Are You Trying to Become Financially Independent?

Can you honestly say that you are trying to become financially independent?

I wasted a lot of the earlier stages in my life watching way too many TV shows, which provided no value whatsoever.  I watch a lot of the TV shows at the time so I could relate with my classmates and other so it would enable me to fit in when others talked about such shows, and because I believed this is what everybody else was doing.  Now I realize what a horrible waste of time TV was!

Ten years out from whatever shows you might be watching today will no longer be relevant, and no longer talked about, and besides who wants to talk about shows from ten years ago anyway?

Another way that I wasted time was believing that only the rich can build wealth or you have to get lucky to become rich.  This was a huge mistake.  How can you expect to become financially independent if you don’t believe that you can become rich, and you don’t try?

So after wasting time watching TV and finally believing, these past ten years I’m finally created and started following a path to become financially independent.  While still considered poor by the very rich (read uncomfortably poor), for me it’s a stage that I believe I can accomplish in the next eight years if I keep my eye on the goal…

Some sacrifice is required with my plan (especially during the first few years), but now I’m on my way and each year I’m able to loosen the purse strings and spend money on things that would increase my enjoyment in life.

More to come,

MR

 

P.S. I’m currently in my third year, and we’re on vacation for spring break.  This is something new for us and in past years we would do something local to save money.  From this year going forward, I’m planning for such a vacation to continue to be in our plans going forward (barring some unforeseen financial crisis).

 

The Good, Being Wealthy Can Do

We’ve all seen the classic representation of the wealthy constantly monitoring their wealth and always trying to make a buck.  In such depictions of the wealthy, one could believe that the rich are actually a very small-minded, unintelligent group.  But I think that real history proves otherwise, and today I’m going to discuss my top financial hero “Benjamin Franklin“:

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a hard-working entrepreneur that gave us many quotes that we use and admire today:

  • A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned
  • Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.
  • Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
  • An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
  • You may delay, but time will not.
  • Well done is better than well said.
  • By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
  • I didn’t fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong.
  • Hide not your talents, they for use were made, What’s a sundial in the shade?
  • Many people die at twenty-five and aren’t buried until they are seventy-five.
  • Instead of cursing the darkness, light a candle.
  • When you are finished changing, you’re finished.
  • If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking.

While Ben’s quotes are awesome, they are just words, fortunately he was a man who lived by his words!

At the age of 42, Mr. Franklin retire from his working life.  He retired one of the richest men in the United States during that time period.  So what do you think he did with the rest of his remaining 42 years of life (noting that he died when he was 84)?

Do you think he sat in a corner throwing his money up in the air exclaiming “I’m rich, woo hoo” over and over again?

Having Money

No, instead he become a great inventor and then later an incredible politician!  In fact, many believe that without Ben’s influence in helping to recruit France into the war with England, the United States wouldn’t have become a separate country back then!  Who knows, with such a timeline change evils (such as slavery) still might exist in the United States today (think no?  it exists still in other parts of the world…, it’s just not an industry like it formerly was).

Here is the thing that many of us forgets (especially big media?, or do they…) Benjamin Franklin wasn’t working a 9 to 5 job everyday, he was wealthy.  In fact, Ben was one of the richest men in America at the time.

Instead of choosing to go sit at a beach sipping a Margarita, he continued being what he has always been… and that is an overachiever and a friend to society!  Oh he still enjoyed life to its fullest, but part of this enjoyment was inventing things and helping others.  Being rich and not having to work anymore enabled him to do these incredible things after the age of 42.

In the past, I’ve mentioned what I would do if I were rich, and I always have an element of giving back to the community and helping others.  In fact, when I posted the article of comments on “How Money Can Increase Happiness“, practically everybody mentioned helping others in some fashion. Based on the results, I would conclude that most rich people like to help others and society in general.

If you were wealthy, wouldn’t you try to help others and society, while still enjoying life at the same time?

Cheers,

MR

 

How Money Can Increase Happiness Mega – List

Last week, I created the article called: How Money Can Improve Your Life and Make You Happier.  After writing it I thought, I bet other pf (personal finance) bloggers may have ideas that I didn’t think of or perhaps never would.

So the following is a listing of those blogger’s comments and the creative ideas that they came up with that increasing the amount of money you make can make them happier.

