When I started this blog about five years ago, my plan was to teach people how to invest and manage their cash flow to allow them to become financially independent. This is the state where you are making enough money from your investments, and have paid enough of your loans off, to not need to work to sustain your lifestyle. Since that time I have posted hundreds of articles and the blog has received hundreds of thousands of views.
Along the way, however, I realized that the scope of the blog needed to be expanded because the need was greater than the original focus. Middle class Americans, along with those individuals in foreign countries that enjoy at least some economic freedom, have the ability to become financially independent if they make the right choices of how they handle their money. And really, most people have the ability to enter the middle class in America if they make the right choices when they’re young, such as completing school, and getting to work when they are young adults. This is because of financial freedom where you have the ability to make more by efficiently using your personal capabilities.
Things have been changing in America, however, where people have been giving away that ability in an effort for an easier life. You see, freedom provides opportunity, but freedom also requires responsibility. Being paid based on what you produce provides the opportunity to grow your income by working harder or gaining skills to allow you to be more efficient, but it also means that you need to put in the work to provide for yourself and your family. Some individuals want to have a comfortable life but don’t want to put int he effort required under an economically free society.
Many people today are falling for the false notion that the government can magically provide for you without any effort on your part. In actuality, you will always be the one doing the providing. It is just a matter of whether you just produce and keep the goods for yourself, or you give the product of your work to the government and then have them give the portion that they choose back to you, minus the salaries of all of the people involved in distributing the goods. When the government is collecting and distributing the money, you lose the ability to choose the less expensive option and invest the rest. Also, if you make more the government just takes the excess, so you never have extra left over. This is an impediment to becoming financially independent, which requires saving and investing, so an additional goal of the blog is to explain this false economics so that people can make better decisions in the policies they choose to support.
America has been a wonderful place because you don’t need to be born into a certain family or a certain caste to become wealthy. You just need to learn skills, work hard, and manage your money effectively. The goal of this blog is to preserve that ideal while sowing readers how to take full advantage. I hope you’ll continue of the journey with me.
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Disclaimer: This blog is not meant to give financial planning or tax advice. It gives general information on investment strategy, picking stocks, and generally managing money to build wealth. It is not a solicitation to buy or sell stocks or any security. Financial planning advice should be sought from a certified financial planner, which the author is not. Tax advice should be sought from a CPA. All investments involve risk and the reader as urged to consider risks carefully and seek the advice of experts if needed before investing.
