How$to$Be$Your$Own$Financial$Planner!

The!rules!for!achieving!financial!independence!are!simple.!!More!importantly,!following!
these!rules!is!essential!to!your!financial!independence.!!These!rules!are!as!follows.!

Rule!number!one!is!to!spend!less!than!you!earn,!and!then!save!or!invest!the!difference.!!
This!is!the!key!to!financial!success!and!has!been!so!going!back!to!The$Richest$Man$in$
Babylon$by!Classon!more!than!2,000!years!ago.!!You!can!be!a!blithering!idiot!at!an!
average!job!at!an!average!wage,!but!if!you!save!$100!a!month!on!average!from!age!20!to!
age!65!and!let!it!accumulate,!you’ll!be!worth!more!than!a!million!dollars.!!That’s!$25!a!
week,!or!less!than!four!dollars!a!day!–!about!the!cost!of!a!latte.!!Can!you!do!that?!!Do!
lots!of!other!things!but!be!sure!to!do!this!one!thing.!

Rule!number!two!for!achieving!financial!independence!is!to!save!ten!percent!of!every!
dollar!you!earn.!!You!need!to!develop!a!habit!from!the!beginning!of!your!working!life!of!
taking!ten!percent!off!the!top!of!your!salary!and!living!on!the!other!90!percent.!

Most!people!spend!most!of!what!they!earn.!!If!there’s!anything!left!over!they!throw!it!in!
the!bank!temporarily,!and!then!they!pull!it!back!out!and!spend!it!on!something!else.!!
They!look!at!their!bank!account!and!shout!“Gee,!we’ve!got!money!here.!!Let’s!burn!it.”!!
Some!people!feel!they’ve!just!got!to!get!rid!of!the!money.!

Rule!number!three!is!to!resolve!in!advance!to!prefer!financial!independence!to!status.!
The!work!in!The$Millionaire$Next$Door!found!that!the!mark!of!selfQmade!millionaires!is!
that!they!are!not!concerned!with!impressing!the!neighbors!or!keeping!up!with!the!
Jones’s.!!They!were!more!concerned!with!financial!independence!than!with!looking!
good!on!the!outside,!at!least!until!they!became!wealthy.!

So!say!to!yourself!“Financial!independence!is!number!one!to!me,!and!status!is!number!
3,!or!4,!or!10.!!Then!be!willing!to!stick!to!it.!!It!is!absolutely!amazing!what!will!happen!to!
you!financially.!

Do!you!know!what!we!found!out!about!selfQmade!millionaires?!!For!one!thing,!they!
never!buy!new!cars.!!A!new!car!depreciates!by!several!thousand!dollars!as!soon!as!you!
drive!it!off!the!lot.!!Instead,!what!many!rich!people!will!do!is!pick!a!car!they!really!like!
and!follow!it!in!consumer!reports!and!J.D.!Power!for!quality!and!service.!!Then!after!
about!two!or!three!years!they!look!for!used!models!with!low!mileage!and!good!service!
records.!!Then!they!buy!a!car!that!20!to!25!percent!in!depreciation!has!already!been!
taken!out!of.!

I!worked!with!a!man!once!who!started!with!nothing!and!achieved!a!net!worth!of!800!
million!dollars.!!He!lived!in!a!nice!neighborhood!but!was!not!ostentatious.!!But!the!
people!living!on!either!side!of!him!were!just!two!paychecks!away!from!homelessness.!!If!
their!income!were!to!be!cut!off!for!two!months,!they!wouldn’t!be!able!to!make!their!
mortgage!payments.!!!

I!watched!this!guy!drive!the!same!used!car!for!years.!!He!like!Cadillacs,!and!always!
took!good!care!of!them.!!Then!he!would!buy!another!used!vehicle!that!had!already!been!
depreciated.!!He!was!never!showy,!but!he!ended!up!one!of!the!richest!men!in!America.!!
He!wore!old!sweaters,!didn’t!have!a!huge!wardrobe,!and!he!had!no!debts!at!all.!!But!
when!he!wanted!to!go!somewhere!he’d!fly!in!his!private!25!million!dollar!jet!all!by!
himself.!

The!last!rule!for!achieving!financial!independence!is!once!you!put!money!away,!never!
touch!it.!!This!is!important,!so!if!you’re!writing!it!down,!write!it!in!red.!!Many!people!
make!the!mistake!of!thinking!they!are!saving!money!so!they!can!have!it,!like!it!was!fun!
money.!!When!they!decide!they!want!to!go!on!a!trip!or!buy!a!new!car!they!go!and!get!
the!money!they!saved.!

If!you!want!to!spend!money!on!those!sorts!of!things,!set!up!a!separate!savings!account.!!
The!money!you!save!is!for!your!financial!security.!!It!is!your!financial!freedom!fund.!!
Once!you!put!money!into!your!financial!freedom!account!you!lock!it!in!and!resolve!
never!to!touch!it.!!It!goes!in!and!it!never!comes!out.!!You!never!spend!it.!

I!can!tell!you!all!kinds!of!stories!of!how!this!has!changed!lives,!including!my!own.!!
Please!believe!me:!put!it!away!and!decide!never!to!spend!it.!!I!personally!I!will!do!
whatever!is!necessary!to!never!touch!my!financial!fortress.!!If!you!allow!even!a!glimmer!
of!the!idea!that!you!can!get!it!if!you!need!it,!you’ll!find!yourself!needing!it!at!the!first!
opportunity.!

So!the!keys!to!financial!success!are!to!pay!yourself!first!by!saving!ten!percent!of!
everything!you!earn,!buy!used!things!of!good!quality!rather!than!new,!and!once!you!
put!money!away,!never,!never!touch!it.!!Put!it!away!and!let!it!accumulate!until!it!can!
enable!you!to!leverage!anything!you!want!in!life.!