What if I told you “financial independence” or “financial security” is NOT your goal?
Would you believe me?
So many people list some variation of this as their financial goal. There are two fallacies:
1. They are vague. What do you consider “financial independence”? How do you measure it? How will you know when you have achieved it?
2. They are illusions.There is no such thing as “financial security” and the only person who is truly financially independent is a homeless person, with no assets and no debts. Anything you have can be taken away, devalued, or destroyed. And, while this can be a source of anxiety (not my intent, btw), it can also be very liberating. If you were able to obtain it once, you can obtain it again. Unless it was something irreplaceable, in which case you can only keep the memory.
For the first, you can easily rectify it by replacing it with specific, measurable goals.
For the second, you can focus on skills. Knowledge is power and as long as you have your education and experiences you can rebuild whatever was lost. Look at how many millionaires and billionaires have “lost it all”, been bankrupted, or owed millions of dollars, then came back bigger and stronger than ever. Most of them say it was easier the second (or third) time around. For one, they knew they could do it because they already had. And, they knew what had worked and what did not from their previous attempt(s).
If you ever want to challenge your thoughts and beliefs, find a copy of Leonard Griffith’s “Illusions of Our Culture”. First released in 1969 it covers everything from affluence to security (for some reason he has no illusions after “s”…). It is an interesting read.
Is “financial independence/security” one of your goals? If so, what does it look like to you?