Blogger that used to be called We-ll He-el-ed:

If I had more money… I can:
(1) treat my parents out to vacations more often, upgrade them to business class, send them to really nice hotels. This would DEFINITELY make me feel like a better daughter.
(2) buy a house more quickly, have a lower monthly payment because my down payment would be bigger => lower stress!
(3) hire a night nurse if we were to have a kid, thereby guaranteeing I can get more restful sleep (your quality of sleep affects everything – so I bet your bottom dollar this would increase my happiness by 100x)
(4) help out other family members to achieve their goals. Again makes me feel like a more involved part of the family.
(5) Travel, travel, travel. Weekend getaways to bed & breakfasts, grand safaris in Botswana, culinary tour in France and Italy… I can go on. These experiences will certainly put a smile on my face.

Financial Samurai:

1) Invest in my own business and provide new product offerings and features for users and clients.
2) Send my parents on a 30 day cruise every year that they want to travel. They love cruising!
3) Not feel guilty buying a car worth more than $30,0000, since I know it’s a waste of money.
4) Go on a two-week vacation around all four major tennis opens with tennis buddies!
5) Establish a sizable Yakezie Scholarship Fund for people who need help with furthering their education.

I’m not sure what else I’d use the extra money for. I feel I truly have everything I need and want, and don’t have desires for much more.

Comments on Financial Samurai: I like the idea of expanding business and new products!  This is the way people make the world a better place for all of us!

Budgeting In The Fun Stuff:

As we’ve started making more money, we’ve been using it mainly to pay off our home. Since that day is less than 3 months away, we have been giving major thought to what to use our extra income for after that. Here is what we’ve come up with so far:

1) More investment income (we also invest in dividend stocks)
2) More cash savings. I’d like to start saving our current mortgage payment every month in cash so we can pay for our next house in cash instead of needing any loans again. We have been doing that for our cars since 2010. Plus, that cash is like an extra emergency fund until we decide to use it.
3) More fun money. We will be using some of the monthly extra to fund more vacations and our personal fun money accounts.

I use some of my own fun money for random acts of kindness like paying for the groceries that someone in front of me would have needed to leave behind otherwise (happens more often than it should). My husband uses some of his money to fund charities of his choice.

Overall, our happiness level seems to be more dependent on how our personal relationships with friends are going than it is based on money. But I like padding and it does help me worry less.

Comments on Crystal’s BIFS:  Crystal is unique in that she is actually going though the topic of this post currently!  She has had a huge increase in income, and after reading her comment, apparently doing the right things!  I especially like the “random acts of kindness“!  She has done such acts all along, but now the monetary cap has raised for her quite a bit, giving her a much great range to help people!

Everyday Tips:

If I had extra money, I would:
1. Buy my mom a new car.
2. Give money to people who I feel really deserve it. For example, I would cover my physical therapist’s student loan payment for a month because he is awesome and I would love to help him.
3. Give something meaningful to those that are working so hard but seem to have trouble getting ahead. (New tools to a carpenter, that kind of thing.)
4. I would travel at will. For instance, I am so sick of winter that I would just drive to the airport and hop on a plane on a whim.
5. Hire a housekeeper.

I am sure there are more, but that is off the top of my head. I may have a post brewing for myself…

Comments on Everyday Tips:  I like the idea of “giving tools to help people help themselves“.  Very clever!

Retire By 40:

1) I would definitely do an around the world trip in style. We love traveling, but we usually do so frugally. It would be pretty awesome to travel in the lap of luxury for once.
2) Health insurance is a big worry for me. I’m not sure what I can do with money here. Maybe set up a heath care fund for my extended family.
3) I like where we live, but would like a bit more space. If money is no object, then I’d probably move up the penthouse.

Comments on Joe @ Retire By 40:  An upgrade to a better location with a bit more space would be nice, especially in the current real estate market!

20’s Finances:

 1 – buy a second car (for those cold walks to the train and when the number one car is broken down)
2 – pay someone to do my dishes (i hate them with a passion, it also doesn’t help that I don’t have a dishwasher
3 – buy my own house (i hate renting…) with a non-coin operated washer/dryer. haha
4- travel more often

Comments on 20’s Finances:   Paying someone to do the dishes would be great!  For a 20’s person, buying a house makes perfect sense as a way to get more happiness.  Non-coin operated washer/dryer been there and hated that, instant increase in happiness!

