Financial freedom: Is it just about earning big?
You must have read or listened to countless motivational speeches encouraging you to diversify your source(s) of income and earn more to lead a comfortable life. Even without these speeches, you probably must be dreaming about earning big and having a lot of funds coming to you on a timely basis, and for sure this seems to be the only out of financial slavery, the sure way to freedom…you must say.
With the improved information and communication system, the world has changed significantly and believes differ significantly from what it used to be, especially when it comes to lifestyle and the hottest topic of lifestyles, Finance. The race to breaking through the minimum wage cycle has always been a torrid one. For entrepreneur, this is even worse as there seem to be more freedom to expand and grow, and as well, more room to fall. The risk involved creates a common dilemma for entrepreneurs than the ‘salary earners’, you will always believe as an entrepreneur that staying stagnant is as good as drifting down the valley, this true however.
The pursuit of financial freedom isn’t a race for financial, everyone who dreams is a part of this race. The social media continuously hammer on earning big as a sure route to financial freedom, and to a lesser extent, investing properly.
The normal notion has always been about earning a lot and investing wisely, these two are thought to be the sure route to financial stability, and once you could satisfy the both properly, you’re surely on your way to that envious lifestyle. most of the times, this is the fact, but as a matter of fact, that’s just 80% of the instances. Which a whole lot, but still, 20% could still be a lot.
With the statistics, two out of every ‘high earner’ still lives in financial slavery. High earners here encompass everyone earning above the specified minimum wage, these societal hierarchy is expected to at least lead an average life and not run into horrible debt. With the financial condition, running into mild debts could be considered normal.
However, many minimum wage earners still lead an average life, at least on their own level, this is in contrast to the high earners with multiple income sources. What are the struggling high earners missing? In a simple phrase FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT. proper management of your earning could prove the most important in your journey towards financial freedom. Source
We are so much engrossed with the lust to earn more and invest more that we forget the need to have a closer look at things and shape our investments as well as spending habits to suit our resources. Entrepreneurs are more careful about this, but unfortunately, they fall prey most times. And to them, this is another rock to push aside. For someone earning a lot, spending should be easier and also the zeal to invest grows…sometimes.
Investments will always remain a good financial management practice, however, missing out one word from this will surely result in poor results, the keyword here is ‘Proper’. Proper investment and proper spending differentiate a proper high earner from a ‘financially constrained high earner’. Earning big, investing much and still falling into horrible debts is a very bad experience and is a common role player in most ‘grace to grass’ stories. The need for sustainability in financial management is usually overlooked, a common mistake.
Looking at the bigger also entails taking a prospective look at the future, an optimistic look as well a pessimistic look and creating a balance between these two makes a good planner.
Two skills make one financially free, ‘A good earning skill’ and ‘A good management skill’. Good earning skills ensures that the funds are brought to the table on a timely basis and also in a tangible amount. According to the motivational speakers, working hard and struggling through your limitations puts well on your way to developing a good earning skill. This is a fact however, but to frank, this only makes you a good earner but it’s just one of the two skills required to set you free financially.
The second one is usually ignored, but is plays a very significant role in your strive for financial freedom. How do you spend your earning, sometimes buy those stocks isn’t even the most clever move, sometimes saving it away isn’t also the best move. A critical look at certain factors which matters to you and considering the future with a little bit of pessimism and optimism enables one make good decisions as regards spending. Being realistic is essential in financial management, being realistic on the other hand involves creating a balance between your pessimistic feelings and optimistic feelings.
A decision made by considering only of this might simply running into hasty and uninformed decision which may lead to poor management decision, frivolous spending or unnecessary frugal spending.
High earners are expected to have a higher propensity to spend, while the low earners are expected to spend less, normally. The pressure to cut spending or spend wisely hits more on the richer population, but this not different for the low earning population. Low earners with a good financial management have a lead a decent financial life, hence while earning big has been preached as the ultimate way to financial freedom, developing a good financial management skill have also proven to be equally important, more vital in some cases. Just like the steering on a car, a good financial management skill steers you to financial freedom.Source
Your journey towards financial Financial freedom is like driving a car, while a good earning skill drives it, a good financial management skill is like the steering which steers it towards the right direction, a dysfunction in any of them makes your journey riskier and impossible as the case may be. Driving free from financial slavery is hence a product a well-managed earning and not only a diversified lucrative earning scheme.
