Financial Independence, It’s Your Choice

September 1, 2021 melissa Real Estate Comments Off on Financial Independence, It’s Your Choice

Financial Independence, It’s Your Choice

When we’re in the early years of our careers, achieving financial independence and preparing for retirement are somehow far-off ideas. The thrill of earning your own money and being able to afford things encourages you to live in the moment instead of planning for the future. Most military men fall into that trap and end up having nothing come retirement. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Achieving financial independence and having the freedom to choose when you’d want to retire and how to live your life, they’re all possible. Take it from military retirement expert Doug Nordman who was able to retire at 41!

The points below are from the thirteenth episode of the Real Estate JAM, where Doug Nordman talks about the importance of tracking your spending, saving, and investing. He also shares how parents can teach their kids how to manage money and plan for the future. If you want to learn more about achieving financial independence for you and your family, you can listen to it on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.


 

What is Financial Independence?

Financial independence isn’t just about getting rich. You can be the CEO of one of the fortune 500 companies and still be a slave to your debts. When you try to understand what financial independence means, you’ll realize that the best thing it can give you is CHOICE.

 

You have a choice on what career or business you’d like to pursue.

You have a choice on how much time you’d like to spend with your family.

You have a choice to take a year off from work to explore, travel and learn new things.

You have a choice on when you’d like to retire, and you don’t have to wait until your 60 to do that!

 

If you take a good look around you, you’ll see that many people wake up in the morning dissatisfied with their jobs, tired of the rat race, but have no other choice but to stay because they need the money to survive. They feel trapped and powerless in their life. Do you feel the same way?

Imagine this. When you’re financially independent, you can make crucial life decisions without worrying about the financial consequences. You won’t be concerned about how you’ll pay your bills or deal with unexpected expenses. You won’t get saddled with a mountain of debt. Rather than being a slave to your finances, you are in charge of them. That may sound too good to be true, but believe me when I say that you can accomplish it. Here’s how to get started on your own path to financial independence.

 

Taking Control of the Steering Wheel

Taking control of your finances is the first step toward financial independence. How do you do it? Doug’s advice is to start by tracking your daily spending or expenses. Whether you prefer to scribble it on paper or record it on your smartphone or computer, the important thing is that you’ll be able to do it regularly. Once you have a few months’ worth of data, start analyzing and seeing where the waste is. You’ll discover where you’re spending money the most, and you’ll be able to assess if those spendings are bringing value to your life or not. If it doesn’t bring value, then it’s about time you lessen your spending or stop wasting money in that particular area.

Once you’re able to cut out the waste, your savings rate will start to rise as your spending declines. Make sure that you put to good use all the money that you save from cutting your expenses. If you have outstanding debts, make it a priority to settle them instead of spending your money on other unimportant things.

If you can add a side hustle to increase your cash flow, do it. It will help increase your savings further and will help you achieve financial independence at a faster rate.

But if you’re the type of person who can’t juggle two to three jobs at once, don’t worry! The important thing is that you are in control of your spendings. That alone will help you avoid unnecessary debt and give you the savings you need. As Doug shares, “Most of the savings we accumulated in the 80s were due to just being frugal and enjoying life without necessarily spending a lot of money.” 

Remember that it’s better to live a simple yet peaceful life than lead an extravagant but highly stressful lifestyle. What’s your choice?

Want to learn more from Doug? Listen to the full episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

 

Outline of the Episode:

  • [02:16] What fueled Doug’s passion for financial independence?
  • [04:43] The many things you can learn at retirement. It’s not at all boring!
  • [07:05] Doug’s journey from reluctant landlord to financial independence coach
  • [09:15] The importance of being strategic and deliberate in picking your properties
  • [12:52] Why you should start tracking your spending now
  • [14:18] What do you do with your savings? Investing in real estate or the stock market?
  • [15:16] How to reach financial independence. Let’s do the math.
  • [16:32] Having control of your finances and future. You can have a choice!
  • [20:15] Frugality vs. deprivation
  • [22:20] Teaching your kids how to manage money
  • [26:50] How Doug started writing a book about financial independence with her daughter Carol
  • [30:29] Doug’s recommended financial independence resources

 

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

 

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