The Three Doors to Financial Independence
Earning, Savings & Investing.
2/8/20243 min read
If you are not already wealthy understand that there are three locked doors standing between you and the freedom to do what you want with your time. Those three doors are: earnings, savings, and investments.
Earnings
While it is possible to achieve financial independence with a very small income if you have low overheads, it is not possible for everyone. Many people in todays Britain are saddled with increased property and bill costs. I way I like to think of it is that the bigger your income, the bigger that first door is, and the easier and quicker you can step through to the next two. There are many people who earn very well but have a terrible savings rate due to their lifestyle that they may or may not have control over. There is no one absolute method to increasing your income, but earning more via promotion, job change, side hustle or business venture can make the first door of Financial independence easier to walk through. I will caveat this by saying if a new job earns you more but makes you miserable then you're stealing joy from today to pay for happiness tomorrow which isn't ideal!
Savings
The second door is blocked by a mountain of things. Some of those things are essential needs, some are wants that make your life better, but for a lot of people a lot of that 'stuff' doesn't serve a purpose, or measurably improve your life, or make you happier. The less stuff you have in the way of your savings door the more money you can stuff through it to the third door.
Investing
The third door is amazing. It starts off very small (unless you are very lucky and have parents who have bought a bigger door for you) and the more you focus on it the bigger the potential of the third door gets. The more of your income you are able to funnel through to the investing door the quicker you will see the magic of compound interest come into play. Many people across the UK either don't know about the third door, or are intimidated by the nature of risk that surrounds the investing door. Many fail to realise that leaving your money to stand still is a risk in itself, allowing inflation to eat away at your money (which in the case of the working population is in a sense a physical manifestation of their labour). So in essence, doing nothing with your surplus capital is in an abstract way reducing the value of your hard work!
Those who invest in sensible funds that match their risk profile and do so early will see the path to financial indepence laid out before them as the three doors open. What they do with that freedom is entirely up to them! For every pound invested today, individuals acquire a piece of time in their future, paving the path towards financial autonomy. Embrace these three doors to financial independence, and embark on a journey towards a brighter, more secure financial future in the UK.
