The first thing I did earlier this year when I decided that I had to do something about the financial mess that I had created for myself was to come up with a number that would fix all of my problems, allow for a little luxury, and would pay me an income for the rest of my life. I called it my freedom from slavery number as if I attained this amount I would never have to work again and I would still live a good life. Which doesn’t mean I would never work again it would just mean that I did things because I chose to do them rather than for mere survival.
After much thought and a little dreaming, I came up with $4,500,000 AUD. This would buy me a nice home, nice car, a few toys, and enough investments to live off and reinvest a percentage so that number increases over time. $4.5 million for my freedom. It could be done for a whole lot less than that but I’m not going to get excited about just being comfortable. I want MORE than enough left over at the end of each month. I’m tired of struggle. I’ve done that all of my life. I choose more. I now choose abundance!
Freedom from Slavery Breakdown
So this is how I came to my freedom from slavery number..
- $1,000,000 Stocks – Invested in mostly large Australian stocks paying around 5% dividends per year. Also a few ETFs covering Australia, United States, Europe and Asia. This would give me an estimated $50,000 income from the dividends and I would reinvest at least $10,000 of that each year.
- $1,000,000 Rental Properties – Invested in residential real estate in good regional areas that are desirable and growing. $500,000 times two. This should also bring in close to $50,000 per year and I would reinvest probably $10,000+. I currently own about $200k of a $500k property so all extra would be put into the mortgage until paid down. I would just keep getting another property with a mortgage when one was paid off. I don’t want 10 properties with mortgages hanging over them as I want freedom in all of its forms. This is my freedom from slavery number, not my debt fueled property empire number.
- $1,500,000 Waterfront home or Rural home – I want a place with a view in a quiet area but not too remote. So I don’t really want neighbours but I also want to be close to everything.
- $250,000 Car – This would be a Mercedes AMG C63 S Coupe or A Lexus RCF. There would be plenty of change from $250k for expenses and I would create a little fund for future purchases.
- $250,000 Furniture and House Renovations – I love designer furniture and good interior design.
- $250,000 Business – This could include buying websites or apps and setting up an office. It could also include investing more in my current websites, including my ecommerce site. Basically setting them up to run with or without me. So if I suddenly decide that I need a month on an island with no internet on then I can do that.
- $250,000 in savings! – Emergency money, play money, funny money, call it what you will. This is just money that sits around and is there if I need it. It would be better deployed as funds for investments but I want a giant money cushion sitting there ready to go whenever I need it. I never want to stress about bills again, ever.
What’s your Freedom from Slavery number? In western countries I think freedom could be bought for as little as $1.5 million but that’s really pushing it. You need at least $1,000,000 in relatively stable investments paying out 5% per year and growing with inflation. Then the remaining $500k would be for your house, car and a few living expenses. So you couldn’t do it in a big city but you could do it.
There’s plenty of countries that you could do it on a lot less but you may not want to relocate. In some areas of Asia you can live like a king with maids and servants but you may not want to learn a new language or maybe you don’t like extreme humidity.
I think part of Freedom from Slavery is also choosing where you want to be free, rather than moving to a place just because it has a better tax system or the cost of living is cheaper.
I want time freedom: being able to do what I want when I want. Money freedom: being able to buy what I want when I want. And Location freedom: being able to live or be where I want when I want.
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