Financial Freedom

Category Archives: Financial Freedom

The Trap That Keeps You from being Financially Free

Written on September 15, 2009 by admin in Financial Freedom

money_trap You’re probably familiar with the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it.”

Bigg success is life on your own terms. The terms we use to define our bigg success are incredibly important.

When we get what we wished for, it better be what we really wanted!

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For example, we may seek financial security. How do you define financial security? Is that what you really want? Or is there a better term for what you seek? Are your actions consistent with your definition?

These are a few of the questions you might ask about a term which is a goal.

Financial security

Financial security means safety. You have a refuge from any storm. This is the reason a lot of people like having a regular job. They feel like it gives them some sense of security.

We often confuse financial security with financial stability. One of the reasons we like that job is it provides a steady income. That’s not security; it’s stability.

This highlights the importance of understanding what a term really means to you.

Does a job or a career offer you financial security? We think it doesn’t.

You have to create financial security for yourself. But that’s just the first level. You may really want more than just safety.

Financial independence

You may seek financial independence. You want to be self-reliant. You don’t want to depend on anyone or anything to meet your financial needs.

You’re able to live a comfortable life. You may have a job but you also have investments or other sources of income in case something happens with your career.

The next step up is financial freedom. You’re free to live the life you really want to live. Your income exceeds your lifestyle costs by a significant margin.

The trap that keeps people from financial freedom

Randy Jones, author of a book we highly recommend to you, The Richest Man in Town, wrote about the trap that keeps many people from reaching financial freedom on his blog a while back. He said:

“A stable salary can be addictive: like a drug, it feels good, helps you cope with the ups and downs of life, and it is very hard to give up. But dependence on a salary is a major impediment to becoming the richest person in town. The regular fix of a paycheck from the other guy makes you risk-averse, and the ability to take risks is one of the qualities that defines an RMIT.”

So if you want to be free from money worries, you have to take risks. Risk is the opposite of security. But you have to take those risks to reach the level of financial freedom.

And by our definitions, a person who reaches the level of financial freedom is also financially secure … and then some.

No job can make you financially secure. No business can do it. No investment can do it. You have to do it by putting all the pieces together.

It starts by defining bigg success and then going for it!

You’ve heard our terms for money. What are your terms?

Share that by leaving a comment below, e-mailing us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com or calling us at 888.455.BIGG (2444).

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Thanks so much for the gift of your time today. Please join us next time when we talk about an old-fashioned tool that increases your productivity. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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6 Paths to Financial Freedom

(Image in today's post by nusrin)

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6 Paths to Financial Freedom

Written on July 2, 2009 by George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster in Financial Freedom

freedom Today is the fourth installment in our freedom series. We’ll focus on financial freedom.

Financial freedom … can you imagine it? To use the lingo from our last couple of posts, it means freedom from money worries or, even better, freedom to choose how we spend and live.

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Hear George & Mary-Lynn discuss today's topic on The Bigg Success Show! Click the purple player to listen while you read: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Financial freedom is just one piece

We’ve defined bigg success as life on your own terms. There are five elements of bigg success – money, time, growth, work and play. Bigg success comes faster when these five elements work in synergy; that’s part of the bigg idea behind bigg success.

So while financial freedom is a worthy goal, be sure you’re looking at it as part of the bigg picture. What does life on your own terms mean to you? Only you know the answer that’s best for you.

Framing financial freedom

You are the entrepreneur of your own life. As the entrepreneur, you need to understand the two basic financial statements: your Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

The Income Statement shows how much money you brought in the front door and how much money went out the back door. Financial freedom means more income and less costs.

The Balance Sheet shows how much you own (your Assets) and how much you owe (your Liabilities). Financial freedom means more Assets and less Liabilities.

6 ways to define financial freedom

Debt free

There are variations of this. You may consider yourself free if you don’t carry a credit card balance forward from month to month. Other people want everything paid off except their house. For some, they want no debt period.

You focus on the Liabilities side of the Balance Sheet with this path. You want to minimize what you owe. Better yet, owe nothing.

Low standard of living

Some people take this to an extreme, but they’re the only ones who have to be happy with it. This is a very simple, yet proven path. Focus on spending less so you’re free to spend the excess money however you want.

Obviously, this path focuses on the Expense side of your Income Statement. “Low” is a relative term; it means low relative to your Income.

High salary

Conversely, you can focus on making a lot of money. Make a lot more than you spend and you’ll feel free financially.

We called it “salary” but it can be active income from any source – commissions, business ownership and the like. Obviously, we’re on the Income side of the Income Statement here.

Cash in the bank

If you have an amount equal to three to twelve months of living expenses in the bank, you may feel a sense of financial freedom. It doesn’t have to literally be “in the bank.” For example, you may have the money invested in a money market mutual fund.

This is a Balance Sheet strategy focusing on Assets, specifically Cash and Cash Equivalents.

Retirement nest egg

Here you get that sense of financial freedom by having enough money stored up to allow you to live comfortably, without working, for the rest of your life. Your focus is on building up the Asset side of your Balance Sheet. Unlike our third definition, this path is about building passive income from these Assets.

Wealth-creation

For some people, financial freedom means being wealthy enough to buy anything they want. There are a lot of degrees here. “Everything you want” doesn’t have to mean a jet or a yacht, but it can if that’s what you really want!

This is a complex path. You’ll probably need to manage both sides of the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet. You may not try to minimize Liabilities; instead, you’ll focus on having Liabilities that have paid for Assets that make you money.

It’s important to define financial freedom so you can determine your goals. With your goals in mind, you can develop strategies to achieve them. That leads to bigg success!