Wealth: Measurement of Time or Dollars?

“Money has never been important to us, but our freedom and the freedom of our children means everything.”

What does this statement mean to you? What does the word freedom mean? Does money have anything to do with freedom? If there is a relationship between money and freedom then how is it measured or quantified? Is your income a true measure of your wealth?

When I think of the word freedom, I think about having the ability to conduct my live according to my own desires without being beholden to the dictates of another person for fear of losing my source of income. If I want to take a three-month vacation and ride my bike across the United States am I truly at liberty to do that; Or do I have to ask permission from my employer to take some time off to execute the ride? Also, is it truly realistic to believe that an employer would grant an employee three-months or more to go on a cycling expedition.  The reality is that after you finished your three-month cycling expedition you would more than likely have to engage in a job hunting expedition because an employer pays an employee to perform a service or task so that the business can make a profit for the owners of the company. The sad truth is that if we are solely dependent on a job as our only income source then we are anything but free and we are always in danger of losing that income source. In addition, we are taxed at the highest rate and have very few tax breaks and it does not matter if we are a low income or high-income earner. We trade our time for dollars and if we are not working then we are not being paid. So, the fact is is that we are more like indentured servants then freemen.

How do we become truly free and gain the ability to live our lives according to our desires?

I think that the first and most important step is to improve our financial education and learn the rules of the game of money. Second, learn how to create passive residual income from multiple sources that will flow into our lives weather you work or not. This last statement is in fact the true definition of wealth. Wealth is measured in time and not dollars. For example if your living expenses are $2,000, a month and you have $12,000 in savings, then you are in fact six months rich because if you were not working then your saving would sustain you for six months. ($12,000 divided by $2,000 equals 6 months). What would be the effect if we added a residual income source to this example? If you had a network marketing business or rental property that provided $2,000 a month in residual income and your living expenses totaled $2,000 a month then your wealth measured in time would be infinite. The income that you receive from your business or rental property is residual. It flows into your bank account weather you work or not and covers all of your living expenses.

When you reach this level of residual income where the income generated from a business or investments is equal to or greater than your living expenses then you're truly wealthy. You have freed yourself from the rat race and the drudgery of the 9 to 5 five days a week treadmill. You are now free to live your life accord to your desires.

What would you do if you had this type of freedom in your life?

More importantly, what would you be willing to do to have this type of freedom in your life?