if you could design your life and plan everything in it what would it look like
some people would love to travel all over the world some people would love to
own and live in their dream houses and others may want to be able to pursue
their dreams or maybe even have that dream wedding they've always wanted and
so much more the list is endless while they do say money won't bring you
happiness it sure does play a big role almost
everything you choose to do requires you to part with some box I'm not trying to
say money is everything but it really is important and like Kanye West puts it
money isn't everything but not having it is but we're not here to give you a
second hand advice from rappers today we share with you 10 steps you can take to
achieve complete financial freedom imagine a life where you don't have to
worry about money the decisions you make won't be based on what you have in the
bank account you won't take that job you don't like because it pays off better
you won't have to check the price tags on organic foods just to confirm you can
afford them you can opt to take uber black whenever you wish - sounds like a
wonderful life right well it's quite possible to get there but you have to
understand you won't reach there overnight just like everything else in
order to see results you will need to put in the effort be really disciplined
and follow the steps we're about to share take some notes this just might
change your life before we start hit that subscribe
button in the Bell notification now let's begin number one set life goals
the very first step is to create a list of life goals
don't just scribble down a couple of things you want to achieve but take some
time to really soul search and identify what you really want out of life once
done with the list attach timelines to them and if possible a cost be very
specific accurate and realistic when doing this it's okay to be overly
ambitious but we both know it's not possible to buy a million dollar home
within six months well unless you win the lottery and with the one out of a
hundred thousand chance this is almost impossible stick to what's possible and
achievable we recommend putting this list somewhere where you'll see it every
day like on your fridge for instance number two create a budget
it's important to know exactly what you consume everyday and how much it costs
this is the only way to truly understand where your money goes writing a
household budget and sticking to it relentlessly will end up saving you a
lot of money it's a great routine that reinforces your goals and bolsters the
temptation to splurge on unnecessary things trust me
number three emergency fund start by creating an emergency fund the ultimate
rule of an emergency fund is saving up six months in recurrent expenses and
stashing it somewhere just in case anything out of the ordinary happens by
out of the ordinary we don't mean vacations that fancy watch you've always
wanted or any miscellaneous purchase that money should only be used for
actual needs which would otherwise deter or slow down your life these include
emergencies such as your car breaking down water heater system failing or
unexpected hospital bills only the most important needs why create an emergency
fund everything that can go wrong will at some point go wrong Murphy's Law so
instead of borrowing money or using your credit card which will make you get
further into debt use your save funds this is the first step anyone who wants
to achieve financial freedom should take number four plan to pay off debt about
80% of Americans are in debt and this number is steadily increasing at an
alarming rate debt isn't entirely bad in fact it has its benefits for one you can
build up a good credit score by borrowing money and returning it in time
what's wrong with debt is the fact that people overuse it 65 percent of
Americans have maxed out their credit cards at one point in their lives there
are two rules that should be abided by when it comes to debt only borrow money
for purchases that will appreciate for example a house a piece of land and any
other asset that fits into that criteria the other rule is to only borrow money
when you have a plan to pay it back as businesses do
in short what we're trying to say is don't use your credit card to purchase
that Birkin bag you've just seen on a window while debt may be good in some
cases it can dent your account tremendously when you're paying off a
couple of hundreds of dollars a month for car loans student loans and any
other loans this restricts your ability to save money or even invest therefore
it's imperative to create a plan to clear off your debt and
stick by it you'll end up saving thousands of dollars in interest if you
manage to pay it faster than the repayment time these savings can be
added up to your account or used in some investment with great returns
essentially creating more financial freedom so what's the best way to pay
off loans faster there are a couple ways to do this
you can start by categorizing each loan based on the interest rate and pay off
those with the highest first there's also the snowball method which takes
into account human behavior this requires you to pay off the smaller
loans first which will then give you the momentum and Psyche to tackle the others
number five retirement fund to attain financial freedom you have to make
short-term sacrifices for the long-term gain one of the greatest sacrifices is
having a retirement fund having a 401k is one of those things you know you
really need but haven't paid that much attention to and if you already have one
you aren't contributing the maximum you can having this fund is crucial for
security in the future by saving a little each month you're guaranteeing
yourself a dignified retirement and who wouldn't want that
