“Rather than begging for a seat at someone else’s table – build your own.”

I’ve been quietly financially free since 2015. Sometimes I tell people that it happened by accident…but if I’m honest, that’s not true. I’m free and I’m rich in my 30s due to a series of very specific life choices. In this blog, I’m going to do my best to share the steps I took in case you might also be interested in getting free and want to follow a similar path. Here are the steps to financial freedom:

1. Save, save, save! Save as much as you can, whenever you can, however you can. Automate these savings so that they come out of your check automatically. Even if you don’t have anything in particular that you’re saving for, squirrel away as much as possible so that you’re ready when opportunity strikes. This dedication to saving allowed me to purchase a 2 bdrm apartment in Manhattan at age 24/25 when I was only making about $40k/year. That one decision became the catalyst for my path to freedom. Aim to save at least 20% of your income in order to gain freedom as quickly as possible. If I could do it making $35k living alone in Manhattan, you can do it too!
2. Plan but adapt. Set goals for yourself, but always be ready to adapt and respond to the opportunities placed in front of you. I moved to NYC for college with plans to be a journalist…a few miserable internships and low paying job offers had me re-thinking that choice. Instead, I took any job I could get at a large media company and went to every networking event possible until I figured out a career path that used my talents/interests but also paid well. For me that was market research and that bit of flexibility shot me from $35k/year to well over $100k/year in salary within 5 years of graduation. Don’t be afraid to adjust your plans or scrap them altogether when a better opportunity presents itself – that is God/fate/the universe giving you a turbo boost if you’re brave enough to take advantage.
3. Trust your gut and take risks. Most of my most profitable decisions have been calculated risks – buying my first property at 24/25, switching career paths, moving from one city to another multiple times, even marrying my husband. I wasn’t 100% sure about any of these choices, but something in my soul was urging me in these directions and I pushed past the fear and went for it. If you do your prep work (get an education, work hard, save, etc) and push past the fear when opportunities pop up, you’ll be greatly rewarded by the universe.
4. Invest (in things you understand). One advantage of starting my career at a huge company in the early 2000s was that it was still a time when companies did massive training. Weekly and sometimes daily there were seminars on 401ks, career management, personal development, etc. Sadly, companies don’t invest in their employees like this anymore, but the advantage it gave me is priceless in that it was drilled into my head the importance of investing in the company 401k and that plan was explained repeatedly and in great detail. Many of my friends didn’t have this sort of training and coaching in their first jobs, but the simply act of consistently putting at least 7% of my modest income starting at age 21 has allowed me to accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars by my 30s with the help of compound interest (thanks Time Inc!) The other investment strategy that has helped me get free is real estate. I’ve always loved looking at property and have a knack for seeing value before others do…once I realized this innate gift (after selling my first Harlem purchase for 4 times what I bought it for), I’ve doubled down on it and purchased multiple rental units in up and coming areas. Passive rental income was my #1 path to financial freedom. Figure out what appreciating assets and investments you understand and then invest in them – I recommend buy and hold rental real estate and index funds.