FINANCIAL FREEDOM

Since last Oct, God has been renewing my mind about abundance mentality. Which brings me to the topic I want to discuss today. Financial freedom. Yes, this is my pet topic. The key point about financial freedom is people spend money to buy ‘time’ and freedom for their lives. The freedom to do what they want to do, not having to work in order to pay the bills. This concept is very liberating. At some point though there is passive income, these people are still doing some part-time work.

In a sense, financial freedom is more like a freedom of thought. The freedom to choose not to build your life around certain brands or advertisements. Freedom from the need to show off your status in society with flashy status symbols. Freedom to be curious about how money flows and how to invest it properly. Of course the freedom to believe that it’s ok to live a happy life without working hard for money but to make money work hard for you. The freedom to quit their job at some point, overcoming the fear of lack or facing insecurity over the uncertainty of their future.

 

Many people are very busy spending their hard-earned money. People are so caught up in this cycle of consumption that we not longer even realise how enslaved we are. Trap of consumerism. We deserve it after all. We work hard for our money so we are entitled to a little reward. That’s probably why God had to address our financial roadmap because most of us didn’t put much thought into it. Just follow the world’s system. So God wanted to pull us out of that system and teach us to rely on Him for provision.

 

Now, let’s talk about reducing our cost of living. Getting used to living a frugal lifestyle which will help us once we are financially free because we will need relatively less investment income to cover our expenses. But this means we have to change our habits which is tougher. The major recurring costs in our lives are key. How we handle such costs linked to lifestyle choices makes a huge difference to our finances. Hence there is a need to get these expenses under control while young or while it is still relatively manageable.

 

Of course we can decide how much we want to increase them later on in our lives. Many people tend not to watch their budget when on holiday. After all, how often do we get to travel? But if that is how they feel, holidays will necessarily become a big expense. If they plan two or three holidays a year, the cost of these holidays can quickly become a major expense in their overall budget. Of course holidays don’t have to be expensive. You can lower your standards, intentionally choose less expensive countries, take fewer trips etc.

 

I think for most millennials, holidays are a major expense in their lives. Because they plan for at least a few trips a year. One expensive trip and two in the neighbouring countries. It might be tougher for them to save money because they prefer to spend on things that could improve their lives now, rather than to save up for retirement. Their desire is to enjoy the good life, the executive living right now and not have to wait till retirement. Nothing wrong but they might be a bit myopic at times.

 

There was a survey that asked how people want to spend their credit cards with no limits in five years’ time, and few people chose boundless luxury. Sure, at first most people want to take a good break, go on nice holiday, travel around the world etc. But after a while monotony sets in and soon it would not be as exciting or fun as the beginning. At some point, people would like to be involved in meaningful work like helping people or growing a farm etc. Which is why being financially free is good because we have control over our time. 

 

We don’t have to drive ourselves crazy over projects or jobs or timelines anymore. We can do things in small doses. See if it works for us. Some days less, some days more. If I don’t have to work for money, I can still choose to do so if it seems worthwhile. I can negotiate more freely with clients and not be afraid to lose a client.  I can give myself the space to think about what God wants me to focus on in each season when I am not pressured to make money. It is a relaxed attitude about my work. 

Most people do not support the FIRE movement because they felt it was for lazy people. People who did not want to work for the rest of their lives. However, I believe for some people, they just did not want to feel bound to a job they did not like. For me, financial freedom is very precious. The ability to choose is also very powerful. But it would require God to renew our minds (from poverty to abundance) and lots of courage on our part. And wise financial planning too.