Today's video is all about
step five in my five by two
financial freedom framework.
And if you haven't checked out
the previous four videos,
I will leave links to those
below in the description.
I am Tiffany Thomas with
wealthy tiffany.com
and I achieved financial
freedom and became a
millionaire.
If you're looking to do one or
both of those things,
make sure and hit that like
button and hit the subscribe
button and we are going to
dive right in.
All right.
Today's video is all about
step number five,
which is securing your
financial freedom.
You are going to learn the
last step on your path to
financial freedom and the two
sub steps that are included in
that.
And why you do not want to
leave this step out.
Plus,
I'm going to share my own
example on what I have done to
make sure I stay financially
free.
We are going to talk about
being smart and being giving,
because once we achieve
financial freedom,
we want to make sure that we
stay financially free.
So let's talk about being
smart first off.
The first item that I want to
talk about is taking care of
yourself and your assets.
You want to make sure that you
are staying healthy and that
you are taking care of your
properties,
if you own properties.
That way you can continue to
keep your expenses really low,
especially medical expenses,
which tend to get higher when
we get older.
And then the second thing is
going along with that,
you want to make sure that you
are taking care of yourself
and your assets,
but you also want to protect
yourself and your assets.
So you want to make sure that
you have either a will or a
trust,
or even both in place and have
beneficiaries on your
investment accounts and even
your checking accounts,
anything that has to do with
your finances and then make
sure that you are insured.
The next item is being
flexible.
And I've talked about this
before in quite a few
different videos,
but we really want to make
sure that we are keeping an
eye on our investments when we
are financially free,
because we want to make sure
that we aren't spending all of
our money.
And then we have to go back to
work later.
So if we keep an eye on our
investments and when the stock
market is taking a dip,
like it is currently,
we pull back on our spending.
And when the stock market is
up,
when our investments are up,
then we can spend a little bit
more,
but we want to make sure that
we are flexible.
And then also we can watch for
opportunities that might come
our way to invest in something
else.
And we can also stay up to
date on what is happening in
the financial world.
That way,
if there is something new that
has come out,
that is better than what we
are investing in,
or an account that we have,
then we can switch over to
something better.
And then we also want to keep
our taxes as low as possible.
We want to make sure we know
what investments we have in
our tax advantaged accounts
and in our non tax advantaged
accounts.
And that we are pulling out
our investments at the right
time so that we can keep our
taxes as low as possible.
And the next thing is,
we want to automate what we
can,
and this goes throughout our
entire journey of becoming
financially free.
We still want to be investing
perhaps.
And if we want to do that,
it's better if we can just
automate our investments.
And then also we want to
automate our payments.
We don't want to have to think
about making different
payments all the time and
accidentally missing a payment
and then getting charged a
late fee.
And then we're actually paying
more than we originally
planned.
And another thing is not
changing our strategy,
and I'm not talking about
necessarily sticking with one
thing your entire life,
but if you are started in one
direction,
then keep going and master
that,
get really good at it and
continue with it.
And then you can continue to
expand your knowledge,
but you're not just getting
your toes wet in one thing and
then switching over to another
and not really becoming
successful with one thing.
And we still want to negotiate
for goods and services.
We want to make sure that we
are keeping our expenses as
low as possible still.
So we still want to call our
internet company and make sure
we are getting the best price
there and our car insurance or
home insurance,
all of those types of things.
We don't want to just leave
those and increase our
expenses over time.
And then you also want to keep
an eye on your credit score.
Especially if you plan on
opening up a new line of
credit,
maybe you want to open a new
credit card later on,
or you want to take out a
small loan for another
investment,
things like that.
So just make sure that you
know,
what your credit score is.
And one way I like to keep an
eye on my credit score is by
using credit karma,
it's completely free.
And you can see what balances
you have left,
any debts that you might have,
all of your accounts that are
open,
and then it will show you your
estimated credit score.
So I really like using that.
It's an easy way to keep an
eye on my credit.
They will also give you
suggestions on how to increase
your credit score.
If that's something you're
interested in,
I will leave my referral link
below.
You can click on that to set
up a free account so that you
can always keep an eye on your
credit score.
And the next thing is to
utilize your own competitive
advantage and make sure that
you are trusting yourself.
So by knowing yourself,
knowing your own temptations
or your weaknesses,
your strengths,
you can utilize that with your
finances.
And also if you have certain
connections in real estate,
then you can utilize those
connections.
If you know,
one of your weaknesses is
watching the stock market too
often,
and you get really scared when
the stock market goes down and
you want to pull out your
investments,
then you probably don't want
to be investing in risky
things so that you don't end
up pulling out your
investments.
So comment below and tell me
one way that you have been
smart with your money and
let's move to the next
subsection in securing our
financial freedom.
And this is all about being
giving.
Generosity is the path to
wealth.
We want to be giving
throughout this entire process
by doing so that breaks that
power of spending and
accumulation,
which is just focusing on
ourselves all of the time.
We can be more satisfied with
what we actually do have
instead of always wanting
more,
we can realize that we do have
enough and we can know the
difference between our wants
and our needs and focus on
taking care of our needs
first.
We can also realize there's
not just joy in having money,
but also there is joy in
helping meet others' needs.
And when we are focused more
on the outside,
instead of on the inside,
just on ourselves,
then we can even be more aware
of other people's needs and be
able to help them.
And also we want to secure our
investments for our posterity,
and we want to leave that
legacy.
And that is just one other way
that we can be giving with our
wealth.
And I shared this study in a
previous video,
but I want to share it again.
