Brad’s Note: Today I’m turning things over to my colleague Palm Beach Daily editor Teeka Tiwari.
As I shared yesterday, living below your means and saving money for the future is not optional. Teeka, now a multimillionaire like myself, shares his own harsh struggles learning this valuable lesson.
For those who have money set aside for more speculative plays – read on below to find out what Teeka means by “Freedom Number” and how you can potentially achieve it in 2024.
Over the years, I’ve achieved a lot of success…
I was once the youngest vice president in Shearson Lehman history. And after 15 years on Wall Street, I left to run my own successful hedge fund for a decade before retiring.
Today, I’m the editor of one of the most successful newsletter businesses in the world.
But here’s the thing…
Despite all my successes, it took me years to understand what it truly meant to be financially “free.”
In my early years, success was of the boom-and-bust variety.
Some years I’d be rolling in the dough, living high on the hog. And in other years, I’d be chronically late on my car payments and afraid the bank would repossess my car.
I remember one particularly rough period when I lost just about all my money speculating. I was so broke, I wasn’t paying any of my bills.
I’d park my car five streets over and walk to my third-floor rental apartment – praying the car would still be where I left it in the morning and not repossessed by the bank.
My children paid the price, too.
From sensing the tension between me and my then-wife… to the nasty diaper rash the youngest had to experience because I couldn’t afford better-quality diapers.
Nobody deserves that kind of stress… It eats you alive. I knew I had to change. I had to stop blaming other people for my shortfalls and start doing things differently.
So I started thinking about my dream life. What would it look like? How much would I need to earn?
I looked at the numbers I’d written down and realized there were many years when I had earned that much and more. And yet here I was, flat broke… again.
I realized that no matter how much I earned, it would never be enough.
I started to understand I didn’t have a money problem… I had a spending problem.
If you spend every penny you make, there’s no way you can reach your financial dreams.
When I finally realized that, I had to ask myself a hard question: “What do I really want out of life?”
At first, I didn’t have an answer. So every morning, I sat at my desk and wrote out my vision for a life of financial freedom.
I had to step out of my comfort zone and reimagine my ideal dream life from scratch.
I wrote about the home I would live in… the view of the ocean from my balcony… the sound of the waves in the background.
I wrote about my workday, the people I interacted with, the type of relationships I wanted, and the kind of wealth I’d have.
Having that vision gave me the strength to underspend for the first time.
As I started earning large sums of money again, it was the vision of the life I truly wanted that stopped me from squandering the money on nonsense.
Instead, I started plowing my money into low-risk, income-paying blue-chip stocks and real estate.
As more money came into my life, I kept my expenses the same and just kept reinvesting into my conservative ideas. I had finally mastered the art of living below my means.
This process led me to an idea I call a “Freedom Number.”
Today, I’ve hit my Freedom Number. And even though my various income streams are large… I still live on a small portion of them and invest the rest.
It’s an ingrained habit now that fills me with a peace of mind I can’t describe.
It’s a sense that everything is going to be OK.
Life still happens, though. Money is no umbrella against the tragedies of life. Pain and suffering fall on all of us regardless of our wealth.
I’ll say that I have an easier time handling tough times today.
Knowing that I have a strong financial cushion eliminates what had been the biggest source of stress and worry in my life. I find everything else much easier to navigate now that I no longer have financial worries.
My mission today is to help as many folks as I can get to the same place where money issues are no longer a problem.
There’s something happening soon that could help you get there far faster than I ever did. And it’s happening this year.
Before I get into that, I want to share a fundamental truth with you…
What’s Your “Freedom Number”?
Just saying you want a lot of money isn’t enough.
You need to write it down and create a plan to make it a reality, just like I did.
First, you need to write down your own personal Freedom Number.
It’s the amount of money you need to live the life you want. You should re-examine this number every year until you achieve your goal.
My life forever changed for the better when I created my Freedom Number and learned to live beneath my means. (That’s the “special sauce.”)