also if you manage to store up enough you can achieve early retirement
comfortably stop wasting time and take the steps today number 6 start investing
today this is the only way your money can multiply once you've created a
structure of managing your income and the above steps go ahead and create an
investing plan compound interest will grow your money exponentially over time
however please note that you will need to be patient as results will only be
seen over long periods of time so where do you start don't try to be a stock
picker or think you're the next Warren Buffett instead open an online brokerage
account which allows one to learn how to invest and create a portfolio after
doing your research you can create weekly or monthly deposits to this
account number seven create automated savings one of the wisest things you
could ever do for your finances is to set up automated withdrawals once you
have an outlined budget loan payment structure savings model retirement fund
monthly contributions then you can activate automated deductions monthly
the money should be pulled out the same day your paycheck comes in so you can
avoid temptation completely have you ever been in a
situation where you just don't know what happened to your money you received your
paycheck but right after a couple of days your account is empty and you're
clueless to where it went then maybe it's about time you created
automated deductions talk to your bank and find out how you can connect these
automated debt payments today number eight
watch your credit score the credit score is the determinant of so many things it
determines the rate at which you will receive a loan for your car or when
refinancing your home and so much more what most people don't take into account
is that it determines other seemingly unrelated things such as life insurance
premiums and car insurance most institutions reason that someone with a
low credit score is likely to be reckless in other aspects in life such
as drinking and driving you can potentially lose a lot of money
in the long run for having a bad credit score therefore keep an eye on your
credit report regularly to ensure there are no black marks that could tarnish
your good name number 9 continuous learning knowledge is the key
to becoming financially free regularly review all changes in the tax
regulations to ensure all deductions and adjustments are maximized stay up to
date with financial news to identify any developments within the stock markets
and be quick in adjusting your portfolio accordingly
other than being financially literate also take time to improve your knowledge
within your career if taking that extra course will increase your chances of
getting a better paying job go for it you'll also be in a better place to
retain your job when the company is doing retrenchments today there are
hundreds of certified online courses that will train you for a small fee
while some are completely free number 10 maintenance take good care of everything
you own this includes your car home lawn mowers and even clothes
the longer they last the less you need to repair or replace them you will end
up saving hundreds of dollars yearly on unnecessary maintenance costs if it's
your car take it out for regular servicing and use your gadgets
responsibly this also applies to your body take good care of your health
eat well and exercise to avoid time and money wasted in hospitals also your
general health also determines your insurance premiums being obese and
having a red - multiple ailments can cause your
insurance cost to skyrocket also avoid habits that would put your
health at jeopardy this includes habits like alcoholism smoking and abuse of any
illegal substance some companies have instilled restrictions on the allowed
number of sick days anyone who exceeds the limit incurs a
notable deduction in their paycheck you have no choice but to take better care
of yourself and your thanks don't expose yourself to health dangers as the price
will be a hefty drawback in your journey to financial freedom while this won't
automatically guarantee you'll achieve your financial goals it will help you
develop habits that will get you on the right path I know we said we'd give you
ten steps but it doesn't hurt to learn one more right number eleven hire a
financial advisor once you've followed all the above steps
and practice them for a substantial amount of time you'll have amassed a
decent amount of money the money might be there but you don't know what to do
with it this can lead to impulse purchases and misuse of funds that could
easily take you back to where you started the next step to take when you
have chunks of money that you don't know what to do with is to get an expert to
educate you and help you through the decision making process not just any
expert choose one with experience and a reputable image you don't want to create
new problems that didn't exist if you can't find someone you can always choose
to educate yourself and handle your money accordingly the internet is your
unlimited source of information you can also enroll for short courses in money
management which are reasonably priced and extremely informative that's it for
today we hope you've learned something it's not hard to achieve financial
freedom but with discipline and proper planning nothing is impossible we wish
you all the best as you take on this journey leave a like if you enjoyed this
video and save this video for future reference so in summary one set life
goals to create a budget 3 set up an emergency fund or plan to pay off debt 5
set up a retirement fund 6 start investing 7 create automated saving 8
watch your credit score 9 never stop learning 10 take good care of everything
you own and finally 11 hire a financial advisor thank you so much for watching
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