You know that old saying “money can’t buy happiness”? Well, it’s incredibly true.
There are plenty of rich people in the world who are just miserable.
Just think of all the celebrities who finally had the money and fame they always dreamed of just to die young from alcoholism, drugs, or suicide.
They seem to have everything in life to us mere mortals, but the one thing that was missing from their lives was happiness. And happiness means everything.
Of course, there are also plenty of people living in extreme poverty who are miserable too.
I mean honestly, how can live your best life when you’re constantly worried about food, clean water, and shelter?
Basic necessities are incredibly hard to come by when you don’t have the education, skills, and community support needed to make it out in the professional world.
Can someone from extreme poverty lift him or herself out of the poverty cycle and find success? Of course. Will it be easy? Heck no!
Money can’t buy the happiness you’re looking for in life no matter what your financial situation is. But it can definitely bring you financial freedom. And financial freedom will make you happier in the end.
What is Financial Freedom
So what is financial freedom anyway?
Financial freedom is having enough cash and investments on hand to be financially secure. With financial freedom, you’re able to make life decisions based on your financial security so that you can live the life you want, without being held back by a paycheck, debt, or other financial obligations.
Financial freedom also ensures that you can support your family in the lifestyle of your choosing without financial strain or worry.
Materialism shackles you to a job you hate, dependence on a regular paycheck, and an ever-growing desire to impress others. But life isn’t about buying everything you’ve ever wanted.
By living a comfortable lifestyle with reasonable amounts of consumer spending and extraordinary amounts of saving and investing, you can obtain financial freedom and build a safety net for your family.
And the best part of creating your own financial freedom plan is that you can do it on any income, with any level of education, and with any size family to support. It just takes time and preparation.
Are you ready to get started?
Why is Financial Freedom Important
The basis for building a financial freedom plan is to understand why financial freedom is so important to you in the first place.
Financial freedom is important because it gives you control over your own life so that you can make the lifestyle choices that matter most to you.
And there are so many reasons why you should consider creating your own financial freedom plan today:
- It can allow you to educate yourself and gain skills that make you in demand in the labor market.
- It can allow you to become a self-sufficient adult who no longer relies on your parents or partners to get by.
- It can allow you to live debt-free.
- It can allow you to escape a bad relationship that is no longer serving you.
- It can allow you to provide a safe home for your family.
- It can allow you to feed your family healthy, nutrient-dense meals.
- It can allow you to provide physical and mental health services for your family.
- It can allow you to walk away from a job that is killing you with stress.
- It can allow you to build a safety net so that you never have to worry about getting fired or laid off again.
- It can allow you to take a sabbatical or retire early so that you can focus on what brings you joy.
- It can allow you to leave a legacy behind to those you love.
Remember, it’s your choice whether you live a life of constant wants and needs or live a comfortable life with financial freedom as your ultimate goal.
Steps to Financial Freedom
Here are the 5 steps to financial freedom so that you can take control of your own life once and for all:
1. Invest in Yourself
Go to college, get a trade, or take some online classes. It really doesn’t matter how you do it. You just need to gain marketable skills for the career you’re interested in pursuing.
2. Know Where Your Money is Going
You should know exactly what you’re spending your money on and why. If you can’t answer why you’re buying certain things, you definitely don’t need them.
3. Automate Your Accounts
Avoid fees and penalties at all costs. You’re just throwing away money for no reason. By automating savings each month, you’ll be sure to pay your future self and not just all your creditors.
4. Avoid Lifestyle Creep
Whenever you get a raise or take a second job, hide the money from yourself immediately. Bump up your emergency fund, put more in your HSA or retirement accounts, or transfer more into your kid’s 529. Don’t spend it on frivolous things just because you can. You’ll never obtain financial freedom if you keep falling for lifestyle creep.
5. Save and Save Some More
The only way to reach financial freedom is to save far more than you spend. Don’t keep up with the Jonses, be smarter than them and save as much as you can.
The sooner you realize that happiness comes from financial freedom and not fame and fortune the better.
Just think of how many times in your life you bought something like a new outfit, a new car, or a bigger, better house.
Remember how excited you were? Let’s face it, you were elated — for a second.
Soon enough you got used to whatever new thing you had just bought, and the excitement was gone just like that.
The next thing you know, your closet is fuller, you have a bigger car payment, or you have more cleaning and maintaining to do than you ever had before. None of those shiny knew items sound so exciting anymore, do they?
Do you know that Americans spend on average $37.5 Billion on storage facilities per year?
We’re literally buying so much stuff that we no longer have room for it in our McMansions. Just let that sink in.
And we’re not even using cash to purchase all of these these material goods. The consumer debt in America surpassed $14.3 trillion in 2020.
What is happening to us?
Money can buy amazing things but once you have the basic necessities in life, like clean water, food, and safe shelter, the only way money can bring you true happiness is by providing you with financial freedom. And you’ll never enjoy that if you buy so many things you have to store them in a separate location.
Financial Freedom Plan
Are you ready to create your own financial freedom plan?
Keeps these things in mind to help you get motivated:
- You didn’t grow up daydreaming about how amazing it would be to be unemployed, hungry, and homeless.
- You don’t want to be stuck living in your parents home for all of eternity.
- You never think about how great it would be to feel trapped in an abusive relationship because you can’t afford to leave.
- You haven’t hoped to provide a worse childhood for your own children than the one you had.
- You didn’t want to keep working at a job that made you physically ill from stress every time you headed to work.
- You don’t look forward to getting laid off or fired from your job and losing everything.
- You never want to be an elderly person working a menial job because you have no retirement savings to speak of.
- You haven’t hoped to be a financial burden on your family in old age.
So sit down, have a financial conversation with your partner, and start working on these 5 steps to financial freedom today.
It’s time to take control of your life by taking control of your finances and making your money serve you. You will never reach financial freedom by accident. You actually have to put in the time and effort it takes to get there.
And forget what friends, family members, and advertisers say about where your money should go. Personal finances are meant to be personal and it’s up to you to decide what your priorities are.
Most material items you think you want are a huge waste of money and will only end up being a burden on your home, a burden on your to-do list, and a burden on your wallet.
The only place your money should go is towards buying your financial freedom and increasing your happiness.
You deserve to be free of debt. You deserve to be free of worry. And you deserve to be free of fear.
Today is the perfect day to make that happen.
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