“The best way to help poor people is to not be one of them – Harrington, Bob”

Finance and economics is topic that most people cringe about. It stirs up feelings and emotions for most people including me. In this short post we will provide a framework and mental strategies for how you can think about money, so that you don’t have to think about money. :)

Financial Freedom… Or “F**k you money” :) is not important for everyone, but almost anyone that I have met including myself that has been in a situation where money is scarce or at least a big mental obstacle will recognize that money on a fundamental level is important not for money in itself but for the piece of mind that comes with having enough. Lets dive in

Definition of financial freedom:

Start – realize that you are already rich!

First of all, realize that you are already rich.

  • If you have more than 20k SEK  (2k USD), on the bank you are richer than half of the world! CONGRATULATIONS!
  • If you have more than 660k SEK in assets your are amongst the top 90% richest people in the world!
  • If you have 7 million SEK you are top 1% in the world.  (A recent report from Credit Suisse Research Institute)

Interconnective systems approach

We at FLAWD are huge fans of Implement the interconnective systems approach , called Synergetics by my huge hero; Buckminster Fuller. Below is 2 incredibly simple frameworks that you can implement today! No magic or crazy investments needed. Time and patience are the only ingredientz.

System 1 Total Money Makeover

This is one of the most elegant and simple steps for financial independence.
Here are the 7 steps:
  1. Emergency fund – save 10000 SEK in an account you call emergency, things happen, with this amount you are prepared. To get there? Save 10% of everything that you earn until you are there.
  2. Pay your debts. Start with the smallest. Why? You will get momentum.
  3. Refill your emergency fund so it covers 6 months of a FULL life. Meaning: Your current monthly cost x 6
  4. Invest 15% of your earnings in your own “pension”.
  5. Invest in your childrens future – they will probably want to travel and so on.
  6. Pay off your house mortgage
  7. Let money work for you – and then give the money away
 

Benefits of system 1.

  • Complete and simple
  • This framework is so simple and elegant, it made of Money expert Dave Ramseys book: The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness   You can of course tweak the numbers above if you need more than 10k SEK in your emergency fund and so on.
  • A framework gives you the parameters.

Counter arguments of system 1.

  •  Some argue; why should I pay smallest debts? its more smarter to pay highest – sure, the reason is to show yourself results – to motivate you, but if you are really into finance, this might not be a optimal way.
  • For me personally however I like the simplicity of this approach
  • IF you follow this, I am 100% sure that both you and I will be debt free and financially independent within 20 years from today. Let me know how it goes OK?!

How much money do you need?

Financial independence formula:
  • Take your monthly expense x 12 = “your yearly costs”
  • Yearly cost x 20 = your financial independence number
example.
  • 20k x 12 = 240 k
  • 240 k x 20 = 4,8 million is the number you are aiming for

System 2: 70-10-10-10 formula

System 2 is based on Jim Rohn. He is my favorite business philosopher & motivational speaker. Notice that this easily can be combined with System 1 above.

The 70-10-10-10 Formula:

  • 70% – Learn to live on 70% of what you make. Housing, food, car, clothes, gadgets, internet, etc.
  • 10% – Goes to passive investing. This is where someone else uses your money to make more money for you – stocks, mutual funds, etc. If you don’t have the time or education in stocks, you can’t go wrong investing in a low cost, no load index fund like Avanza Zero. – other experts recommend index fonds like Martin from FLAWD After hours 01 (only for the innercircle), and  Mikael Furusjö from TFP.
  • 10% – Another 10% goes to active investing. Money goes to start your own business or you can keep it aside for a rainy day fund. – I woul suggest first saving up to emergency fund here.
  • 10% – Goes to charity. Whether you believe in this or not, Jim Rohn (and many other wildly successful people) strongly believe that you have to send money out in order to get more. Just give that money away & know that the universe will provide more for you. Give it away to your church, food shelter, animal welfare, kids, tip well to waiters, etc.
  • This also has an effect on our mind where we force ourself to live on just 90% of our income – and we can create an abundance mentality by knowing that even if we give away 10% of our money, we’ll be fine.
  • Of course, you’ve probably heard that Warren Buffett, Bill Gates & a bunch of other billionaires are giving away almost all of their wealth back to society. Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate & one of the richest men in the world, also gave away all his money. He is the reason USA have public libraries!

Use Auto Debits:

  • Spending all your money & investing what’s left over is a big mistake.
  • Pay yourself first.
  • Set up auto debits so that the 10% automatically gets withdrawn from your bank account & goes to your savings & investment accounts.
  • All of this is assuming you are debt free (credit card, loans, etc – does not include mortgage). If you have credit card debt, pay that off asap.

The one thing to make the system work: Patience

A patient man is always richer than an impatient one, even if the patient man has less money.
What do I mean by that statement? Well, riches and wealth can take other forms besides kronors, dollars, bitcoin and dogecoins. In what way is the patient man richer? The answer is actually very simple. A patient man is always richer than the impatient one because the patient man can always afford to wait. The patient man is never desperate. The patient man has time to spare, while the man in a hurry is always on the verge of bankruptcy as far as time is concerned.
Patience enables you to see the big picture. It helps you to make the most of today while building a better tomorrow. For that reason, it’s one of the most valuable equities of all, one that you should make every effort to acquire. The payoff will be worth it.

Final Thoughts:

  • Don’t have enough money to follow 70/10/10/10?
  • You can adjust it to 97-1-1-1 (or whatever else that works for you).
  • Spend 97%. 1% on active & passive investing. Final 1% on charity.
  • It doesn’t matter which formula you’re using. Following a consistent formula to set the right investing mindset habits is what matters.
  • Be patient

 

“Money management is a great place to start personal development.” Jim rohn

Whats your plan for financial independence?

 

 

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