends finding the critical intersection of your passion, skills and what customers want. From ecommerce to consulting, there’s a breadth of options: Pick one in demand and test it in the marketplace with a small initial investment. If you get traction, double down to make your concept more efficient.

“The key is simply to start somewhere. But ideally, your side hustle should be scalable.”

5. Invest in passive income streams.

Once you’ve increased your cash flow with multiple income streams, it’s time to make your income less active and more passive. “While it’s not true that you need money to make money, it is true that you need money to invest,” Halik admits. “Start small and learn as you go.”

He recommends scaling your side hustle by hiring people to run the business for you. Use your freed up time to focus on creating passive income opportunities. Once you’re making passive income from low-risk, conservative investments, explore high-yield, high-risk investments to fast-track revenue growth,

“Investing in high-yield investments like private equity, cryptocurrency or gold and silver speculations is a key part of building wealth, but first, do your research,” cautions Halik, who recommends books, podcasts, and talking to trusted advisors with proven results to discover such opportunities.

Ultimately, with the right strategy, planning and mindset, he believes that anyone can buy back their time. “Choose to be its master.”