WorkSaveLive:

Having financial independence brings peace. The 3 things I’d do to help make a happier life:

1) For me, my time is more valuable than money. I can create/earn more money but time is finite.
Building wealth will allow me to “retire early.” Retirement for me doesn’t mean that I stop working, it simply means that I no longer have to work for the sole purpose of a paycheck. This will allow me to have time to can serve, volunteer, start businesses, and do whatever I wish.

2) It’s no secret that Americans LOVE STUFF, and I’m no different. If I had some extra money I’d take a 3 week trip to the Fijian Islands and stay in a 5-star resort.
I’ve looked into this and it costs about $1500-2000/day. But I’d have my own beach front and nothing but peace and quite. Sounds like my kind of fun!

3) I’d give more and help as many other people as I could.
Having extra money and wealth will enable you to give like no one else. Giving, for me, brings a great deal of happiness to my life, and there isn’t much more I’d love to do than to help those in need.

4) Being financially independent also allows for you to live a stress-free life (relatively). Finances are the #1 cause of stress in this country, the #1 cause for divorce, and the #1 or #2 cause for male suicide.
Financial independence gives you the freedom to no longer have to carry the burden of debt and bills. If the market tanks, it won’t matter much.

If America is going to go bankrupt…then I could just move to another country.

Money isn’t the source of all happiness, but it does allow for you to buy stuff, enjoy memorable moments/trips with your family, and allows for a life not filled with the constant worry that so many of us deal with day-to-day.

First Gen American:

Interesting thought.

Everyone touched on the charity bit, so I won’t elaborate there (but that’s some of what I’ve done with more money..doing special events for my kid’s school).

Since paying off our mortgages, we’ve had extra money piling up and we’ve just been sitting on it. After a bunch of soul-searching, we are launching operation “live with Babci someday in a better school district.” I’ve always been kind of against the McMansion concept, but having more space does offer us some flexibility in case of emergency that our home does not.

One house we are looking at has it’s own pond on 10 acres. The house is a mess but the land is awesome. The childhood experience of living on an ideal bit of property with a pond that you can ice skate on in the winter and catching frogs and fish on in the spring and summer is awesome. But more importantly, having my children growing up with their grandma and in a better school district is also pretty nice.

Other things money can buy..most of these are not important to me but they are for some:

-Money can buy privacy (you can build your own compound).
-Money can buy prestige (you are more respected if people think you are successful or are a big donor to certain organizations)
-Money can buy into a powerful network of contacts (ie…exclusive country clubs)
-Money buys all kinds of experiences that a normal Joe does not have access to. (everything from Superbowl to literally a trip into space)
-Money buys piece of mind and a feeling of security. (if you use part of it to build a hefty emergency fund).
-Money can influence political agendas.
-Money can solve all kinds of problems.
-Money can save a life (my mom had a sibling who died as a child from a minor illness because they couldn’t afford a doctor)
-Money can buy education which can lead to knowledge.
-Money is an enabler which is limited only by the morals, integrity and imagination of it’s owner.

Evolving Personal Finance:

Money could improve my happiness by enabling me to:

1) Give more!
2) Travel at the drop of a hat to cheer on our university’s men’s basketball team in tournaments. And buy season tickets to the games when we are alumni.
3) Travel to the many places/sights I want to see in my life: the Northern Lights, the Louvre, Athens…
4) Buy the cute dresses that catch my eye! And the electronics that catch my husband’s.
5) Spend more time with far-away family and friends.

Sustainable PF:

1) The additional income would mean our choice regarding whether or not Mrs. SPF stays home to raise our children would be exponentially easier. Our biggest struggle with this decision is that we want to maintain a certain lifestyle (the ability to upgrade our home, take vacations outside of North America, to save for retirement + lil’ SPF’s education).
2) Agreed 100% on housekeeping service! To get those hours back every month means more time for projects and family time.
3) Reduced stress. Lack of money causes stress, at least to us. If we didn’t worry about money I believe our stress levels would drop some.
4) A more secure marriage. Mrs. SPF and I don’t argue about money. My parents did however. They ended up being part of that statistic that indicates that if a marriage were to end the cause is most likely to be money issues/problems/disagreements.

