You're Closer Than You Think

Most people think Freedom means exiting their business, selling their practice, or retiring, and that may be the case for some people.

For others, it might just look like more time off. They’re not ready to be done with their business or career path. Some people enjoy being productive and relevant and might be too young in their minds to be retired. In this case, Freedom is about how to have more choices and options. How can you have more time for what you want to do and still be a productive business owner?

It begins with certainty about your capital base and its ability to produce a specific amount of income when you're not working.

Investments that Provide Income Without You

No matter where you put your money – tax brokerage accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, retirement accounts like a 401(k), whole life insurance, etc. – It ultimately comes down to, how much income will your investments produce for you?

The goal is to not have to work or at least work substantially less. So, how can your investments provide income without you?

Most people invest their money in various Wall Street products. Financial products may have a place in your portfolio, but I love tangible assets because you have more control over their success.

Your business is a tangible asset. As a business owner, you have the most control over that tangible asset. You can directly manage it and make it as profitable as you are able to. The bad news is being so directly involved with an asset requires much of your time.

Becoming more of a passive partner in your business could be a solution, and that’s exactly what investing in tangible assets is. You are a passive partner to these assets, mainly by providing your capital into tangible assets that someone else directly manages.

But how can you grow those investments, having them produce the “passive” income/cash flow to replace your active income? How can you begin to replace it on some measurable level you can track?

We Want Certainty and Control

When people come to Freedom Founders, wherever they are in their career path, they have all these pieces of a puzzle (assets, investments, net worth) that we use to begin to help them build the picture they want. We help them put their capital to work, making them more efficient in investments with more certainty and control.

I need control in my life. That’s why most of us have our own businesses: we need control over our financial security.

What’s interesting is that while many very good business owners enjoy control and autonomy in the realm of business, they completely abdicate their financial realm to third-party wealth managers, wealth advisors, or financial planners. There are plenty of people on Wall Street who are happy to take your money out of your hands and place it under their management and control. 

Most business owners just trust them outright. These advisors put together elaborate plans with pages of spreadsheets and algorithms to show you a “retirement plan.” 

But if you ask them how much you specifically need to “retire,” they say, “Well, that's hard to say.” There is much uncertainty. The accumulation model is able to provide specificity. It doesn't give you the certainty about how much is really enough? 

How to Figure Out How Much Replacement Income You Need

We just finished one of our Blueprint Weekends for a small group of our new members. This is where we reverse engineer their financial blueprint. What does each member need to be able to take their foot off the pedal? For some, that means exiting their practice. For others, it’s working less and having more time for something else.

How much do they need to do that? What do they need in replacement income? This is where it starts: Getting specific on the amount of replacement income you need.

Then, we figure out where their assets are, how to redeploy their capital, and set it up so we can track and measure their progress toward their goal. When they have built a certain amount of specified replacement income, their options widen, and they find that they can enjoy newfound Freedom. 

The Certainty That Changes Your Perspective

We have couples that come to us just to figure out where they stand because the conventional financial world can't tell them. We have a track record of doing this for hundreds of dentists. When people reach freedom (by their own definition), it changes who they are. 

Even if they're far from the day they leave active income, having a specified goal changes your perspective. A few months ago, this happened to a couple we were working with. Before their blueprint day, they saw the social proof in our community, and it was enough of a glimmer of hope and faith that their perspective and outlook completely changed.

His wife said “In two weeks of just being a part of our community, he's a changed man.” He was no longer stressed out and feeling like the world was on his shoulders. She stated that he became more like the person that she knew when they were first married.

That's what we all want. That's what I needed when I was going through stressful periods in my life, dealing with my practice and my very ill daughter. Knowing that I had a pathway that would lead me out (My Plan B) relieved the stress. I now knew I could spend more time with my daughter.

Who Do You Want to Spend Time With?

Today, what are you focusing on? Is your time today less valuable than time in the future? In other words, are you putting things off today because you believe there will be a time in the future when you'll be able to finally take the opportunity to make the memories and spend time with the people you care about?

Are you really willing to put that time off for the future? Are those memories and experiences more valuable in the future than today?

We don’t know what the future may hold. It is not wise to bet on something as uncertain as the future rather than take advantage of what’s in front of you right now. We think we can put things off, but how many of us have already lost precious time and memories because we had to go into the office?

Having a plan that you can measure the progress to your specified goal (How Much is Enough) takes the pressure off. It changes the world for you, which in turn changes the world for the people you care about.