Keeping It Simple – The Key to Financial Freedom?

Our mission at F5 Financial is as follows:

• F5 Financial is a fee-only wealth management firm with a holistic approach to financial planning, personal goals, and behavioral change.
• Through our F5 Process, we provide insight and tailored strategies that inspire and equip our clients to enjoy a life of significance and financial freedom.

Key to that mission is having a clear understanding of what “financial freedom” is and is not.

What Financial Freedom is NOT . . .

Let’s start at what financial freedom is NOT:

• It is NOT something that I define for you.
• It is NOT the same for every person.
• It is NOT the same today as it will be tomorrow. 

What Financial Freedom IS . . .

What financial freedom IS, is the following:

• Financial freedom is identifying the financial resources that YOU need to live your life of SIGNIFICANCE.

The irony is that, while many think quantitatively when the subject of finance comes up, finance is more often than not qualitative.

Sure, you have all of the mathematics of finance that I love as an engineer. However, all the numbers do is support YOUR vision of what is important— what I like to refer to as “significance.”

“. . . All the numbers do is support YOUR vision of what is important—what I like to refer to as ‘significance.’”

Given the above, I would argue that there are two steps to financial freedom:

2 steps to financial freedom

• Step One: Define what personal significance means to you.
• Step Two: Ensure that you have the financial resources to pursue personal significance.

Here is where it gets particularly interesting. Once you do the hard work of deciding on personal significance, your view on the REQUIRED financial resources often changes dramatically.

Define what YOU want. Most people never do.

I would argue that most people traditionally view “financial freedom” as having some “X million” number of dollars in the bank that allow them to do anything that they want. However, most people NEVER define what they want and NEVER define the “X” in front of the million. As a result, they never achieve financial freedom.

Define YOUR “personal significance”—You may be surprised!

The interesting thing is that after you define what “personal significance” means to you, the “X” often falls into place quickly AND is much different/less than you thought. In particular, if personal significance to you primarily involves being a good parent, you may already HAVE “financial freedom” when you have a solid 9-5 job! Does that mean that you don’t want to retire? Absolutely not. However, you DO have the necessary resources to pursue what is personally significant to you.

The key to financial freedom is taking control of your financial resources and aligning them to what you find personally significant. The challenge is that too many of us are unwilling to define what is personally significant— and, as a result, never achieve financial freedom.

I would challenge any who have read this far to take the time to define what they see as personally significant as a precursor to figuring out how to achieve financial freedom.

Would You Like More Support?

• Do you have a well-defined Investment Policy Strategy that is used to drive your investments in support of a comprehensive financial plan?

• If not, would you like to partner with someone who is used to helping people get through these struggles and (then, with confidence) implement portfolio strategies in a systematic manner while focusing on your desired outcomes?

If so, feel free to send us an email or give us a call. We’d love to have the opportunity to help you find a bit more peace of mind when it comes to investing. 

Photo credit: Dawid Sobolewski on unsplash.com