7 Steps to Financial Independence

Are you looking for ways to become financially independent? That’s good! Because today I want to share with you my 7 powerful tips to help you reach your financial freedom. Financial freedom does not necessarily mean a retirement or to quit your job. I define financial freedom when you are not forced to work to pay the bills, but when you work for pleasure and have tons of time to do what you love and enjoy the most.

But before you embark on a journey to financial freedom, you need to figure out the reason why you want to do it. Write down your goals and who do you want to be and what do you want to do later on. Without a clear goal and a clear plan, you will get lost in your journey to financial freedom. To endure this journey, you need to be ambitious and be motivated. The only thing that will keep you motivated is your strong reason WHY you need a financial freedom.

Without further ado, let’s get to business. Here are my personal 7 Steps to Financial Independence.






Step 1: Get Higher Paying Job



This is the best personal tip I can give you right now to immediately increase your cash flow. You need to earn more money to save faster, to get out of debt faster, and to invest in yourself faster. I know this sounds crazy and unrealistic for some people, but if you’re someone who is stuck with minimum wage job – trust me – there are better options out there. For example, a mail delivery guy makes almost twice as much as McDonald’s guy. Do you know how much a city employee makes painting the lines on the streets? Go find out, you will be surprized. They make close to $30 an hour, no education required. So look around for a higher paying job. Remember, you are only doing it temporary because you want to reach your financial independence faster. If you already have a good paying job then you can skip this part and go into the next.



Step 2: Find a second Part-Time Job



You need a side hustle in order to accumulate wealth faster. Even if you have a good paying job, chances are, you blowing most of the cash away because you have the time to do it. If you are young and don’t have a family yet, by all means – work more. Remember, all of this hustle is just temporary. It can be hard in the beginning to have two jobs, but it’s doable. As long as you have a clear plan and a clear vision WHY you doing it, you will have the motivation to do it. You just need to commit to it and stick to the plan. Your hard work and sacrifice will start to pay off in five years.


Step 3: Increase Your Saving Rate



In order to accumulate wealth faster, you need to adapt to a lifestyle that will allow you to save a big chunk of your hard earned cash. You should be able to save at least 30% of your primary income and 100% of your secondary income. But what if you are in a situation where you can’t save 30% of your primary income? What if your rent expense and food eats up the majority of your income and by the time you pay all other bills, you are left with nothing? Well in this case you live well above your means. If you have an expensive rent, downsize your place. If you spend too much on eat outs, learn to cook at home. Buying coffee? Make it yourself. Figure out the ways to cut your expenses and start accumulating wealth. Remember that this is all temporary. Sacrifice today for tomorrow’s betterment. So you probably wondering what to do with all that cash that you save. Well, jump to the next step.





Step 4: Invest Your Savings



Don’t just accumulate money in your bank account. Put them to work for you right away. The easiest way to start making a return on your money is investing. Open a brokerage account and transfer your savings there. Buy good quality businesses that will pay you dividends just for holding the stock. For me, the stock market is the easiest way to put your money to work because it does not require my time once the investment is purchased. I get my dividends regularly without putting any extra work to it. So you can start investing and it will not interfere with your jobs. Just make sure you buy profitable businesses and avoid speculative stocks. Continue to invest for five years and your portfolio will generate $300-$350 per month in dividends.


Step 5: Find Your Passion



So now you have two jobs, you’re a money maker, a super star. Your savings rate is high and your investments are on auto-pilot. What’s next? You need to start a hobby, you need to find something you really passionate about. And it can be anything, from writing to creating. As long as you do something that you love, you will never get bored with it. If you didn’t figure out what your passion is, I can help you with that. Picture the situation that you have unlimited amount of money and you don’t have to work until the rest of your life. What would you do? Would you travel the world? Would you start writing? Maybe you would open a studio and start painting or do something artistic? Your hobby can be anything you want, as long as you experience the pleasure doing it.



Step 6: Invest in Yourself



Once you figure out the hobby you want to pursue, take some classes to improve your skills. Believed it or not, you can market your hobby and make a living. You just need to push your hobby to the next level. Once you gain more experience, you will become a pro at anything you do. Consistency is the key. Always try to improve your skills. Strive for progress. By marketing your hobby, you will be able to add a new income stream and over time it will surpass the income of your part-time job. At this point, it’s up to you if you want to quit your part-time job and focus more on your hobby and marketing to increase sales.


Step 7: Grow Your Social Media Presence

 

Do you have social media accounts? If not, then you need them right away. Social media is the only way to share with the whole world what you do. Get Instagram, Facebook, YouTube even start a blog. The more presence you have online the better. Learn the techniques to get followers to your Instagram account because it’s the most powerful platform these days to market anything you want. Spend at least one hour a day to promote your accounts online. Do it every day and in a few years your accounts will be famous and will grow on its own. Then open an online shop to list your products and connect your shop to your social media accounts. Your long-time followers will eventually turn into loyal customers because they will want to support your work.


 

So here you are, five years later you should have income streams from your jobs, from your investments, from your hobby and even from social media. Yes, you can make money from your blog and your YouTube account. The longer you continue this journey, the more you grow. Ten years down the road you can start planning on working less or even quitting your day job. You can focus more on your hobby, investments and online income. I hope these steps will help you reach financial independence faster and improve your life.

Feel free to share your own tips and steps to your financial freedom. I would love to hear them.