This That And The MBA:

Donate my time more to help various organizations. Currently I am only able to give time due to limited funds.
I would like to just make someones night, if we were out to dinner just buy the table next to us their dinner.
Work with kids who are less fortunate and give them things that their parents aren’t able to give them. It bring a smile to my face as well as my heart.

Money Infant:

1. Randomly buy gifts for people on a regular basis, kinda like a modern-day Santa Claus (without the beard or belly).
2. Build and fully stock a wine cellar.
3. Teach others how to create the same wealth that I am enjoying.

Daisy:

If I had more money I could/would:

1) Give more – both time and money – to people in need. That’s the best feeling!
2) Take courses without worrying about how expensive they are. I could learn about psychology or women’s studies, just for fun.
3) Learn another language by immersing myself in the culture. For instance, I could go to Paris for some time to learn French (always a dream of mine)
4) Put my brother through school. He’s never been able to afford it and seeing my family happy makes me happy!
5)See my family more. I can’t afford flights to Winnipeg, MB right now, but if I made $150K /year I’m sure I could go a few times a year and watch my cousins grow up
6) Go to the spa more often. There’s something seriously amazing massages do for your psyche.
7) Do yoga. It’s expensive. But it’s proven to up your happiness levels.

Meet some of you awesome bloggers!

Invest It Wisely:

It’s not so much the level of income but rather the degree of freedom. To me, what would really make me happy is having a large income stream derived from investment income and passive income, from multiple egg baskets, and use this to re-invest for the future and pay down debt.

The future is always getting better, so keep your savings rate high and you will benefit down the road.

Financial Knowledge Online:

If I had more money, I would:

1. Pay off my mortgage – this would significantly reduce my overall level of debt and would help me sleep at night a whole lot better.
2. Start saving for my kid’s education – Sallie Mae has never been nice to me. I definitely do not want that lady going anywhere near my kids. She is such a bad influence.
3. Invest in more online properties – Have you seen the returns a decent website can make? I would buy as many of these small, income producing properties as I could manage. Then I would hire someone to manage them for me.

All of these things would allow me to spend more time with my family; which would easily ‘buy’ me a certain level of happiness.

Change A Thing:

How to use some extra bucks:

1) Enjoy the freedom to try an expensive hobby, without the pressure to get it right the first time. Maybe I would like archery, I don’t know, I can’t afford to try it!
2) Not worry about “reliability” as a major deciding factor in buying a car. Hello, 1956 Chevrolet!
3) Hire a small orchestra to follow me around and play my theme music. I’d like to have a small music theme played when I enter a room, so that everyone knows I’m nota villain!

This list is endorsed by Bax, who is in charge of putting the Awesome on the net.

Edward Antrobus:

If I had more money, it would make me happier by:
1)being able to pay off my debts. I just had to finance an outstanding hospital bill so it wouldn’t go to collections. The knot in my gut that formed as I was signing the paperwork still hasn’t gone away.
2)being able to visit my family across country. Instead of visiting one week a year, I would go 5-6 weekends a year. I wouldn’t feel like I’m missing watching my younger cousins grow up, and all the myriad family events of birthdays, holiday parties, etc. that make the difference between simply being related and being a family.
3)I would spend a week camping somewhere…. somewhere with a lot of trees and little chance of stumbling across another person or sign that outside civilization exists. I’d do this as often as I needed to get away and recharge.

Away From The Mall:

Oh, man, don’t get me started, especially if that income were passive, dividend or real estate income.

1. Buy time! Yep, I know there are only 24 hours in the day, but with more wants and needs supported by passive income I could work less and spend more time doing what I want to do, like spend time with my family.
2. Shift from working extra to volunteering. This is along the same lines as doing what I want to do, but it shifts working at a job to volunteering for a cause.
3. Spend time overseas learning the language and culture from the locals.
4. Set a Guinness World Record. I’m not sure which one, but I’ve always wanted to set a world record. 100 meter dash is probably not in my future, so I’m probably stuck with the Guinness variety. Some sweet passive income would go a long way in helping me get there.
5. Bring an invention to market. Don’t you hate watching infomercials for products you thought of 5 years earlier? Well no more! Some juicy cash could be great seed money for the next snuggie!

