Financial freedom will mean different things to different people. You need to know where you want to go and what you want to be, so it is important that you are consciously aware of the endless possibilities and keep your heart and mind open to receive them.
Your financial freedom is probably different to the next person’s as you will want different things. One of our clients has the dream to sail around the Mediterranean for a couple of years on his own yacht, while another client would like to drag the caravan around Australia with his wife.
Two very different goals which require two very different strategies. Which is why, when we first sit down with our clients we conduct a very detailed goal setting session with them to get clear on what’s important before we can talk strategy.
What Is Financial Freedom Exactly?
Rich Dad Poor Dad says financial freedom is much more than having money. It’s the freedom to be who you really are and do what you really want in life. And many of us, especially women, lose sight of this by putting others first and playing many different roles such as parent, spouse, employee, friend, and more.
If you want to be financially-free, you need to become a different person than you are today and let go of whatever has held you back in the past. It’s a process of growth, improvement and gaining spiritual and emotional strength to become the most powerful, happy, and successful “you” possible. That is the true reward of financial freedom.
We often find that people aren’t quite sure what they want in life, which makes it incredibly hard for them to determine what they need to do to achieve what’s important to them. They’ve simply never sat down and looked at it and we find people in a relationship more often than not, have never discussed joint goals.
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With that in mind, we list our steps to help you get some clarity.
How To Get Started:
- Assess Current Situation – Firstly, you need to work out a few things that are currently going on for you. What is your monthly income and what do your expenses cover on a monthly basis? How much do you have left over after all of your expenses have been paid? You will need to identify your assets, associated liabilities and the categories of assets that they comprise. You will be examining your current skills, available time and existing current income flows. You need to know where you are now so that you know where you are able to go.
- Identify Dreams & Goals – Write these down, create a vision board, record them in your phone… whatever you need to do, but you must make a record of them somewhere. What does life look like in retirement – where are you living, who are you spending time with, what kind of car are you driving, are you holidaying regularly, spending time with your grand kids, helping your community, donating to charity or building mud huts in Africa!
- Timeframe – When do you wish to retire? Retirement to us means the day you have enough passive income where you have choices – sufficient income to support your desired lifestyle, without having to go to work each day.
- Determine The Dollars – You will then need to put numbers to your dreams and goals – how much will that dream home cost, what money will be needed to put your kids through private school or college, how expensive will your annual holidays be… What do you anticipate you will require to achieve your state of financial freedom in your desired timeframe?
- Action Required – Getting to your financial freedom requires strategies, which, when implemented, will determine the appearance of your investment portfolio. Strategies will be influenced by your passion, your available time, and the asset classes that interest you, together with your perception of investment risk. Pervading those influences is whether you are a passive or active investor.
If you’d like to learn more simply pick up the phone or check out our other blogs, where we often write about strategy and things you can do to create your desired lifestyle or…
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