It gave me a target to shoot for that focused my actions (and spending) on what really mattered.
And every year, I was able to see how much I had accomplished and how much closer I was to my dream.
It gave me the confidence to live on less than I was earning and change my financial situation.
You don’t have to tell anyone else your Freedom Number. (My recommendation is to keep it to yourself.) But you should write it down.
Once written down, ask yourself, “If I could achieve this, how would I do it?”
It’s OK if you don’t know the answer yet. (Below, I’ll reveal one way that could help you achieve your Freedom Number this year.)
Just the act of opening your mind to a life radically different from the one you currently have can move things in the direction you want them to go.
Now, I realize financial freedom means different things to different people. Everyone is different. And everyone has their own Freedom Number.
For some of you, it could mean an early retirement… a paid-off mortgage… beautiful memories and trips shared with loved ones.
For others, it’s the freedom to own a new car every three years… spending time doing volunteer work… or owning an offshore fishing boat and having the time to actually use it.
And some of you may use your Freedom Number to pay for your kids’ college tuition… or help others achieve freedom through charitable giving.
So here’s what I want you to do…
Really think about what you want and what it’ll cost to get the lifestyle you’ve always desired.
Write down that number.
Once you do, I’ll show you how you could potentially hit that exact number in 2024 – without putting your current lifestyle at risk.
Let me be clear… I can’t guarantee it’ll happen. But it’s exactly the type of life-changing idea we have in front of us.
How to Achieve Your Freedom Number in 2024
What I’ve learned over the years is that to create enduring wealth, you need a diversified approach.
That means putting some of your money into conservative investments that generate consistent profits and income.
Then you risk some of that replenishable income on “asymmetric” ideas that have the potential to deliver life-changing gains in short order.
I know this might sound like a long, involved process. It might even seem hopeless or impossible.
But when you compare it to all the hours most people spend working in dead-end jobs
instead of doing what they truly love… It’s a lot easier and more rewarding.
One of the best asymmetric ideas I’ve come across over the years is cryptocurrency.
Since 2016, I’ve helped numerous people make an enormous amount of money in crypto.
Over that time, 27 of my crypto picks have jumped at least over 1,000%. No other newsletter editor comes close to that type of success.
And on January 10, our government has set a deadline that could trigger the biggest wealth-building opportunity in the history of crypto.
Friends, this event will only happen one time… And it’ll create a chance to reach your Freedom Number in 2024.
That’s why on Tuesday, January 9, at 8 p.m. ET, I’m holding an urgent briefing called Freedom 2024.
During this event, I’ll tell you what is about to happen… And why I believe 100 years from now, when they write about the history of cryptos, they’ll mark January 10th as the beginning of an entire new crypto industry.
We’ll see it as a time that allowed millions of everyday folks to hit their Freedom Number.
You should know this opportunity is open to everyone. But not everyone will take advantage of it. Unfortunately, most people will be too late.
Let me be clear: The biggest gains will happen in a tiny subsector of the crypto market.
And if you want a chance to reach your Freedom Number in 2024, you have to focus on this subsector of the crypto market that accounts for less than 1% of all coins.
Friends, when I was younger, my Freedom Number was simple.
It was having enough money to pay for my car in cash instead of taking out a loan… It was having enough money to buy higher-quality diapers for my daughter instead of the budget brand that left her tush sore with diaper rash.
Since then, my life and my dreams have changed dramatically…
All my cars are bought and paid for. My children’s housing costs are paid for. My granddaughter’s college is already paid for.
Today, I live in a beautiful home in the Caribbean overlooking the ocean, where I often spend time sailing my 50-foot red-hulled catamaran.
I can tell you from personal experience that once you hit that Freedom Number, everything changes… Because you can live the life you want instead of the life that has been forced upon you.
I want more people to have that same feeling.
So I want you to jot down your Freedom Number.
Then click here to join me on Tuesday, January 9, at 8 p.m. ET, and let me show you how you how you could potentially reach it this year.
Let the Game Come to You!
Big T