Financially free

Published on February 2nd, 2011

Heavily inspired by the Molson beer commercials several years back.

Hey,
I’m not a trust fund baby
Or a dot com millionaire
And I didn’t get famous on TV
Or win the lottery
Or a game show
And I don’t earn a six figure income
Although I’m sure that would be really really nice
I live within my means, not beyond them
I have a diversified portfolio, not a mortgage
So people pay me interest, not the other way around
I work hard, but I no longer need to work for a paycheck
I believe in savings, not in buying stuff I can’t afford
Cash not credit
And that frugality is not deprivation but a worthy goal
A penny saved is a penny earned!
And it is buy and hold, not buy and sell, hold!
Savings are the first requirement to invest!
The primary source of compound interest!
And the most direct path to early retirement!
My name is <insert your name>, and I am financially independent!

Originally posted 2008-01-03 07:33:51.

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16 users responded in " Financially free "

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moneymonk said,

You should rename this post as “financially free”

Jacob said,

Done! I’ve never been good at catchy titles.

wealthy_1 said,

Pretty cool, Jacob.

Hannah said,

Love it!

Jacob, I have to ask, did you ever go through a pseudo-”trust fund baby” stage? (I imagine nearly 100% of the teenage population does at one point, due to clever marketing.)

What I mean is, I used to have a keep-up-with-the-hipster-jonses mentality (i.e. spend money to feel rich and with the “in crowd”) This lasted for approximately one year (my first year of college) during which I actually bought into the idea that I was a part of the leisure class because of my ability to dress like them In reality, I was just cultivating “expensive taste” and consuming goods to vicariously live like people who occupied a different socio-economic reality than me. It was a year-long period of deep delusion.

Well, I’ve come a long way since then. Just like in overcoming any addiction, the first step toward FI is overcoming any denial about one’s financial reality. To make progress with a concrete goal, one must have a concrete sense of present circumstances. That was the end of my fling with the “trust fund baby” fantasy.

Hannah said,

I wanted to add, I realize that there is a difference between the leisure class mentality and the wealth class mentality (although they’re the same group)… a “trust fund baby” is merely a hyper-consumer, but FI is about thinking like an Investor, i.e. a Capitalist mentality rather than a middle/working class mentality. The defining characteristic being: their money works for them.

So these days I’ve switched from wanting to be a trust fund baby to wanting to be an investor, lol.

Jacob said,

@Hannah – No I don’t think I ever did. I didn’t grow up in the US though.

Jacob said,

Thinking back though there was actually this quest for the biggest computer. I’m not sure it was to show up as much as the desire to have bleeding edge equipment – for six months anyway.

Matt said,

Wow. I never realised this commercial was known outside Canada!

Jacob said,

@Matt – It’s known throughout the world.

Dboy said,

“And it is buy and hold, not buy and sell, hold!”

Hmm, gonna have to reject that bit as generally unwise in most cases. The only thing I’d say to buy and hold is farm land, everything else is a trade.

deegee said,

“So people pay me interest, not the other way around”

My favorite line from above. That’s how I live now (and for quite a while), without working (for not as long).

Dr Dean said,

Love it Jacob!

krantcents said,

Turn this into a rap song. All you need is a beat. It is a good message, one everyone should take on as their own.

An IPO of A Favorite Company | The Millionaire Nurse Blog said,

[...] at ERE has this poem that summarizes his investment strategy. Wish I had written [...]

SoCalGirl said,

Random pondering – I wonder if most of us are INTJ – and this lifestyle really appeals to this personality?

Jacob said,

@SoCalGirl – Yes and yes. What I wonder is whether it appeals to very many others, specifically whether the abundance of INTJs on this site is due to my failure to communicate well with other types.

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