When we talk about investing, most people think that there is only one way to do it. If you asked 100 people on the street what you need to be an investor, almost all of them would answer with money. While that is half correct, it is only one of the correct answers. The other one is less talked about. Time.
You can build your own website, write your own blog posts, do your own SEO and fix up your rehab houses yourself as I have done. This does save thousands of dollars but is a trade off of your time. For people that don't have a lot of money, time is a better investment or the only one they can really make. You sometimes hear it referred to as "sweat equity". Basically, if you don't have the time to pay people or enough to invest, you can "do it yourself". This requires a sacrifice of your time though. On the surface, this sounds great but remember the most important rule of time. You don't get it back. Once it's used up, it's gone forever. "At the end of the day your another day older" as the song goes. With money, you can make and lose fortunes over and over again. There are many examples of people who did this both living and dead. None of them got more time. None of them could buy an extra day with money. If that were possible, Steve Jobs would still be alive today. He was famous for saying he would pay any amount of money to have one more day.
It's true that you can get financially free and even very wealthy by subscribing to my site or even reading some of these posts and educating yourself in some of these areas. But isn't the point of financial freedom to gain the one thing we can't control? Time? Financial freedom means we choose how to utilize our time. We can be philanthropist or spend time with family. We can make the world a better place instead of taking orders from corporate executives who may or may not ask us to do things against our better judgment. Moreover, if you do get financially free or uber wealthy, don't say I didn't warn you. It can consume you. You can lose sight of what's important while focusing on every dollar, the next deal or power. You'll be in such a frenzy that you won't see time evaporating right in front of you. My goal is to help people achieve financial freedom but the best money advice I can give is to not lose yourself in the conquest. Don't forget to look down at your watch and remember the most important thing is living the best life you can. Money is only one part.
Jamie has an MBA from Rutgers University and a Professional Certificate in Real Estate Finance, Investment and Development from NYU. He's traded stocks since he was 13 and bought his first property within a year of graduating college. He also flipped properties and got out before the 2008 mortgage meltdown because he was able to see the market turning before it happened. He's started two companies and also has experience in investing in antiques, collectibles, gold, silver and trading futures.
He currently operates a website dedicated to helping people achieve financial freedom. How do you become rich? Visit www.jamiesmoneyadvice.com.