It says that generous people
have healthier bodies,
minds and relationships,
and in the long run,
they actually make more money
than people who are selfish.
So in other words,
that literally pays to be
generous.
And just a few more reasons
about why we want to be giving
when we have that giving
mentality,
that's basically self-denial.
We can realize that our lives
can be more fulfilled without
more stuff.
And I really liked this
concept.
I've been trying to reduce the
amount of stuff that I own,
and it does make a big
difference.
We don't need a ton of stuff
to be happy.
I surely don't need as many
clothes as I have to be happy.
And when we don't have that
attitude of giving,
when we are selfish,
we lose the real meaning of
money.
Money is only a resource to
help better our lives and
others' lives.
Also when we are grateful and
when we are giving,
then the more that we are open
to receiving,
if we have that mindset of,
I have to hoard everything,
I can't share anything or do
anything nice for anyone else.
Then we are not going to
receive opportunities to
receive.
And if we are setting the
example of having a joyful and
a happy life,
we can inspire others to do
the same and not only
inspiring others,
but we can also share with
others what we have learned.
Comment below and tell me
what's one way that you have
been able to give.
And I want to share my own
example of how these two items
have worked in my own life.
So let's first talk about
being smart.
I try to keep myself healthy
and take care of my
properties.
I really love doing Zumba.
I know we've talked about that
in multiple videos before,
and I also teache Zumba,
I find it to be really fun and
it is a great way to get
exercise and I'm even trying
to eat more healthy.
I know that when I eat healthy
and when I exercise my medical
expenses are going to stay
pretty low.
I've also been able to be
flexible since I am
financially free.
And the stock market is down
right now,
as I'm recording this video
and I'm being flexible and not
pulling money out of my stock
market investments when they
are so low,
I'm coming up with other ways
to reduce my expenses or
increase my income.
And going along with the
opportunities side of things,
I am constantly thinking about
different ways that I could
make money.
And one thing I am pondering
right now is doing Airbnb.
I have a roommate that will be
moving out soon,
and I'm considering putting
that room on Airbnb.
I've also thought about
building a tiny home in my
backyard,
and I've gotten a quote for
that.
So there's just different
things I'm thinking about all
the time that could help
Increase my income.
And also I try to keep my
taxes as low as possible so
that I can pay as little as
possible.
I paid a large amount last
year.
So I am trying to be better
this year.
And like I talked about
before,
I like keeping that strategy
the same as long as it's
working for me.
So that is why I focused on
long-term rentals and I have
that down.
So now I feel like I can
explore the opportunity of
doing an Airbnb.
I kept an eye on my credit
score and when I was ready to
purchase another property,
I made sure to boost my credit
score as much as possible.
And if you're wondering how I
did that,
I have another video with all
of the details.
I'll leave a link above and
below.
You can check that out later
on and I've made sure to
automate my investing as much
as possible and my payments as
much as possible.
And one thing I wanted to
share I use a credit union for
one of my credit cards,
and I actually had to call
them and have them set up an
automatic payment that would
pay my entire balance.
I could online do the minimum
payment with an automatic
payment,
but I wasn't able to do my
full balance.
So I ended up calling them and
they set it up for me.
So that is automated.
So if you don't see the option
to automate your payment,
especially for your full
balance on the credit card,
then give them a call and ask
them if they can set it up for
you.
And I've also used my
competitive advantage.
I have my sister who is a real
estate agent,
so I've used her to buy my
properties and then let's move
to the next subsection,
which is to be giving.
One thing that I have always
done and will continue to do
is to pay my tithing.
That's something that I find
very important to do.
And I know I have received
blessings from doing that and
not all of them have been
monetary blessings.
Also,
I try to be satisfied with
what I do have instead of just
accumulating more and more
stuff that is not going to
bring me happiness,
which goes along with knowing
what my needs are and what my
wants are.
And of course I can spend
money on my needs.
And if there is something I
want,
then usually I will wait to
buy that purchase instead of
immediately making the
purchase I'll wait maybe 24
hours.
And I've also used this
strategy before,
if there's something that I
want to buy,
I just say,
okay,
well,
I'll buy it the next day.
And then when the next day
comes,
I'll say I'll buy it the next
day.
And I just keep putting it off
and off and see how long I can
put it off.
And sometimes when I do that,
I don't even want the purchase
anymore.
And also I try to be grateful
for everything that I do have
when I have that attitude of
gratitude it makes a really
big difference because I'm
focusing on the things that I
already have instead of
focusing on what I am lacking.
And when I'm thinking about
all of those different things
that I am grateful for,
I realize that I have a ton of
stuff already,
and it's not just the physical
things that I'm being grateful
for.
It's also the people in my
life and the relationships I
have,
things like that.
And when I'm doing,
that it makes me a happier
person,
which means I don't need to be
spending money to be happy.
And then hopefully I am
inspiring others to be better
with their money.
And I'm able to share the
things that I have learned,
especially in these videos.
Like I said at the beginning,
make sure and check out my
other videos that I have done
on the previous four steps.
And if you want to get a
little bit of a boost in your
financial freedom fund,
webull is giving away six
free stocks,
when you set up a free
account,
I will leave my referral link
below in the description.
You can click on that and get
your six free stocks.
And if you found this video
helpful,
please hit that like button
and share it with someone else
who would like to hear this
information,
and to the subscribe button,
to subscribe to my YouTube
channel.
And if you want to see even
more content from me,
make sure to check out the
videos on the side of the
screen.
Thanks so much for watching.
I'll see you in the next
video.