Attaining financial freedom is not a one day even. It is a journey. Not many people ever get to the point where they can confidently say they have attained financial freedom.
What most people do is attain financial stability, and then stay in this stability zone. This is the comfort zone, the couch in personal finances!
Yet, one bad turn of events in their lives can take them back to insolvency or dependability.
You need to understand from the get-go that one person’s financial freedom is not the same as another person’s financial freedom.
You also need to know the difference between financial freedom and financial stability and which between these two you ate chasing after.
For instance, living in a big city like Nairobi and having a home that you can call your own can give you a sense of stability. However, you will not be fully financially secure if say the home is under a mortgage that needs to be repaid or was constructed using loans. This also applies if you have other loans squeezing your net worth in addition to the pressures of the house you call your home.
Someone else may want to buy land, build a house and settle in the outskirts of Nairobi. Buy themselves a reasonable machine to move around and that’s the “It” for them.
Another person may choose a different path. They may want to buy a house in the leafy suburbs. Another may desire to acquire land somewhere and build a home or venture into farming.
For others, the goals and aspirations will be different based on the stage of life they are in.
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However, without defining long term goals, it’s always hard to know if you’re heading towards your financial freedom or not. Or if what you think is your freedom is what it really is.
Oftentimes, major life events such as marriage, relocating to other countries, children, and even death will alter or shift your financial goals.
Your financial plan should be flexible enough to allow pivoting but firm enough to still meet your personal values as you grow personally and financially. As such, goal setting must be paramount in every stage of your financial planning.
Rhina Namsia, the founder of The Acemt Consulting, a training and consultation company that provides financial planning and investment advisory.
