Financial freedom is one of the major goals of most of the people. Why? Because, money may not be everything, it is as important as Oxygen to the body. We can not lack money in order to live our normal life in this society. We may not like the ways that many people employ to earn the money. But we sure enjoy things that money can buy. We enjoy good food, nice cloth, decent house, big cars etc. All these things will not come to us if we do not have money. It is one of the factors that are the definition of success. The major concern to the people is how we can be financial free. Seven techniques here will be the guideline to your financial freedom if you constantly practice it. The techniques include:
1. Pay yourself first. Once you get any form of your income. No matter what the amount is. Set aside part of it to be yours first. Do not care what expenses you have to pay because this is the key that most financial-free people do. This is one of the mistakes that many do not know. They mostly pay their bills and use up all they earn and finally they do not have anything left. Do not let this happen to you. In order to be successful financially, you need to conduct this method strictly. As mentioned in the classic book "The richest man in Babylon", this method alone will change your life.
2. Save ten per cent of your income. Make it a must that you need to save ten per cent of your income no matter what. Make sure that it is a saving not an emergency fund. Do not spend this amount even you have the urgency to use the money. If you are afraid or want to prepare for that situation, set up a separate account for that purpose. If you want to save the money to buy a house, cars, or education for your kids, do not use this fund. Set up a separate account for each one of them. Although the amount may not seem significant in the beginning, but it can be great enough for you later on.
3. Invest wisely. After your ten per cent is big enough, now it's time to invest this saving into a safe account. Check out all the ways how to get the most interest out of this and make sure that it is the safest way. Since the accumulation of this fund is where your future depends on, do not take any risk out of this fund. There is an evident that if a person save ten per cent of his income and invest it wisely, he will be financial free at the age of forty. Or forty five maximum. This is the exponential power of compounding. Compounding effect is the method that all millionaire use to accumulate their wealth.
4. Pay your tax. One of the most serious issues is that the tax you pay may be too high or you may not want to pay. The fact is tax problem is one of the most common problems that most people fall into. And you normally will lose if you need to stand against it. Therefore do not let this happens to you. Pay your government and do not complain what they do with your money. If you do not like what they do with it, vote for a different people next time you have a chance. That's all you can do. You can not design your way of using tax fund unless you want to go into politics. Make sure that you do not go into tax trap. Have a good accountant to prepare your tax payment or make sure that you have enough knowledge for handling that.
5. Set up your donation fund. People can not live alone in the society. We live with other people. And almost all the time, we can easily find less fortunate people around. Set up a certain percentage of your money for donation purpose. Accumulate it so that it can make more meaning for a larger group of people. Make wise use of it since there may be a lot of deception in the area. If you are known is a giving person, many people may come to you and request the money to save them out. A lot of their story may not be true. Do not give it away aimlessly. Do it prudently and you will enjoy giving your money for this purpose.
6. Pay for your education. Rich people need to be rich inside. You will need to learn all of your life in order to keep your momentum and your passion going. It may come from books, CDs, Tapes, learning courses or even a meal with an expert. All this will help us grow and be richer both mentally and financially.
7. Visualize as you are already rich. Visualization is one of the key methods to attract wealth into your life. According to the law of attraction, what you concentrate upon, you will attract the situation and attributes favorable to your goals. Make use of visualization will help you get what you want. Visualization can also be enhanced by some accelerator. There are a few products in the market that you can make use of so that your visualization will attract wealth faster.
A good definition of financial independence, by the way, is the control of an income stream sufficient to support your current standard of living.
Becoming financially independent is no accident. More than anything else, the secret to real wealth is the mindset of wealth.
So you see, my dare is not really as outrageous as it might sound at first. By accepting the challenge, you are taking the first step to acquiring the mindset of wealth. You must be resolved to the fact that with wealth building, there must be dedication. And I guarantee that the opportunity to become financially independent is waiting for you, but you have to make the decision to go for it.
