The vast majority of us are sick and tired of their jobs, bosses and colleagues.
We all want out. We all want freedom. There is a Peter Pan in each one of us. We still want to play.
This is why blogs about financial freedom and financial independence (FI) are becoming more and more popular.
But how many of us know the way out of drudgery?
Have you realized that the way out has been carefully obfuscated, made confusing and complicated?
I am reading a great book that confirms my notion that there is a scheme.
... Deliberately or not, the majority of the population is always kept on the edge of financial insecurity, if not poverty. They are not given the power of knowledge. Financial knowledge.
The ONLY reason is to keep the majority of us working.
The book I am reading is The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin by Gordon S. Wood. Here is a quote from this book that triggered today’s blog post:
“…everyone but an idiot knows that the lower classes must be kept poor, or they will never be industrious.”
Arthur Young, 1771
Well, today some people would be more industrious when un-tethered. But how to achieve the financial freedom? Unless you were a financial major in college, you may never get a few important lessons in finances and mostly, in personal finance.
Schools skip on the most critical lessons:
1. Life is unfair
2. Your health is your first priority
3. How to master your personal finances
I have previously reflected on the issues with the American educational system (here and here). I have published on the future of America and its children.
We need to learn the critical lessons on our own, if we are smart and curious enough. The life of Benjamin Franklin is one good lesson that we should not skip on.
Let's find out how Franklin achieved his own financial freedom.
He did so at a relatively young age. In 1784, at age of 42, Franklin retired from work and took "the path of leisure". He acquired a few slaves and moved to a better, bigger house.
The leisure for this man, however, was education, experimentation, and Enlightenment. He learned foreign languages: Latin,French, Italian, Spanish, and German. He became a diplomat, statesman, civil activist, politician, scientist, and inventor.
And yet, before all these achievements, he made it financially.
How?
He was a hustler.
Franklin was a tradesman, printer, editor, writer, manager, and shop owner selling books and stationery, soap and cheese.
He took on any new opportunity to earn money: he became a clerk to the Pennsylvania Assembly and secured for himself the printing business of the organization.
Later, he became the public printer for New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland.
He started newspapers and magazines.
He wrote a famous almanac.
Served as a postmaster of Philadelphia and this helped his newspaper business.
Partnered with many printers outside Philadelphia: by 1743, Franklin owned three printing firms in different colonies and was in partnership with many others.
Established many paper mills and became one of the largest paper dealer in the English-speaking world.
He bought rental properties.
Became a creditor for loans small and big.
Participated in land speculation.
As a result, Franklin's income reached around £2,000 pounds a year. If £100 in 1784 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £14,755.55, then today, in 2019, Franklin’s annual income would be £295,111 or $372,735.52.
The financial independence achieved by Franklin allowed him to dedicate his talent and capabilities to creative and productive projects, with which he secured his recognition for centuries to come.