Oh, I’d also play a lot more practical jokes…

See Debt Run:

With that income stream, I think I could improve my quality of life and happiness quite a bit.

Just three quick ways that come to mind.
(1) Quickly build a nest egg for my kids college savings. It would bring great peace of mind knowing that their future education was secure
(2) Allow for us to contribute more to charity. Right now, since we don’t have discretionary income, we are mainly able to donate time and used items.
(3) Being able to ensure that we could take at least one nice vacation per year, can do a lot for happiness.

Make Money Make Cents:

If I had more money I would:

1) Be happier about going to school. If money wasnt an issue, I wouldn’t feel as stressed about the loans racking up. I also would try to get the highest degree possible.
2) Have a chance to make a living doing what I really want to do. One thing I would love to make a living at is stocks. I have dabbled in trading stocks, options, and futures but would love a chance to do that everyday. That requires a fat bank account!
3) Fund a charity to help the needy. Those with money trees know others with money trees. Cash = power = getting your charity noticed.

I am happy and thankful for all I have. I have been blessed with great family and friends. But I would be thankful for more too.

Thanks everybody for a great list of ideas!  This by far my largest post today!

Cheers,

MR

Do You Think You Are A Victim Of The Wealthy?

What if I told you the people who are complaining about the wealthy are the same people keeping your from becoming wealthy yourself?

I think there is misinformation floating around that casts the wealthy as if they were all evil like the old evil stepmother depiction that was oh so popular in the Disney movie classics (I wonder what they had against stepmothers?  Perhaps childhood issues, or an easy target?).

Now just in the little that I wrote so far I’m sure some readers put their hands over their ears, closed their eyes and started chanting “I’m not listening, la la la”.  If you have made it this far read each of the points below with an open mind.

Pink Dolphin

  • 8 out of 10 people who are rich today came from a middle class or lower background.  This means that 80% of those that are rich are just like you and me!  Look around and in the mirror, practically everybody you see, including yourself, can or may already be rich.  Don’t believe the crazy people they have on “The Real Desperate Housewives” as representing the rich.  As much as they say it’s real, it not really representative of the rich.  Those TV shows are about as representative of the rich as a pink dolphin is representing the average dolphins.
  • There are both good and bad people who are rich.  Bad is a relative term, perhaps good and (aggressive, mean or selfish) people who are rich is a better way of describing them.
  • There isn’t some magic that happens to these people who come from the middle class that makes them more prone to be successful other than drive, belief that they can do it, and the willingness to try.
  • Most rich people (at least the ones that I know) give money away to causes that improves everybody’s lives, whether they realize it or not.  Parks, recreations centers, the Arts (yes, liberals that protest the rich benefit greatly from people being rich… surprise), medicine, hospitals, and quite literally the list goes on and on.
  • Big media like to portray the rich as bad guys (which is ironic since they themselves are super rich), but if you read blog sites and their interviews with the rich, you’ll see that they aren’t really the way big media like to present them.  Big media just want you to watch their shows because it makes them money.  I wonder if they think we are all slow?  Just remember when you listen to one of those shows trashing the rich, that the people pulling the strings are richer than you or I can imagine.  A bit hypocritical huh…

The wealthy are the ones that bought apple products, enabling the android devices to take off and become popular at a much lower price.  If it weren’t for the wealthy buying both calculators and computers of yesteryear, computer still might be giant behemoths of past, or so expensive that they never become mass-produced and exist only in the government world.  I don’t  know about you, but my computers and electronic devices has made a huge impact on my life, and might be a way for me to someday advance to the wealth level of the rich, even on a middle class income.

Think you are still a victim? The try the following:

  • Grow your own food
  • Stop buying products that the rich provide
  • Start bartering more
  • Make your own clothes
  • Start a side business on the cheap
  • Think and exist outside of the box
  • Experiment
  • Become more socially active and make new friends
  • Live life well…

The thing is you are a victim only because you let people tell you that you are.  You are only limited by your desire to be wealthy and your determination to get there.

I’ve been asleep for years, not really believing or even trying to become wealthy.  Now I’m awake and trying things.  I think life will slip by too quickly if you let it.

If you don’t play the game, how do you expect to win?

MR