This Is the Simplest Path to Financial Freedom
Andy Snyder|April 14, 2021
We did some digging the other day… and we found a grave.
It’s our great-great-grandfather’s burial spot.
We’ve never actually seen it. Our digging was all virtual (on a fascinating free site). But our mind couldn’t help but be flooded with thoughts and ideas as we studied Grandpa Manward’s final resting spot and what got him there.
We don’t know a whole lot about him. We know where he lived, who he married and how many kids he had.
We also know the land he plowed for a living was eventually taken by the government so a dam could be built – one of FDR’s ways of keeping men busy.
Surely, he would have been disappointed by the news. But he died nearly a century before. In his day, the river that was dammed was a source of food, ice and transportation. Blocking it so men could generate electricity was something he never thought of.
There’s a lot the old fella would be surprised by these days.
You know the obvious things… like peanut butter pie and cordless screwdrivers.
But there’s something deeper we’ve been studying lately that the old grave reminded us of – the complexities of modern life and what it means for our money and our happiness.
Spending Habits
There’s a very real divide cropping up between people in this nation. There’s a growing chasm between the haves and have-nots. It’s always been around, of course, but it’s never been quite so self-imposed and, we argue, so dangerous to financial health.
If Grandpa Manward saw the things the average American spends his money on these days, he’d choke on his salted shad.
We made a quick and random list of “must pay” expenses that weren’t around when he was.
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And that’s just to start the conversation. We didn’t cover things like a $6 pack of batteries for our garage door opener or a $120 Himalayan salt lamp for the living room.
Looking at the list, it’s no wonder our culture has changed so much.
It’s no wonder that many households don’t only need mom and dad going to work each morning… but also could use a third helping hand just to keep up.
So Rich… But So Poor
Get this… It shows just how far things have come.
We’ve been studying the rising cost of living for a while. In our research, we found an article that looks at the disparity between the rich and the poor.
Read this oh-so-telling line from it:
Only 29% of households with incomes under $25,000 are members of Amazon Prime.
The emphasis on “only” is ours. Its use blew our mind.
Only a third of poor Americans?! Only?
It shows just how warped we’ve become when the authors of the piece were so concerned about a “must own” item that gives us free shipping… music… and movie downloads.
How in the world would we explain to Grandpa Manward that the most popular item from the world’s most popular retailer is something called a Fire TV Stick?
“A fire stick,” he’d say excitedly. “Now that sounds useful.”
“No,” we’d reply. “It’s not what you think. You sit in front of it for hours each night to kill time before you go to bed.”
“Oh… that sounds miserable.”
He’s right. It is.
Just turn on the TV to prove it.
Outgo ≠ Income
But our point here isn’t to bash modern culture or pick apart all that’s wrong. You can do that on your own time.
Our point here is to examine a powerful truism in the realm of economics. It’s the fact that our expenses tend to rise to match our income.
Busting the jaws of that trap is the simplest, most direct path to financial freedom.
Grandpa Manward never had the moneymaking opportunities we do.
He couldn’t go online and invest in huge companies doing great things. He couldn’t get in his car and go to a job in the big city. He couldn’t create a website and launch a business from his living room.
We can. It’s one of the greatest modern luxuries.
But we can also blow our money on all sorts of silly things. And we do…
Get this… In a study from 2017, researchers found that Americans spent $240 billion on things like jewelry, watches, books, luggage, phones and other luxuries.
It’s twice as much – even when adjusted for inflation – as what was spent in 2002.
That’s nuts.
Did incomes double? No. They hardly rose.
That means the jaws of the trap aren’t breaking… They’re getting stronger and sharper.
Folks are making choices that actively make them poorer.
And it’s not just silly things like iPhones that we’re buying more of. Clothing sales have risen 20%, with the average American now buying 7.4 pairs of shoes per year.
Yikes.
When Jay Powell stands in front of the nation these days and says there’s no inflation, he’s right.
The prices of what we buy aren’t going up… yet. We’re just buying a whole lot more stuff than we used to.
But imagine the pain when Powell soon stands in front of us and says inflation is rising and rising fast.
Grandpa Manward will be rolling in his grave… while millions of folks are digging their own.
Andy Snyder
Andy Snyder is an American author, investor and serial entrepreneur. He cut his teeth at an esteemed financial firm with nearly $100 billion in assets under management. Andy and his ideas have been featured on Fox News, on countless radio stations, and in numerous print and online outlets. He’s been a keynote speaker and panelist at events all over the world, from four-star ballrooms to Capitol hearing rooms.
