Table of Contents
Preface to the New Edition 12
Introduction to Financial Freedom 17
Who Are the Financially Free? 18
What is Financial Freedom? 19
Three Stages of Wealth Creation 26
Part I The First $25,000 is the Hardest 28
Chapter 1 Building the First $25,000 Through Frugality 31
Why Wealth Creation Begins with Frugality 32
The Psychology of Frugality 33
Get Rich by Doing It Yourself 40
Getting by on Less than "The Best" 43
Slowly and Steadily Chip Away 45
Conclusion 45
Chapter 2 How to Live an Efficient Lifestyle 47
An Overview of the Average American's Spending Habits 48
Fixed versus Variable Expenses 50
Tackling Major Life Expenditures in Order of Significance 52
Conclusion 68
Chapter 3 What to do with Money as You Save It 70
"Bad" Debt versus "Good" Debt 71
Credit 75
The First Three Milestones in the Journey to Financial Freedom 76
Conclusion 83
Part II From $25,000 to $100,000 through Housing and Income Generation 84
Chapter 4 Turning Your Largest Expense into an Income-Producing Asset 86
Average Joe's Housing Dilemma 87
Joe's Financial Model 87
Costs of House Hacking 93
Conclusion 96
Chapter 5 Your Home Is Not an Investment 97
Five Ways to Buy a First Property (and Their Financial Consequences) 98
Questions to Ask Before Buying a House Hack 109
Conclusion 113
Chapter 6 How to Make More Money 114
What Is the Point of Earning More Money? 116
How to Make Time to Pursue More income 117
The Problem with a Good Salaried Job 120
Changes Necessary to Increase One's income 123
Why Do So Few People Take Control of Their Income? 132
Conclusion 139
Chapter 7 Scaling a Scalable Career 141
Five Tactics That Will Help You Earn More Money in a Scalable Career 142
My Personal Journey with Luck 151
Part II Conclusion 153
Part III Moving from $100,000 in Net Worth to Financial Freedom 156
Chapter 8 An Exploration of Financial Freedom 158
How to Go About Pursuing Financial Freedom 165
The Components to the Financial independence Equation 166
Conclusion 182
Chapter 9 An Introduction to Investing for Early Financial Freedom 184
Inflation 186
The Seven Core Tenets of Investing 186
Five Concepts for the Savvy Investor 195
Alternative Investments 208
Conclusion 209
Chapter 10 Investing in the Stock Market 212
Do Not Attempt to Pick Individual Stocks 213
Index Funds Explained 217
How to Invest in an Index Fund 219
Conclusion 219
Chapter 11 Rental Property Investing 221
Five Reasons to Invest in Real Estate 222
Conclusion 229
Chapter 12 Tracking Your Progress 231
Tracking Your Money 232
The First Financial Metric: Net Worth 233
The Second Financial Metric: Spending 238
The Third Financial Metric: Income 241
The Fourth Financial Metric: Time 242
How to Analyze Your Findings 245
Final Thoughts on Tracking and Planning 247
Chapter 13 Habits and Their Impact on Financial Freedom 249
Conclusion 259
Conclusion 260
Appendix Retirement Accounts 264
Conclusion 272
Time Log 273
Acknowledgments 281