I have watched families come from humble beginnings and grow to create generational wealth, and I have witnessed powerful people crash and burn because of the money they accumulated. It’s hard to watch, but it happens all the time. Money does have power, and sometimes it doesn’t present itself exactly the way we expect, and so the quest for financial freedom is not a simple path.
In my experience, the solution is what I call healthy wealth. It’s about personal values, principles, and giving, and it’s what helped me achieve financial freedom for my family. But before we talk about that, let’s get into the concept itself because it means many things to many different people.
What is Financial Freedom?
Searching for the answer online yields a wide variety of results, including this from Nasdaq.com:
“Financial freedom is a state where you have complete control over your finances, allowing you to make choices based on your desires and goals rather than being limited by how much things cost.”
While that is a fine response, what financial freedom means to me may be different from what it means to you. For example, if you are a college kid in Omaha with a large amount of student loan debt in your future, financial freedom may look like a modest condo in a walkable area of town and having that debt paid off. However, if you are a single person in New York City, financial freedom could be having a paid-off home in the Hamptons and enough money to see a Broadway show every night of the week.
Because financial freedom’s definition changes based on your own circumstances, I feel you need to base your own variation on something other than needs and desires.
Wealth Through Values
What do you value? What are the core principles that guide you through your life? For some, it may be faith in a higher power, and others may find their values in what was taught to them as a youth—be kind to others, for example.
These ideas not only shape us throughout our lives, but also become filters. They are a way for us to process complicated things that happen to us, as well as make decisions moving forward. We do this in the business world all the time; a company will make a choice based on that organization’s values. It’s only natural to do that in our personal lives.
Whenever we are approached to do something we know is wrong for one reason or another, we have to step back and make a decision on how to act based on our values. This isn’t always conscious; sometimes it’s almost instinctual. But the call we make at that moment should be filtered through our own principles and values. Otherwise, we’re all just beings of chaos, which becomes even more apparent when money is involved.
Not only do I have my own values, but I share many of them with my family. So when it came time to define financial freedom for us, we used those principles and values as our guide. It was clarifying, but it’s only part of the equation.
Healthy Wealth
For me, wealth is only achieved if you use your assets to help the well-being of others. Otherwise, what’s the point? If you want to prosper but leave your neighbors languishing, is that enough? For some, maybe. But for me and my family, our values tell us otherwise.
Developing a healthy mindset about those funds helps tremendously. Give to others. Shape your decisions based on your values. Live the life you desire using those principles as a filter. If you do these things, then how much money you have doesn’t matter. You can still be happy.
Freedom Isn’t Free
Gaining financial freedom for my family was not a one-step process, but our values and principles shaped our path. By choosing to create healthy wealth instead of trying to just stack money in a bank account, we know we are helping ourselves and others.
For us, financial freedom doesn’t just look like a paid-off student loan or a flashy house in the Hamptons. It’s knowing that we don’t have to worry about money day to day, but we do have to use it wisely to help others and live a better life. It’s about balance, and while it can be tough, our values help guide the way.