11 Principles To Achieve Financial Freedom

One goal that we all have in common is that we all want
to make more money.
However, only a small percentage of us actually achieve
the financial freedom we long for…
We all want to have enough money so that we never have
to worry about money again.
The only question is, “Are
you ready to do it or not ?”
The good news is that there are more people achieving
financial freedom faster today than ever before.
Through
proper financial planning and making it a goal to improve
your personal finances, you can become one of them too.
Will More Money Make You Happy ?
There is also the question of whether or not having more
money will make you a happier person.
The 11 Principles To Achieve Financial Freedom
Here is 11-point formula that you can use to help
accumulate wealth, become happier, and achieve
financial freedom in the years ahead.
1. Begin To Think Positively About Money
Part of becoming rich involves thinking positively about
money.
Thinking negatively about money is an emotional
obstacle that you must eliminate in order to achieve
financial freedom.
You must eliminate the thoughts that
having more money leads to evil or that money can’t buy
you happiness.
When you begin thinking positively about money, you will
attract opportunities and open up more doors than you
ever thought possible.
2. Rewrite Your Major Goals For Financial Freedom
Set financial goals for yourself.
Rewrite and review your goals on paper every day and
think of how you could accomplish them.
This will take
you between five and ten minutes.
The very act of writing
and rewriting your goals, and thinking about them each
morning before you start off, will increase your chances of
accomplishing them.
3. Plan Every Day In Advance
Plan every day in advance.
The best time to do this is the
night before.
The very act of planning each day, each week, and each
month in advance will make you far sharper and more
precise at everything you do.
You will find yourself with
better focus and a greater sense of self-control and
personal power when you work from a list.
When you plan every day in advance you will be better
able to control and track your spending habits as well.
Plan how much you have to spend for the week, the
month, the year and decide where you will be able to
save.
4. The Principle Of Concentration
Concentrate single-mindedly, every hour of every day, on
the most valuable use of your time.
The principle of concentration is absolutely principles to
achieve financial freedom.
Virtually everything you do in
terms of goal setting and financial planning is aimed at
enabling you to determine the one or two things that you
should concentrate on more than anything else.
Your ability to develop the habit of concentration will do
more to ensure your personal finance success than
perhaps any other skill or habit you can acquire.
The things you focus the most on and spend the most
time doing should be in direct alignment with your
financial goals.
Spend your time focused on what will
make you the most money.
5. Invest In Yourself
Listen to audio programs in your car.
The average person
spends 500 to 1,000 hours per year behind the wheel.
By
turning your car into a university on wheels, you can
become one of the most knowledgeable and most skilled
people in your profession.
Purchase courses on money management, read books on
personal finance, and find articles online about money.
Very soon you will have so much knowledge in the area of
money that people will come to you for advice.
6. Ask Yourself These Magic Questions
Ask yourself the two “Magic Questions” after every
meeting and every event of importance in your life.
The
first question is, “What did I do right ?”
And the second
question is, “What would I do differently, next time ?”
By reviewing your performance immediately after every
meeting, sales call, and presentation, you will become
better and better, faster than you can imagine.
The answers to both of these questions are positive.
By reviewing what you did right and what you would do
differently next time, you program into your mind a
predisposition to be even better the next time out.
If you take a few minutes and write down everything you
did right and everything you would do differently
immediately after a call or presentation, you can double
and triple the speed at which you learn and grow and
improve in your work.
Improving yourself and your quality of work will, in effect,
improve the money you make.
7. Be Generous To Others
The final point is to treat everyone you meet like a
million-dollar customer.
Treat every single person, at
home and at work, as if they were the most important
person in the world.
Since everybody believes that he or she is the most
important person in the world, when you treat them as if
they were, they appreciate your recognition and
acknowledgment more than you can imagine.
It is a proven fact that being a more generous person will
help you attract more wealth and become a happier
person.
We’ve often heard it said, ‘money doesn’t buy
happiness’.
But, the truth is that:
Money is essential to happiness.
Material prosperity predicts life satisfaction,
And the more economic status we achieve, the more
we’ll feel satisfied with our life.
Not only do our measurements of happiness rise as our
income rises, so does our sense of well-being and life
satisfaction.
So, by choosing to focus on money goals that motivate
you, while also embedding a positive mindset towards
money, towards yourself, and life in general, you will help
to achieve both increased wealth and happiness.
And when you get there – evidence clearly shows us that
being generous with our money makes us happier – and
richer!
8. Slash your taxes
Most tax planning is relatively simple.
You’re
probably doing a lot of things right already.
For
instance, if you own your home and use RRSPs,
Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs), and
Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), you’re
already taking advantage of the best tax shelters
out there.
To reduce the taxes you pay on your investment
portfolio returns it helps to understand that the
income tax system treats the various sources of
investment income differently.
9. Create an investing policy
Every professional financial plan includes an
Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that
recommends how a portfolio should be invested.
It
puts in writing the rules that will make you a more
disciplined investor.
Having an IPS helps you to
stick with your plan and keeps you from changing
course when the market gets volatile.
A typical investment policy might specify that
your portfolio should always maintain a ratio of
60% stocks to 40% fixed-income investments.
This ratio is determined by your time horizon and
risk tolerance.
The longer your time horizon and
the greater your tolerance for risk, the higher the
equity portion of your portfolio.
As you near
retirement and need the security of more stable
income from your investments, the portfolio mix
will usually tilt towards bonds.
10. Write up a will
Every adult who owns assets and has a spouse or
children should have a will.
An accurate and up-
to-date will is the only way to ensure your assets
will be distributed the way you want them to be.
If
you don’t have one, you’re letting the laws in the
province you live in make those decisions for you.
And if you hold the belief that your spouse will
automatically inherit everything—you’re wrong.
In
most parts of Canada children trump partners.
Without a will your husband or wife will get a
predetermined amount of your assets—the rest
goes to the kids.
11. Create your final plan
A typical financial plan has five main parts.
The
first outlines where you stand right now, that’s
your current situation.
The second contains your
top financial goals, or where you want to go.
The
third is a simple net worth statement.
The fourth
lists the steps you must take to achieve your
goals.
It includes your income and expenses, an
overview of your insurance, a section on
retirement planning, and a section on estate
planning.
Finally, the fifth section—usually a
separate document—is your Investment Policy
Statement, which lays out how your portfolio is to
be invested.
To make sure you stay on track, you should take
the time to review your plan at least once a year,
and update it as necessary.
It’s also a good idea
to pull it out whenever you run into a big financial
or life event, such as a market crash, marriage or
job change.
“It’s a tool to support you through
life,” says Mizgala.
“Money and household
finances won’t be as scary when you break it
down into these manageable bits.
If you truly
commit, it will be a huge boon to your emotional
and financial well-being.”.