That statement could be interpreted in so many ways….
In our political and politicized world, we often have heard the expression ‘Freedom is Not Free.’ Which I find often enough to be true.
When thinking about an individual’s financial condition, then it become much clearer: We can never become financially free if we are not willing to pay the price.
Financial freedom does not arrive out of nothing.
What Price Freedom?
So the simple question is: what is the price of financial freedom?
That can be answered in so many ways. Simply speaking, if we are willing to save and invest, be watchful of our expenses and live within our means, then we have the ticket to financial freedom.
Are we willing to pay the price?
That is a much more serious question. We see with our own eyes so many who spend their lives spending. Conspicuous consumption. Now, the truth is some are wealthy and can afford to spend to their heart’s content. But for the rest of us, we need to be prudent and understand that less spending now can lead to having more later.
This is the price, if we are willing to pay it. It comes as an impossible burden to some, a difficult process for others, but for some, with practice and perception over time, it becomes natural and obvious. No farmer expects to harvest from their lands without preparing the fields and sowing the seeds and tending to the planted area. If we are to have when we are ready to harvest, we must prepare much earlier than harvest time.
So it is with our finances. We must hold ourselves accountable for our own futures. Our future has already started. Our future re-starts every day, so we daily have the chance to enrich our selves.
The Ticket to Financial Freedom
When the “the ticket to financial freedom” is mentioned, that is all it is. Nothing is guaranteed. We expect the best, but detours exist. When we buy a transportation ticket, we expect to get where we are going. But accidents, mechanical problems, weather, and so many other things can divert our journey.
That is why we diversify our investments. We don’t put all of our money in one stock. Not to say that some won’t do this, but in my view it is not very prudent. Even the biggest companies can sometimes falter or decline. The past is littered with former greats.
How Do You Know When You Have Arrived?
I supposed that is like asking “How will I know when I am successful?” For some, it may be a dollar figure. For other it may be that ability to sleep at night without financial worries. To each his or her own. I supposed it is not as easy to know the destination because it constantly unfolds before us. We may later encounter roadblocks or stumbling blocks previously unknown. Our journey is never over while we are still alive.
Are you willing to pay the price? Let me know here.
The illustration is from the 1720 book entitled “A treatise of buggs : shewing when and how they were first brought into England; how they are brought into and infect houses : their nature, several foods, times and manner of spawning and propagating in this climate : their great increase accounted for by proof of the numbers each pair produce in a season : reasons given why all attempts hitherto made for their destruction have proved ineffectual : vulgar errors concerning them refuted : that from September to March is the best season for their total destruction demonstrated by reason and proved by fact : concluding with directions … how to avoid them and … how to destroy them” by John Southall. Courtesy The Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.
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