3 Ways you can experience financial independence during 2020

Being financially independent is an idea that is widely talked about these days. In this article I will break down 3 ways how you can actually try out financial independence during 2020.

In a time with covid-19 have restricted travel heavily people have been forced to think creatively about what they are going to do this summer now that their travel plans are put on hold. I would like to give you a different approach and tease you with a something new that might be worth trying out. I’m well aware of the covid-19 situation, so safety first – always.

How financial independence used to look

For a lot of people financial independence still means being about 65 years old and going into your boss one day after 40 years of work and tell him/her you are going into retirement. You get your pension and finally you have all the time in the world to work on what you want and travel wherever you want.

Sure that is a plan. But you should know then that the worldwide average life expectancy is about 72.6 years, so that means you’ll have a full 7.6 years left to live after pension. Lucky you.

Money is infinite, time is not.

When we are younger we tend to treat money like a commodity there is never enough of. We hold on to it, we save it, we are told not to spend it – this all conditions us to believe that money is scarcity and there is never enough. But in reality it is the opposite. There are people earning billions of dollars every year. Where these people always wealthy? No, in fact most billionaires are self-made, meaning they didn’t come from money, they made their own fortune. There is money everywhere, it is an infinite resource.

At the same time we treat time like it is infinite. If you look at your day and how you spend it, I’m sure you will find that you spend a lot of time on activities or tasks that doesn’t get you any closer to your goals, yet you spend time on these activities and tasks. So in essence you are wasting your own time. You need to start realizing that you will eventually run out of time. This is a fact.

What is financial freedom?

Financial freedom is when your passive income (real estate, investments, interest, dividens) covers your living expenses without you having to work for it. You can still choose to work, but you do it because you want to. So work is more of a second career at this point.

So let’s say for the sake of the argument that you kept living like a student after you graduated - so your rent is 500 dollars, utility bills are 100, food is 200 and fun is 100 dollars. That’s a total of 900 dollars you need to spend every month to maintain your lifestyle.

So in order for you to be financially free you would need to have a passive income of 900 dollars a month. Now how can you manage that?

Why wait until 65 – why not try it this year?

What if you could experience financial independence within a year. What if you could go after your dreams or side hustle today with your energy and youth still intact?

OK. Good you are interested. Here is what you will need:

·      An apartment or house

·      The will to be uncomfortable

·      A will to change

Here are 3 options you could try out this summer to experience financial independence during 2020.

Buy a small boat – rent out your apartment/house

You could purchase a small boat for about 2000 dollars. You can experience water, learn how to sail and sleep in the boat. In Gothenburg, Sweden the harbour fee is about 600 dollars for 6 months, water, electricity and shower included.

Say you rent out your apartment for 1100 dollars a month for the summer.  Now you are left with 200 dollars for food every month since your monthly costs are 900.

Bonus: you can use the boat next year again.

Hike and tent for 2 weeks – rent out your apartment/houseUse the money from the apartment rent out to pay for food and necessities on your hike.

Move back home with your parents or use their potential summerhouseSure, this one might be uncomfortable for a lot of people. But what is most uncomfortable. Working 40 years in a career you don’t really enjoy or taking a year off living with your parents to get your financials in order? Get over your own insecurities. Nobody cares where you live, people only care who you are on the inside.

In fact in some cultures it is common that people live beyond their thirties at home to save up for their own financial future. There is wisdom in that.

Why you are not financially independent already?

To be blunt. You are too comfortable, As life unfolds you have acquired a lot of stuff and an expensive lifestyle over several years. And now you really struggle with the idea to downsize that lifestyle because of the fear of what people would think of you if you did. So you keep going to your job to be able to buy stuff that you don’t need to impress people you don’t really care about.

Or is there another way?

Remember this: If you want change in your life, you have to change.  Nobody will change for you.

Best of luck with your financial independence!

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Jim Svensson

Founder of Selftelligence
Contact: hello@selftelligence.com