5 Not So Easy Steps to Financial Freedom

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It has taken me nearly 20 years to attain financial independence.  I am not going to sugar coat it, because it hasn’t been easy.  If anyone tells you it is – put your hand on your wallet and run.  Now it shouldn’t have taken me 20 years, but I made MANY mistakes.  On these pages, I attempt to share some of the wisdom gained from those painful lessons.   The hope is that this will significantly speed up your time to achievement.   Depending on your current financial state and openness to change, my best guess, is that it will take somewhere between 1 to 10 years to achieve financial freedom.

Here are my  “5 Not So Easy Steps to Financial Freedom.”

  1. Dream – Why do we spend so much time preparing for when we can do what we want (retirement) instead of doing it now?
  2. Shift – Main Stream Thinking leads to a gold watch for 40 years of service.  Making a mind shift enables you to buy your own watch while fulfilling your dreams.
  3. Learn – Unfortunately there are no short cuts.  Certain knowledge must be acquired.
  4. Act – The fastest way to accomplish a goal is to find someone who has achieved it and do what they do.
  5. Learn Some More – The learning never stops.  Specific knowledge makes freedom possible.

Save Your Way to Financial Freedom

I read many finance articles every day.  Some of the ones that I like; I share with you on these pages.  I had to do a “double take” after I read the article linked below. 

Just a few months ago many were outraged that oil was nearly $80 per barrel.  That translated to well over $3 per gallon for most in the US.  As much as people complained, they still managed to find enough money to fill up their SUVs.  Four months later with oil trying to find a bottom around $58 per barrel, everyone should be $50-$100 per month richer. Right? Goldman Sachs has concluded that the gas savings will contribute a 0.1% increase to the GDP.  In other words, that money is / will be spent.  On bright side, it will be spent on something more pleasurable than gas. However, the net effect is the same – it’s gone.

The premise of the article is – why not put your gas savings to work for you.  Let’s assume that your gas savings amounted to $70 per month and was invested earning 5%; it would be worth $57,000 in 30 years.  This is what made me do a “double take” – that’s more than the average household had in retirement savings last year.  Only 57% of U.S. households had any retirement.

It pains me to hear people say that they do not have money to invest.  I reality they simply choose to spend their money on something more interesting.

More ….

Trump and Rich Dad Reveal the Secret to Riches

Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki have written a new book, “Why We Want You to be Rich: “If you believe that working hard, saving money, investing for the long-term in mutual funds and diversifying is good advice then this book may not be for you.” They were on CNBC a couple of weeks ago, a day after the book was released and it was already #1 on the Business Best Seller’s list.  Their names alone cause people to act.  I have read several of Kiyosaki’s books and one or two of the Donalds, but I haven’t read this one yet.  I stumbled on a review of the book which didn’t say much about the book – other than it is their best one yet.  However, in the review the writer discusses an email that he received from a money manager that floored me. Continue reading “Trump and Rich Dad Reveal the Secret to Riches”

Women Need to Start Managing and Investing Money

Wow, this article is geared towards women – but has good advice for all of us.

“If you want to consider your retirement as one big vacation, think about that in terms of how much your last vacation cost,” Cook said. “Most people want to eat out, and go out, and travel more after they retire.” But few people plan adequately to be able to follow their retirement dreams.

Here is my favorite quote

Dreams can serve as a starting point, but taking real action is the only thing that will put money in the bank.

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Plan and Enjoy Your Retirement

Source: CNN Money
by Pat Regnier

Daniel Fish, a New York City lawyer who specializes in helping elderly clients, keeps a small collection of blank birthday cards in his desk drawer. The number 100 is on the front of each one. (Hallmark says it sells 85,000 such cards a year.)

“I’m just waiting for the 105s to come out,” says Fish. Shouldn’t be long. The Census Bureau estimates that by 2050, there will be more than a million centenarians in America. Millions more of us will make it into our nineties.

A woman retiring at 65 today, in fact, has a one-in-three shot of living to 90, and the odds for future retirees will be even better.

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