For those of you who don't know, Chris and I became financially free early. I was in my mid to late 20's and he was in his early 30's when we became financially free. By financially free I mean that we did not have to work anymore. We had enough passive income to cover all of our living expenses, and we had no debt.
I had $100,000 in student loan debt, and Chris had $30,000 in the bank. His whole life savings. Within 2 years, we managed to turn this negative $100k net worth, into a $3 million net worth, and haven't stopped since.
Except, we made a TON of mistakes. We started by flipping a house (a miserable experience) and then another, and then got into some commercial real estate investing. We made tons of mistakes and if I could go back and do it again, I wish I had these pointers, it would have made life a lot easier!
We have a very unique perspective on how to achieve financial freedom and I want to show you 3 simple steps to get there.
I talk about this process in my book, "3 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom" which you can download for free, here.
But here is a brief overview...
This might not seem important to you but I am warning you, do NOT skip over it! Your mentality is EVERYTHING.
A lot of people carry quite a lot of emotional and mental baggage. They're unable to get to their goals because of it. They end up struggling and wondering why no matter what they try, nothing seems to work.
This will be easier to understand with an example. Several years ago we attended an event called the Millionaires Institute. At this event, there were a lot of people aspiring to be millionaires. We were already financially free, and were already millionaires, but we are always ready to grow, learn and surround ourselves with like-minded people.
The speaker asked everyone there, what they had learned about millionaires when they were children. Interestingly enough, 90% of the room raised their hand and had something really negative to say about millionaires. They said things such as "they're greedy," "they cheat," "they take advantage of people" and so on.
The speaker continued on to say that if that mindset about millionaires still follows you today, (which most likely it does, even if unknowingly) then it's going to be very difficult for you to become a millionaire. You don't want to become that person and will sabotage yourself unknowingly.
So first step in preparing for freedom, getting rid of that mental and emotional baggage that will hold you back. Visualize your future!
The second step to financial freedom is creating a spending plan.
When you create a spending plan, you're then able to create cash flow. We don't believe in financial diets around here, but we do believe in knowing where you want to spend your money, and making sure it's going to those places, and not just slipping through the cracks.
Once you know where you want to spend your money and where you don't - you can redirect those dollars and actually start enjoying life more.
The key really is to figure out where you would rather that money go. Many people say they don't have money for vacations, don't have any spare money to invest. You probably do. If you created a spending plan, you'll probably find that you have more money than you think to do the things that you actually love to do.
One of the strategies we recommend to our clients to create extra cash flow, is to use the app "Mint" to track their spending, see where their money is going, and stay on track.
The third step to financial freedom is finding a system that works for you to build wealth. Now that you're mentally prepared (step 1), have a clear understanding and control of your finances (step 2), you're ready to do something with that extra cash flow you found in the last step.
The third step is critical. You have to create a foolproof plan that's going to help you generate passive income, to one day (preferably soon) cover your expenses and replace your salary, making you free.
Many people have a "plan" in which they build up and accumulate money in a 401K, or they pump their extra money in the stock market, hoping it will pay off.
These plans lack control. Control is what you need in order to reduce your risk. You want your plan to be something that is proven, something that works. And something that would help you generate income no matter what. While you're sleeping, while you're working, while you're on vacation - it doesn't matter.
So, those are my 3 simple steps to financial freedom. They seem basic, but if you follow them, you will succeed. The hardest part is finding a system that works for you.
We have spent the last 20 years building and perfecting a system to generate dependable, recurring passive income for thousands of our clients. It's so dependable, that we offer a guarantee. It's so unique, that we've been granted a US patent. If you would like to learn more be sure to read more about the system, which we've coined The Income Snowball and download the '3 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom' e-book, for free.