It's up to you to take that step across the threshold of opportunity facing you now. It's a decision you should have no hesitancy for. And when you do, you're on your way to financial independence.
There are four major hurdles you must jump to become financially independent. I could go into a deep explanation of each step but I will save that for another time, I really want to discuss a powerful investment strategy. But I will briefly outline the four steps to financial independence.
So to get started, lets begin with the first of our skills of wealth building and that is earning. You must understand the two basic components controlling your earning power.
First comes your ability to do the work with the value that the marketplace demands. The second and probably the most important factor controlling our earning power, is the demand in the marketplace for whatever it is we've chosen to do.
Second, you must build a financial protection account to cover all your expenses in case of an emergency, such as the loss of your income source. Saving is really the second important skill for acquiring wealth. You must have the discipline to build a protection account that will cover all your living expenses for your family, for a period of a year or two.
The third step in becoming financially independent is to begin an investment program. You want to achieve the highest returns on the money that you have designated for your investment program. Your objective now is to accumulate a mass of capital that will generate sufficient income to support your lifestyle without your having to work.
The fourth step to financial independence is too develop enough investment prowess to earn the extra income that allows you to fill your wants and desires. You have your needs met, but now you want to create the extra income that allows you to become financially free, this is where you can basically satisfy most of all your wants.
There, now that we have the four basic steps to financial freedom. I would like to carry on with the main focus of this article.
But I must make it clear that I had set up multiple Avenues of Income first, to put me in the financial situation that affords me the ability to test the waters of many different financial opportunities.
Let us have a look at a compelling investment strategy. This is an investment strategy that has worked well for me in all types of market conditions. And by no means is this a strategy that I designed. In fact, it's one that has been used successfully from a time long before the modern market and the stock exchange even existed. It's called value investing.
Value investing is the best long term strategy for creating wealth that's ever been devised. The theory behind it all is remarkably simple. You can become a value investor by investing your money only in under-valued assets. You can find under-valued assets in stocks and bonds, real estate or a wide variety of other investment opportunities. But whatever the investment asset may be, value investing boils down to the equivalent of buying dollar bills for pennies.
Now, I am sure you are saying "If it's really that easy, everyone would be doing it." I want to assure you easy as it actually is, everyone is not doing it. As with all great ideas in the world, only a few recognize them for what they are, and fewer still then decide to act on them.
Under-valued assets exist for reasons that range from fluctuations in the economy to fluctuations in human emotions.
It's important to understand, however, that you can always find undervalued assets if you are willing to look for them. And, you don't have to do this all by yourself. Look for investment professionals who operate investment funds and companies using this strategy. Through study and practice you will learn to accurately assess values as a basis for profitable investment.
Another key mindset of wealth is thinking and acting like a business person as well as an investor. Remember the better business person you are, the better investor you'll be. And the better investor you become, the better business person you'll be.
Please also keep in mind that value investing may offer important opportunities to take an active role in creating value in your investments. For example, you might turn an unwanted piece of real estate into an income producing asset, or turn a failing business into a thriving business, or create a new product or service based on a need or want you see in the marketplace.
Another form of value investing is investing in yourself and your abilities. There are many ways of increasing the cash flow into your families finances.
Setting up avenues of income that could hold the possibility of creating a passive and/or residual stream of income. If you take the opportunity to set up another stream of income, you would really be increasing your ability to grow anyone of your other investments. And, there are many ways of creating an extra souse of income that doesn't consume every spare minute that you have. To the contrary, making such a move in your life would possibly result in you're having even more free time to do the things you love.
The options are endless. The possibilities of a whole knew future are there for the taking.
Both Jim Somchai & Howard Platt are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jim Somchai has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, Dating and Romance and Cooking Tips. Jim SomchaiRead more of his articles from his site. . Jim Somchai's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.
Howard Platt has sinced written about articles on various topics from Adware, Lose Weight and Internet Marketing. Hi, I am a 43 yr. old semi-retired Financial Advisor and Estate Planner. If you are interested in some investment ideas visit