Everyone also hunger and aspires to achieve financial freedom, freedom to enjoy the luxury of time, freedom to plan your life rather that let others do the planning. For example – working in an organization, management direct your life, you bear the biggest burn of management mistake, regardless of whether the mistake is within their control or beyond their control, external macro factors such as - market environment, competition, government policies, act of god…… intentionally or unintentionally. You the employee will bear the fruits of their mistake - retrenchment, down sizing, pay cut, and stagnant pay. When management achieves success, they will take the biggest pie of the fruits leaving you with all the leftovers.
You may ask, how about working for new start up? It’s the same - your boss will still get the biggest portion of the fruits of success. Look at all the internet start up billionaire. Their employees still get peanuts as compare to the founder. Whatever angle you look at it - comparing with your boss, you still get peanuts. You may ask – they deserve it because they take the biggest risk!! You may or may not be correct with this statement. When business fails - do you think your boss still has the money to pay your salary? Very unlikely…..
What happen next…..you start to look for another job. The whole cycle happens again. Maybe this time, your lady luck is shining, you manage to secure…wrong word to use, get a job working in a big blue chip company, maybe better, work as a civil servant with iron rice bowl. You must be thinking, finally, I have finally made it in life….. Ask yourself truthfully – have you made it? Your income may or may not to be able to support your daily living expense depending on your lifestyle. Or may be like million of people struggling to pay housing bill, car loan bill, credit card bill, utility bill, telephone bill…bills that seem to never ends…….
Maybe you are very fortunate, able to find a job that your pay exceeds your current living expense with additional money to save. But are you out of the rat race yet? Are you out of the merciless office politics? Are you out of getting stuck in the daily traffic jams that never seem to subside?
You may tell me that you like to do what you are doing in your day job. Fine, but are you growing the money that you saved that should one day you decided to quit and throw in the towel, you have the mountain of wealth behind you. You do what you want to do not because you are force to, but because you want to.
How about those that made good money in their respective career but sacrifice their time in their place of works. Did you ever miss the growing phase of your child life? Did you ever miss all the quality time to be with your love ones? Did you ever miss all the beaches, lakes, river, garden, hills, all the natural beauty that this earth is made up of? Did you ever miss seeing/visiting all the nations that this earth is made up of? Did you ever miss seeing/visiting all the different traditions/cultures that this earth is made up of?
You may tell me that you have no choice as your job pay you good money. I buy your argument, how about if I tell you that you should now consider growing your good money that you made currently for future needs. Till one day, when you have finally decided to throw in the towel, you have a mountain of wealth to fall back on.
I view financial freedom or financial independence as having a well-planned lifestyle where I no longer need to work and yet I am able to cover all my living expenses. Financial freedom does not simply mean free of debt, debt is another expenses. As long as one passive investment income is able to cover all expenses, one is consider as financial free. This large enough “nest egg” passive investment should also be easily be liquidated if there a need. In simplified term, financial freedom is where one does not need to work for money anyone, and if one chose to work, it is by one choice and desire.
"How do I achieve it?" is a question I always ask myself. I think it is achieved by finding, learning and putting time, effort and money (depending on one own capacity) into building something (passive investment) that creates income profitably and consistently, long after you have 'completed the building'. There are many ways to achieve this money-making machine. For example - Financial investment in stock, forex, future, commodity or whatever financial instrument that can generate income. Internet marketing, real estate ownership for rental/capital income.
Problem is, not everyone has the necessary skills, experience, know-how and money to build it. The key is to find something that suits one’s ability and build it. How big you want to build it depends on one’s desire and risk tolerance level. Everyone is different. The important point is you must be in control those decisions of your life!
I have a lofty goal – I hope that this blog/site will act like a college/university where you will find and learn the path to financial freedom. Your chosen path to financial freedom will depend on your interest and the amount of money you have. It is true that you need money to grow money, but it is also true that you can grow money with peanut as proclaim by many internet marketer.
All I ever wanted was to learn and build the ‘money-making machine', the machine may not stop at one, it could be multiple machines, one that I could understand and able to generate consistent and profitable income.
To achieve this ultimatum, is what prompts me to start this BLOG. A blog that I can share my thoughts, learn from others how to achieve this wondrous phase called “Financial Freedom/Independent”. The phase – “To relentlessly pursue and attain Financial Freedom” is what I am made out of".
