The Path to Financial Independence

The path to financial independence is far shorter than you might assume. If you want to work until your retirement years, you only have 46 to 49 years of earning potential if you didn’t start off affluent because of your family.

We must complete our education or training, find work, or start a business during that period, all while fulfilling the many demands on the income we have left after taxes.

We must pay for food, shelter, clothing, and transportation, as well as child-rearing costs, college tuition, vacations, Christmas presents, and insurance payments. The list seemed to never end.

How come some people can retire at the age of 50 despite all of this, while others will never retire? If you read the book Get Rich Slowly, you’ll see how, if you start young, you can employ compound growth to acquire millions. However, this appears to be the time in most people’s lives when their income is put under the most stress.

First and foremost, you are only getting started and are nowhere near your earning potential. You may have recently married and require residence and furniture.

For your new employment, you may need to purchase your first suit or business attire. And because you want to enjoy life, you go on vacations, buy or lease new cars on a regular basis, and overall run up debt, which is often added to your existing school loans.

However, some people succeed.

They begin by living within their means and saving as much as they can.

They take advantage of all of the government’s tax breaks and, if possible, save even more money.

They invest in or start a part-time business, rental properties, or learn how to invest wisely to enhance their earnings.

They protect themselves from financial catastrophe by insuring against probable risks.

They make good use of debt.

They don’t necessarily avoid debt, but rather use it to build riches. They can, for example, use mortgages to leverage a single 20% down payment into a string of residences. They can employ margin loans to increase the size of their investment money by a factor of two.

They do not, however, use debt to furnish their home. They purchase their new televisions and stereos with cash.

To support numerous streams of revenue, they can take advantage of tax credits, government-guaranteed loans, or subsidies available to small business owners or select minorities.

They do not, however, use debt to furnish their home. They purchase their new televisions and stereos with cash.

They factor taxes into their lifestyle and investing decisions, and they take advantage of all the loopholes the IRS allows.

Starting at the age of 25, you can collect nearly $907,000 in an IRA at retirement age 65 for just over $13.00 each day.

The difference between the financially independent and the majority of the rest of us is that they can find that $100 a month and don’t consider investing it rather than spending it a sacrifice.

The majority of folks will grumble that they don’t have any money left over and live paycheck to paycheck. However, in virtually all circumstances, this is a matter of personal preference.

Many instances exist of very low-income people who have managed to put many children through college and graduate school, or who have left millions to a favorite charity.

These folks are unique in that they set a goal for themselves and stick to it no matter what. They put in long hours, saved their money, and fulfilled their goals.

This is something that anyone can do. Simply disregard commercialism’s siren song and consider whether a secure future for yourself, college education for your children, or a large bequest to your favorite charity is worth forgoing your daily double coffee at Starbucks.

That’s pretty much all it takes to get you on your way to financial independence.

The road to financial independence is literally paved with gold, and it’s all yours to take.

Disclaimer: This article is originally being published by me here on this platform.