ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Jared and I suppose my journey towards financial freedom began in my early 20s when I decided to forego a 4-year university degree after learning what “cost benefit analysis” meant.
I didn’t have the luxury of a full-ride or parents that would have funded my partying college career.
The idea of throwing thousands of dollars into something that already had a risky return on investment in the form of finding a high-enough-paying job, didn’t sound like a smart path for me to take. Not only that, how, as a 20-something year old would I know what I wanted to do for a good majority of my life?
I knew I wanted to go to college to find a better paying job, as most of us are told to do at an early age. I opted to fund and obtain an associate’s degree in Information Technology from a local community college. It allowed me to enter and work in the field over 10 years while providing a good income.
I am a proponent of some schooling to get ahead in the workforce when we’re just starting out. Getting a degree does provide a sense of fulfillment and if your goal is to become a doctor or school teacher, it becomes necessary.
I am an opponent, however, of the business that college has become and the indoctrination of grade-school kids who are being taught that college is the only, or easiest path to success.
I didn’t have the luxury of a full-ride or parents that would have funded my partying college career.
The idea of throwing thousands of dollars into something that already had a risky return on investment in the form of finding a high-enough-paying job, didn’t sound like a smart path for me to take. Not only that, how, as a 20-something year old would I know what I wanted to do for a good majority of my life?
I knew I wanted to go to college to find a better paying job, as most of us are told to do at an early age. I opted to fund and obtain an associate’s degree in Information Technology from a local community college. It allowed me to enter and work in the field over 10 years while providing a good income.
I am a proponent of some schooling to get ahead in the workforce when we’re just starting out. Getting a degree does provide a sense of fulfillment and if your goal is to become a doctor or school teacher, it becomes necessary.
I am an opponent, however, of the business that college has become and the indoctrination of grade-school kids who are being taught that college is the only, or easiest path to success.
A degree will teach you how to become an employee. It is intended to impress someone to work for. It does nothing in the way of broadening our minds to think bigger than 40 hour work weeks. It will not inspire us to take complete control of our income, leaving our livelihood hinging on what could come down to a decision on any given day made by a couple of suits.
Employment can often be the cause of death of creativity and it ensures that we are enslaved to a wage. It consumes years of our lives that could have been spent on something that means so much more. I believe this realization is how most people are able to change the world.
After making my rounds through corporate America with small and large companies, I began rejecting the idea of being a forever-employee. To become financially independent, I realized it’s important to create multiple streams of income.
To begin building my streams of income, I started a small business, began an investment portfolio with a focus on real estate, and started multiple ecommerce projects. I am not finished, but I hope what I’ve learned on my journey so far might help you.
I then developed a passion for investing and personal finance after watching/reading countless hours of financial gurus talking about how their way is the best and only way to become wealthy. There was a moment of awakening when I realized;
- They can’t all be right.
- Being financially free sounds like the ticket to a truly fulfilling life.
- It is very much obtainable.
I've read a lot of the popular finance/investing books out there (if you know me personally I've probably talked your ear off about it) and I've found a gap between what is being taught and taking away actionable steps to getting started. That might be because most book authors and influencers are marketers first, but I digress. A lot of what you'll read and watch on YouTube might make sense to real estate agents in California that started off with a bag of money, but what about people in Ohio that came from nothing.
I consider myself a study on the subject of investing. The world is constantly changing and especially with technology, it's almost impossible to keep up with all the current trends. That is why I also encourage a lot of the space on here to be an open forum. With knowledge our potential is limitless.
What This Blog Is:
This blog will provide the average Joe or Joanna consumable information that can help with easing the burden of the all too common financial struggle. No fancy words or magic secrets. Just simple (typically low risk) tips and actionable steps that can help us take control of our personal finances. It will also introduce the concept of creating passive investments that plant the seeds to reach a financially free tomorrow.
Sprinkled in will be terrible attempts at humor. You’ve been warned.
What This Blog Isn’t
This blog isn’t full of empty promises and false hopes hidden behind a paywall. We are not selling you an idea. No catch phrases such as “cash is trash” that you can do nothing with. I genuinely want this blog to provide financial knowledge to the average person that isn’t taught these concepts in school. Comment sections are open, we are always looking for feedback. There is not one way to do this, as Dave Ramsey might try and make you believe.
This blog does not offer professional financial advice. Everyone’s circumstances are different and our journey’s to financial freedom do not start from the same paths. But there are steps we can take that are proven ways to get us moving in the right direction. The focus of this blog is to actually draw out real working steps towards financial independence.
It can’t be stressed enough that a lot of these ideas may be very untraditional in the investment world. We don’t push retirement funds for age 59, we push “how can I retire within 10 years”. We don’t promote “go to college to become a high paid employee”, we promote “do some necessary schooling to give yourself an easier path to wealth.” We aren’t advertising fancy cars, suits, watches, or fronting as a stock market wizard. You won't see clickbait articles about how you can make $50,000 overnight by feeding a cat.
This blog hopes to help you on the journey towards financial freedom, and in doing so, promoting healthy wealth and an improved quality of life.
