How I reached financial freedom at 33

On this day six years ago, I woke up in the morning and I didn’t have to go work. Ever again. I was 33 and we had finally reached financial independence.

My wife and I had been saving for seven years and investing for five to reach a point where we could live off of the income from our investments.

Seven years earlier I was broke, without a pension, indebted to my brother, and sleeping on a friend's sofa. But I had my education and an excellent job lined up.

And no I did not inherit any money, I didn’t get lucky with crypto or individual stock bets, and I didn’t launch the next Silicon Valley unicorn. Here is how we reached financial independence.

I became an expat in my mid-20s. I wanted to get out of small Belgium and I was looking for adventures. After living in the US and the UK, I ended up working in Dubai, as a sustainable energy consultant. Moving to Dubai was a critical turning point in my life:

1. The opportunities to make money as an employee are much greater there than in Belgium. I was good at my job, managed to sign the biggest contracts and was in charge of our biggest client in the region. I climbed the ladder fast and the salary followed.
2. There is no pension system, so I was forced to learn and plan my own pension. I made mistakes early (by signing up to expensive pension plans), but quickly learned and figured out a way to invest efficiently on my own for the long term (via low-cost index funds).
3. That’s where I met my wife. Together we built a life project like no other: work hard, save a lot, invest wisely, retire early, focus on happiness, family, freedom and impact.

A lot of people say “It’s easy because you were paid a lot”. That’s true. Having a high salary made it possible. But being paid a lot is not enough. In fact, there are millions of people who are paid much more than I was (in Dubai, in Belgium and everywhere else) but who are still living under the constant stress of having to make more money, and with none of the freedom that we have.

This is because to reach financial independence, you need to combine 5 key elements:

1. Know that you can.

   – You need to have the knowledge that by accumulating assets you can generate income, to the point where it can replace your work income.

   – Most people simply have no idea. Or they think that you need tens of millions to be able to do it (and that it is therefore impossible for them).

   – Know that if you’re able to save a couple hundred euros per month, then you can. It will start slowly, but it will compound.

2. Save more.

   – Making money is essential, but it is not enough. It’s the money that you keep that matters. If you spend it all, you can never build anything.

   – Take control of your money and pay yourself first. The quickest way to make a difference in your personal finance is by reducing expenses.

3. Learn to invest.

   – Investing well is an essential part of building wealth.

   – Most people think it’s too complicated to learn and would rather leave it to others. This is their biggest mistake.

   – Investing well is far less complicated than what banks and advisors want you to believe and learning how to invest is likely the best time investment you’ll ever make. Be courageous.

4. Earn more.

   – While cutting expenses is the fastest way to increase your savings, earning more is where you can make very big steps.

   – This is usually difficult and requires working hard and smart. But it has unlimited potential.

   – You can do it by levelling up at work, starting a side hustle, embracing entrepreneurship or moving abroad (like we did).

   – Always focus on solving the biggest possible problems and delivering the best possible value. Money will follow.

5. Value life, freedom and happiness.

   – If you chase ever more money, you’ll never be satisfied.

   – You need to figure out how much is enough for you to have the freedom you want.

   – A common back-of-the-envelope calculation goes as follow:

   Invest until your portfolio is 25 times your annual expenses. You can then withdraw 4% of your portfolio each year to cover your expenses.

To me, saving and investing for financial freedom is the best thing I could have spent my money on. As Morgan Housel, the best-selling author of The Psychology of Money puts it: “The ability to do what you want, when you want, and with who you want, for as long as you want to, pays the highest dividend that exists in finance.”

You’re invited to my 6^th anniversary of financial freedom! Join us on Thursday 1 August for an online event in the FIRE Belgium Facebook group, where I will share my journey to financial freedom and answer your questions.