The heart of this post comes from an article I read a few weeks back. Basically, most Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. If they miss one paycheck, they can find themselves on the streets in no time. It seems like anyone my age is willing to spend any money they have in order go out and have a good time. Instead of getting a paycheck and thinking about how to make that money grow, most Americans think about how to make that money go. As in go away. Whether it’s the club, drinks, expensive dinners, blah blah blah, the young population in our country LOVES to spend. Now don’t get wrong, there’s absolutely a reason to celebrate surviving 40 more hours dealing with your terrible co-workers and jerk boss, but the fact that most people my age have not thought for a second about how they can get out of their job and brighten their future is mind boggling. This attitude of spending that has come with the young generation is the reason most Americans have to work until they are 60! It amazes me that as a young generation, we don’t explore ways to save our money in order to spend the majority of our lives in a relaxed state.
This leads me to my take on achieving financial independence as soon as possible. Obviously, if you asked anyone if they would rather work 40 hours a week for the next 40 years or have passive income and enjoy the remainder of their lives, people would choose the later. But if you tell the young population that they’ll have to give up the night life, eat cheaper, ride a bike, and anything and everything to cut their expenses to increase their cash flow, they wouldn’t be willing to give up any of that. It’s pretty evident just by driving in Downtown on a weekend. In my eyes, it was easy to do whatever I could to cut my current costs and increase my cash flow as much as possible. The thought of working for a CEO for the next 40 years absolutely sickens me, and I’ve made it a goal of mine to be financially independent as soon as possible. I am at a disadvantage due to my student loans, but in all honesty, I’m not too worried about them. As long as I keep my costs low and increase my cash flow, paying off my loans should be very doable.
Sometimes, it’s frustrating knowing how much work is ahead of me in order to achieve financial independence. It can easily take the next 15 years before I am comfortable enough to retire and live off passive income. 15 years ago, I was 6 years old, which is frightening because I literally can’t even remember that. It means that I’ll have to go through that again to reach my goals. 15 years ago, it was 2000 and the Los Angeles Lakers had a player by the name of Kobe Bryant, who ironically was 21 years old at the time. But when I have those thoughts of doubt and anger, I remind myself what I am working for. I’m trying to get out of the misery of working for a boss who is using me to grow his own personal wealth. I always say, I’d rather work 60 hours a week for my own business than spend 15 hours a week working for a CEO.
Talking is easy. Doing the action is the hard part. For now, I have a plan. It’s a plan that most Americans don’t realize they should have done until it’s too late – until the costs of living outweigh the influx of cash they are receiving. I can tell you one thing – you won’t see me spending my paychecks on night life and brand new clothing. You might see me surfing, hiking, or playing basketball (all which are free, I might add), and you’ll probably find me gathering and scavenging as much information on how to raise my net worth and passive income so I can retire as soon as possible.