Given I’ve been dolling out financial advice as a personal finance blogger since 2009, here is not only my best financial advice, but my best three pieces of financial advice for everyone to achieve financial freedom sooner.
Best Financial Advice To Achieve Financial Freedom
1) If the amount of money you are saving each month doesn’t hurt, you are NOT saving enough.
It’s the same thing with braces. The pain in your teeth and gums means that your braces are working. They are straightening your teeth out! Once the pain stops, you’ve got to go back to the orthodontist and get them tightened again. Too many people wing their finances and then wake up at 50 years old and wonder where the hell all their money went.
Related: How Much Should I Have Saved By Age In Order To Not Live A Miserable Retirement Life?
2) Never fail due to a lack of effort, because effort requires no skill.
Stop making excuses for not trying because you have no talent or skill. Too many people don't bother to try because they feel they are not smart enough, strong enough, confident enough, good looking enough, charismatic enough, or skilled enough. I say hog wash to this all.
You can be the dumbest donkey on the planet, but if you try your best you will rest easy even if you fail. But if you don't try your best, you will always wonder what if. The regret of not trying your best will eat you up inside.
One random example is that I want to be a “Most Viewed Writer” on real estate on Quora, a popular Q&A platform. If the current most viewed writer has 200,000 views, and each of my answers gets 1,000 views, I know that all I have to do is answer 200 questions! That takes effort. Luckily, all I did was answer 12 questions very well and shot to #1.
Related: The Single Best Financial Move I Ever Made
3) Track your finances like a hawk because nobody cares more about your money than you.
In the past, financial buffs who wanted to break free from the corporate grind sooner would track all our finances on an Excel spreadsheet. We’d then methodically update each line item every single month.
Now, you can use a free financial tool from Personal Capital to automatically track your net worth, analyze your investments for excessive fees, and plan for your retirement using your real income and expenses. Once you link up all your accounts, a new world will appear before your eyes.
Most people have no idea what kind of financial shape they are in until they have lots of responsibility and think, “OH CRAP! Where the hell did all my money go? Oh please, let there be Social Security and an inheritance to hold me through. I don’t want to work forever!”
Don’t be like most people. Leverage free technology to see whether you’re on track to financial freedom, or on track to financial destitution. Catch your destitution early and you can change your future.
Related: The Average Net Worth For The Above Average Person
About the Author: Sam worked in finance for 13 years. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from The College of William & Mary and got his MBA from UC Berkeley. In 2012, Sam was able to retire at the age of 34 largely due to his investments that now generate roughly $250,000 a year in passive income. He spends time playing tennis, taking care of his family, and writing online to help others achieve financial freedom too.
Sam started Financial Samurai in 2009 and has grown it to be one of the largest independently owned personal finance sites in the world. Financial Samurai has been featured in top publications such as the LA Times, The Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.