A Job is Not Enough

How am I going to continue to provide for my sister AND myself? How will I be able to afford the things that we both need? Will I have to stay in a job that I do not like and thus feel the joy drain out of my body every day just so that I can pay my bills? Will I be able to work forever? Obviously not. So where will the money come from when I am unable to work?

Is it a toss-up between money and things like joy, peace, happiness, fulfillment? I am one person. Can one person work enough hours to provide all the money required to support his/her family? If they did work all the required hours, where would they then get the time to spend with their families (the same people they are working so hard to provide for)? It’s just not adding up. Simply put…a job is not enough.

Working “9 to 5” (a.k.a. A Job)

Presently I work a “9 to 5”. So at least 40 hours per week, I have to be on the company’s site toiling away to ensure the company meets its target. I am good at my job, but I get no joy from my job. I have reached a glass ceiling and I am thus not growing professionally or personally.

So, why not just leave? Because the present economy does not allow for that. Jobs that provide equal pay and benefits are not exactly lining up at my door because there are not many of them out there. So why not take out a loan, go back to school and get a higher degree to allow myself access to higher paying jobs? Well, I thought about this, and I observed persons who have done this. My findings are that people get themselves into debt, do the Master’s Degree or the PhD and some end up not getting a higher paying job (that job shortage thing that I mentioned earlier applies to higher paying jobs too). This means, they now have to be paying off that loan out of the same salary that was not very large to begin with.

Others do get a higher paying job which comes with less, if any, personal time. So, they now have a company phone, their desktops have been changed out to company laptops, which they bring home. They don’t get paid for overtime and so basically, they have become higher paid slaves of the company and their family and personal lives suffer.

Being an employee…being a slave to a company, just does not make sense to me anymore. I say anymore because all throughout school, I was taught (I was groomed) to become an employee. Work all my life to build someone else’s dream, someone else’s wealth, someone’s else’s financial freedom…all so that that “someone” can have all the time in the world to spend with their families and do the things that they actually love and enjoy.

Here’s a crazy thought: why can’t I be the “someone”?

A Job Doesn’t Provide Sufficient Funds & It Takes Away Your Time

Having a sister with a disability means I rarely trust anyone around her. Therefore, finding transportation for her to go to her classes is a challenge. Imagine if I had the time to bring her or if I had the time and money to find a trusted driver for hire to be her personal chauffeur.

If I had financial freedom…meaning I didn’t have to be physically present on a job to make money and thus I had streams of passive income…imagine all the bills I could pay for – the speech therapy, the healthy foods for her diet, the fitness coach to help her lose the weight, the family vacations (she loves hotels), the things that I want for myself and the things that I want to do.

If I wasn’t held captive to a physical location by a job and I had passive income, my sister and I could travel the world. I would actually have time to be an advocate for Down Syndrome.

Passive Income is the Way to Go

So why is it that I would want to be an employee again? I am now at a stage where I am learning all that I can about financial freedom. I am reading as many books as possible, e.g., Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki; taking courses to educate myself about cash flow management (how to manage my money) and how to generate passive income. For me, this is the way forward.

This is how I will be able to pay my bills and get to spend time with my family. I encourage all caregivers to think about this. The cost of providing for a loved one with a disability can be quite high and as we get older, we can’t “hustle” the way we used to when we were young, so we must find a way to keep the money coming in, even if we are unable to work…and we all know pension is not the answer.

What’s The Difference Between You & The Wealthy?

Simple answer: Knowledge. Get educated about money…start with reading the Robert Kiyosaki book I previously mentioned. You should also read Cashflow Quadrant (another Kiyosaki book). These two books made me see my position as an employee for what it really was…working all my life to make someone else financially free instead of myself.

If you gain the knowledge and decide that being an employee is not for you, then you can seek to learn how to move from being an employee to being financially free. We all have to make choices that will ensure that we can provide for our loved ones.

Please share your thoughts on financial freedom and if you have read the Robert Kiyosaki books, please tell me what you think about them. What other good books do you recommend? Have you been able to acquire passive income for yourself? Please share your story and encourage others. We all have to put ourselves in the best position to help our loved ones.