Tanya & Hua Loo Loo in Switzerland

(the context below is from http://figur8.net/dream/2006/12/03/what-kind-of-life-do-you-want-to-live/ ) 

I recently finished reading the book by Robert Kiyosaki called “Retire Young, Retire Rich”. What first prompted me to read this book was because I was tired of not having the time to do the things I enjoyed due to the fact that I was too busy working on my day job.

I think a lot of people can probably identify with me, regardless of their individual reason behind the feeling. It may be because you don’t have time to do the things that you enjoy, you don’t have time for your family, you hate your job, you work too hard but don’t get paid enough, or you don’t have enough money to enjoy life the way you would like to. There are a whole host of reasons why.

Many people may have been inspired, like me, for one of these reasons to search for another way. For me, it led me to the book “Retire Young, Retire Rich”. Reading this book has really opened up my mind and altered my perspective on what I had originally perceived to be restrictions in how I could live my life. In essence the book has broadened my “context” on how money can be made in ways other than being employed or going back to being a dentist.

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not debunking the idea of working for a living. If you love your job, by all means keep going. I’m truly very happy for you because you are probably one of a lucky handful that feels that way.

What I’m talking about is having options. Having a choice not to work because you’re not dependent on the money you earn to pay the bills, have a roof over your head, to feed your family - basically, to survive. Hubby and I decided when we got married that I would stay home to look after the children. We are lucky that we can afford to do that, but I often hear from working mothers who wished they could spend more time with their children.

What I’m also talking about is having a back up plan. Being a rock climber, I believe in having back ups, checking my safety and making sure that every system has a fail safe in the event that I fall and something breaks. What spurred me on to read “Retire Young, Retire Rich” and a number of other books (which I will write about in subsequent posts) is so I could develop a plan B - my fail safe in the event something happens to the hubby and he can no longer bring home the bacon.

Nobody chooses to lose their jobs, get sick or for anything bad to happen, but the fact it, it happens. And, touch wood, if it does happens to you, would you be able to cope? I know I wouldn’t and that’s why I’ve decided to take my financial future into my own hands and get educated about how I’m going to achieve financial freedom.

At the end of “Retire Young, Retire Rich”, there is a series of questions that Kiyosaki asks his readers to ponder over and possibly discuss with a group of friends if you’re comfortable. He feels it’s important to consider these questions because it’s the first step to achieving financial freedom. If you’re interested to follow me on my journey towards financial freedom, here are the questions for you to work on:

1. If you had all the money in the world and never had to work again, what would you do with your free time?
2. If you (and your spouse if married) stopped working today, what would happen to your life? How long could you survive and still maintain your standard of living and lifestyle?
3. At what age will you be able to retire if you are not already retired? Would you like to retire earlier? When you retire, will you be making more money than you are today or less?
4. Would you rather live a life where you no longer need a paycheck or would you rather live a life where you’re always working at or looking for a higher paying job? Would you rather be unemployable or more employable? Which life are you leading today?
5. Do you want to live a life where you work hard trying to spend more money because you have too much money or live a life working hard trying to save money? Which life are you leading?
6. Would you rather live a life where you do not have to work hard to earn more or would you rather live a life where you have to work harder to earn more? Which life are you living?
7. Do you think investing is risky? Do you think it takes money to make money? Would you like to be able to invest without any money and without much risk for very high returns? IF you could invest with someone else’s money would you?
8. Who are the six people other than your family that you spend the most time around? What is their attitude towards money? Is it rich, poor, or middle-class? Of those six people, how many will be able to retire young and retire rich? Is it time for you to make new friends?
9. Would you rather live a life where you work to become rich building or buying assets, or would you rather live a life working for job security and a steady paycheck? Which life are you living?
10. If you were offered a billion dollars to quit your job, would you? If a billion dollars is more important than your job, why not go for the billion dollars? What specifically holds you back? If you would not quit your job for a billion dollars… then why? Could you not use the billion dollars to do more good than you are doing now?
11. Do you live a life where you make money regardless if the market goes up or down or do you live a life where you live in fear of market crashes and losing money? Which life do you live? Why?
12. Regarding the subject of money, if you could do things differently, what would you do differently? If there is something you would do differently, why aren’t you doing it?