Free your children from money worries (10 steps that will guarantee their financial freedom)

When Expat Millionaire Andrew Hallam was a teenager he worked in a garage to earn money for college[i]. The chief mechanic, Russ, took Andrew under his wing. 

Russ taught Andrew that becoming financially literate makes it possible for anyone to achieve financial freedom. 

From his own personal experience Russ knew the earlier Andrew developed literacy the better, so he explained how he’d built significant wealth on just his mechanic’s wage, and armed Andrew with practical investing tips[ii].

As Andrew’s fans and followers[iii] know, he took Russ’s advice to heart, and with just $100 a month in spare cash at that time, Andrew Hallam began investing his way to millionaire success, which he achieved on a school teacher’s salary by the age of just 36.

Today, via his best-selling books[iv] and sold out talks, Andrew shares Russ’s wisdom and his own investment knowledge to help international professionals like you understand how to create lasting financial freedom.

There’s one secret ingredient for guaranteed financial success that Andrew Hallam doesn’t share…

When they started investing, both Andrew and Russ had something I don’t … and maybe you don’t have it either?

They had extreme youth on their side – and this secret ingredient is one that can guarantee financial success…

Far from being wasted on the young[v], youth is a gift not a limitation when it comes to growing significant wealth. 

If you feel as I do that we have an obligation to arm our children and grandchildren with a grounding in financial literacy to enable their long-term financial freedom, let me share the 10 core concepts you and I must keep repeating over and over again until the next generation gives in and listens to us!

How all teenagers can become wealthy

The younger you are when you start investing, the richer you will be. That is an indisputable fact if you follow these 10 financial principles: -

1.    If you want financial freedom, invest you must. You cannot earn your way to financial freedom[vi].

2.    The majority of self-made millionaires live below their means[vii] - not above or even within their means. (The most popular brand of car among millionaires is the Toyota…)

Live below your means, make frugal fashionable, and you’ll always have excess money to invest for growth.

3.    Invest as soon as money becomes available to you – on pay day or bonus day. 

Never wait and see how much you have left at the end of the month, because I guarantee you will have nothing left!  

It’s about paying yourself first, and is a discipline to master because you matter most.

4.    Invest every single month without fail. No matter how much or how little you can afford in any single month, be disciplined to save regularly, no matter what. 

This will become a positive habit, and will have a lasting and positive effect on your whole life.

5.    Costs and interest both compound. Avoid the former and embrace the latter.

6.    Compound costs[viii] = the more you pay to invest, the less you have to invest for growth, which is bad for your long-term financial health. 

7.    Compound interest[ix] = is the addition of interest to the principal sum of a deposit, or in other words, interest on interest. The more you invest, the more it grows – the longer you invest the more that growth can grow.

8.    The younger you are when you start investing, the longer your money has to grow and the longer that growth has to compound. Therefore when you start investing outweighs how much you invest, and in real terms the less you need to invest to achieve millionaire status.

9.    Investing is not difficult if you apply the evidence[x]. The evidence shows that those who choose a low-cost, well diversified portfolio of exchange traded funds, add to it regularly, rebalance[xi] it annually and leave it well alone no matter what for the long-term achieve the best results.

10. If you only ever read one book in your life after college – or just one book about money anyway – please read Tony Robbin’s Unshakeable[xii]…it is your financial freedom playbook and it will change your life forever and for the better.

With thanks to my professional pal Marilyn Lydia Pinto for her idea for this article…I truly hope it helps you free your young loved ones from financial worries for life.

[i] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/28/how-one-teacher-became-a-self-made-millionaire-by-age-36.html

[ii] https://podcast.affordanything.com/59-andrew-hallam-millionaire-teacher-salary/

[iii] https://andrewhallam.com/

[iv] https://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Hallam/e/B0053O6LMY

[v] https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/09/07/young/

[vi] https://www.facebook.com/TonyRobbins/posts/10153299178554060

[vii] https://www.slideshare.net/AESInternational/7-habits-of-selfmade-millionaires

[viii] https://www.stockopedia.com/content/how-compound-costs-can-destroy-your-long-term-investment-returns-87766/

[ix] https://www.aesinternational.com/blog/is-compound-interest-the-eighth-wonder-of-the-world

[x] https://www.aesinternational.com/blog/what-is-evidence-based-investing-anyway

[xi] https://www.aesinternational.com/blog/how-to-rebalance-a-portfolio

[xii] https://www.aesinternational.com/blog/get-richer-quicker-3-valuable-lessons-from-tony-robbins-unshakeable