“Do you see what true independence is?
It means that when they wake up in the morning they don’t have to go to a job.
They don’t have to go trade time for money anymore.
Their investments are producing enough cash flow every month that it meets and exceeds all their bills. There’s independence.”
Dependency
What stage are you at, dependent or independent? It’s dependent, isn’t it? You’re dependent on good old mom and dad, good old loving mom and dad to take care of you. Well, let’s go to the next stage ‘cause we’ve been told that what you do is you get your job—you get your education and you get your job and you become independent.
Well, if you wake up in the morning, run downstairs, grab the food that you bought with your paycheck, eat breakfast, then you go to a corporation and you do a series of chores for that corporation, for that company, and at the end of the week they give you a paycheck—allowance—are you independent or are you still dependent?
You’re still dependent, aren’t you? You’re still in that dependent stage of life, and that’s what the big problem is. We have been told—we’ve been given the wrong map.
Paychecks
And what’s happening is people are going out there working their tail off to move from dependent to independent, and they think they’ve made it when they get their job. But the truth is they’ve just moved from dependent to dependent. They haven’t moved anywhere. They’re still in a dependent stage of their lives.
There is no difference between you getting an allowance from your mom and dad that pay your bills and they pay your room and board and then you go get a job where they pay you more than your allowance, but you have to pay your own room and board.
How many of you are still living paycheck to paycheck? Now, here’s where it gets horrible. Here’s the one where—I’ll give my email out now so those of you who get mad at me after I say this can email me. I’m ready for them.
If you wake up and you go to work and you work all week long and you get a paycheck, and then you spend that money on clothes to keep yourself warm, you spend it on food, you spend it on your house, you spend it on your car, you have a little bit left over for entertainment—but at the end of that week, at the end of that paycheck there’s nothing left over (in other words you’re living paycheck to paycheck), what is the difference between that and being a slave where your owner pays your room and board and gives you a little entertainment?
Slavery
What’s the difference? Now, if you want to study what I just was discussing, you want to read a book called The Richest Man in Babylon. The Richest Man in Babylon. When I first heard that concept of: Are you any better off if you live paycheck to paycheck working for somebody than if you are a slave, I thought that’s completely ridiculous.
I get to choose which clothing I wear, I get to choose what food I buy, I get to choose—I’m a free man. I’m a free man. I’m not a slave. Really? Really? What’s the difference? Either way, you’re a slave to that dollar bill to trading that time for money. Trading time for money.
Is time infinite for you and me? No, it’s finite, isn’t it, very finite — especially those of us in our mid to late 40s. We’re really starting to go, “Whoa. This life is going by.” Those of you older than that, you’ve got an additional wisdom. You’re going, “Whoa. This life is really, really going by fast.”
And we’re still living paycheck to paycheck? Is it any better than being a slave? I suggest it’s not. I agree with George Clason in The Richest Man in Babylon that that is just a slave. You’re just a slave to your wants, a slave to your needs. What true independence is—for this discussion what true independence is when you have passive or business income that is not dependent on your time.
Residual Income
In other words the real estate that Karen owns, the real estate Alfonso owns, the real estate I own, the real estate Natalie owns, the real estate Del owns—I could go on and on and on with all the mentors here at the office. I could also go on through thousands of Lifestyles members — all of that income that they get from their real estate comes in whether they get up in the morning or not. It’s permanent residual income.
And as soon as the income from those investments meets and exceeds their total monthly bills, they are financially independent. Do you see what true independence is? It means that when they wake up in the morning they don’t have to go to a job. They don’t have to go trade time for money anymore. Their investments are producing enough cash flow every month that it meets and exceeds all their bills. There’s independence.
Ask yourself this question: Does it not start to make sense why we harp so much here at Lifestyles Unlimited on having the right map? Good Lord, does it not make sense that if you were told that when you got your job you were independent and now the reality is that no, when you go get a job you’re not independent you’re still dependent?
Retirement
Whether you get your allowance from mom and dad or you get it from Exxon or you get it from who ever, you’re still in a dependent stage of your life. But if you’re ever going to quit working—retirement—if you’re ever going to quit working, what do you have to have?
Let me rephrase the question. What are you going to have every single month even when you retire? Expenses, bills that come in every month. And here’s the big lie, are those expenses going to go up or down when you retire? They should go up, shouldn’t they, ‘cause those are the golden years.
Remember the promise that everybody’s been making you—the golden years. You’re going to see Greece. You’re going to go to Japan. You’re going to see Singapore. You’re going to see Australia. You’re going to see Africa. You’re going to travel the world. You’ve got to go to Rio, come on, the golden years.
Those are going to be expensive. Those trips aren’t free. Traveling the world isn’t free. Traveling across the nation to see your grandkids isn’t free. The big lie is that your expenses are going to go down when you retire.
The Golden Years
But they keep telling you out of one side of their mouth, “Your expenses are going to go down when you retire,” and out of the other side of the mouth they’re going, “But those are your golden years. You’re going to travel. You’re going to have fun.” Your expenses are going to go up when you retire.
The other one they keep lying to you about is health care—like your expenses are going to go down when you get older. Last I checked you get sicker as you grow older. You don’t get better as you grow older, you get sicker and you get weaker.
If it weren’t that way—I know I’m going to get emails on this one—if it weren’t that way, then how come you die at the end? “I’m not getting older, I’m getting better.” No, you’re not. You’re dying. I’m dying. I’m 45 and I’m dying. We are all dying. You say, “Well, that’s just dog gone negative.” No. As soon as you admit that, then you can start making changes in your life now.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
As bad as my money situation is i think i already died. (No I didn’t I’m still working too hard for too little). A few more years and I’ll have my passive income!!!