Building a better life

Right, let’s get this newsletter started.

I am Elliot. I am trying to change my life for the better.

A bold statement but aren’t we all trying to do this all the time, in some way or another?

I believe the surest way to a better life is to strive for financial freedom.

The aim of this newsletter is ostensibly to improve your life but to do so it will often masquerade as a newsletter about personal finances.

There are three ways to achieve financial freedom:

• Obtain wealth so large the passive income pays for any lifestyle.

• Reduce your living expenses to zero.

• Do work that doesn't feel like work. As a happy coincidence, the money paid for that work covers the cost of your lifestyle.

Someone saving 64% of their income can retire in 10.9 years.

The method I am going to prescribe in this blog is a combination of all three. The path will go something like this. Reduce living expenses whilst maintaining and even improving your quality of life. Build wealth by increasing income and investing the surplus. Move steadily toward work that fills your soul with joy and is aligned to your ‘life’s task’.

Reducing expenses:

Your savings rate, and therefore time until financial freedom, depends far more on your expenses than your income.

Someone earning £50k per year and spending £25k will reach financial freedom 20 years earlier than someone earning £150k but spending £120k.

Imagine how different leaving your job and pursuing your interests would be at 40 compared to 60.

Most of us are spending money for short-term pleasure or status. Instead, spending to maximize happiness can cut our expenses in half. It also boosts both emotional and physical wellbeing.

Building wealth:

We have all been born into a time of prosperity and progress. Building wealth has never been easier yet so few people know how.

For the person that understands how to invest, life is full of opportunity and freedom. For the person that doesn’t, life is full of ‘almost wins’ and ‘what could have been’.

The formula to build wealth large enough to live off is an easy one and readily available. Yet most people can’t and don’t follow it. This newsletter will teach you how to invest so that you and your children will never have to worry about money again. You get rich from the stock market through a combination of understanding, patience, and rationality. It has nothing to do with picking the winner or spotting a trend early.

Finding your life’s task:

Many people think that if everyone reached financial freedom and stopped traditional work, the economy would fall apart. Progress would stall.

I don’t think this can be further from the truth.

Who do you think is more likely to take a punt on a ludicrously hard robotics start-up that may take years but has the potential to improve millions of lives?

• Average Joe who commutes an hour each way for their 9-6 job. It pays just enough to cover their credit card and mortgage each month.

• Or Financially-Free Fred, who loves robotics. He has a passive income that pays for his healthy food and active lifestyle. These ensure Fred wakes up full of energy every morning.

Achieving financial freedom provides the space and time for you to pursue your interests. Humans are inherently creative and enjoy deep work. Reaching financial freedom is not the retirement we are used to in the West. It is an opportunity to work on more meaningful projects that often serve others while we are still young enough to do so.

We all know a couple of people, whether famous or in our own lives, that enjoy work so much it feels like play. This is the aim of life after traditional work. This newsletter will share evidence-based thinking from the world’s best minds. It will provide a framework to help you find this in your own life.

I hope that we can build wealth together. Spend money to maximise happiness. And, find work that fills our souls with joy.

Society teaches us to work longer, so that we can earn more, so that we can spend more. This is ‘normal’.

To reach financial freedom you can’t be ‘normal’. Any path away from 'normal' will have moments of self-doubt and roadblocks. Remember to expect these as we embark on our journey. Also remember: the ‘normal’ person is overweight, time-poor, and stressed. Don’t choose to be ‘normal’.

Subscribe to start your journey to financial freedom.