Learning From Literature

Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier

Cover of Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier

Financial Freedom: A Proven Path To All The Money You Will Ever Need by Grant Sabatier is a personal finance book published in 2019.

At 24, Grant Sabatier checked his bank account – it had just $2.26. That moment sparked a decision: he wouldn’t waste his life stuck in a job he hated. Five years later, he reached financial independence with $1.25 million saved.

In Financial Freedom, Sabatier shares the exact steps he took — simple, effective strategies built on learning personal finance, entrepreneurship, and investing. He also launched millennialmoney.com, which reached over 10 million people in its first three years.

Purchase the book by clicking this link!

Enjoy!

Table of Contents

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Money Is Freedom
  • If You Want Something Different, You Have to Do Something Different
    • If you aim to retire early, don’t live like those planning to work 40+ years
  • Money is about creating the life you love
    • What that looks like varies from person to person
  • 7-Step Plan for Financial Freedom
    • Figure Out Your Number (to reach financial freedom)
    • Calculate Where You Are Today
    • Radically Shift How You Think of Money
    • Stop Budgeting + Focus on High-Impact Savings
    • Optimize Your 9-to-5
    • Diversify Income Streams
    • Invest Early and Often
  • 7 Levels of Financial Freedom
    • Clarity → Understand where you are and where you want to go
    • Self-Sufficiency → Earn enough to cover your expenses independently
    • Breathing Room → Stop living paycheck to paycheck
    • Stability → Save 6 months of living expenses and pay off bad debt
    • Flexibility → Have at least 2 years of living expenses invested
    • Financial Independence → Live off investment income permanently (work is optional)
    • Abundant Wealth → Accumulate more money than you’ll ever need
Time Is More Valuable Than Money
  • Financial Freedom = Ability to Do What You Want with Your Time
  • Be Intentional About What You’re Working Towards
    • Don’t live on autopilot; reflect on your goals
    • Don’t Blindly Accept Traditional Views of Life
  • The Most Difficult Part = Ignoring others’ opinions and expectations
  • Top 2 Regrets of the Dying
    • “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
    • “I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
  • Invest as much money as early and frequently as possible.
    • Every dollar invested today is hours/days of your freedom in the future.
What Is Your Number?
  • Beware of Lifestyle Inflation – tendency to spend more as income increases.
  • Think About What You Truly Value
  • The Amount You Need Depends on the Life You Want to Live
    • Ask yourself, “What does a perfect day look like to you?”
    • Your answer will change over time, so set realistic goals and adjust
  • Your Number Needed (in income-generating investments)
    • At least 25x expected annual expenses
    • Example: $50,000 annual expenses x 25 = $1.25 million
  • Side Income reduces the need to withdraw from investments, allowing for faster compounding
    • Acts as a hedge against investment performance
  • Break Your Number Into Smaller, Attainable Savings Goals
Where Are You Now?
  • Pay Down Debt Strategically
    • Stock market return = 7%, credit card debt = 22% → Pay off credit card debt first
    • Stock market return = 7%, other long-term debt = 3.5% → Invest while making minimum debt payments
  • Don’t Get Emotional with Money
    • Emotions lead to poor financial decisions
    • Financial advisors help clients avoid emotional decision-making and stay on track
Next-Level Money
Is It Worth It?
  • Calculate Your Real Hourly Rate
    • Factor in time for getting ready, commuting, and destressing
  • Before Buying
    • Ask, “How happy will this purchase make me?”
    • Account for taxes when calculating the true cost
    • Calculate hours of life traded for the purchase
  • Long-Term Impact
    • Estimate how much the money could grow over time
The Only Budget You’ll Ever Need
  • Focus on the 3 biggest expenses: housing, transportation, and food
  • Housing
    • Move to a cheaper home
    • Rent out extra rooms or house hack
  • Transportation
    • Walk or bike whenever possible
    • Only buy used cars (if necessary)
  • Food
    • Grow your own food
    • Cook at home
  • Travel can be cheaper than expected
Optimize Your 9-To-5
  • Maximize your benefits
    • HSA, 401(k), continued-learning, insurance, remote work, etc
  • Maximize your salary
    • Research your current market value, value to your company, and any competing offers of employment you’ve received
    • Ask for a raise that represents your true value
More Money In Less Time
  • Diversify Income with Side Hustles
    • Aim for passive income streams
    • Analyze passions and skills
    • Evaluate income potential
    • Build it around your ideal lifestyle
  • When?
    • Mornings, evenings, weekends
    • Vacations, sick days, in-between moments
The Seven-Step Fast-Track Investment Strategy
  • Investing = ultimate form of passive income (exchanging almost 0 time for money!)
  • 5 Key Concepts
    • Minimize risk
    • Minimize fees
    • Minimize taxes on contributions
    • Maximize returns
    • Minimize taxes on withdrawals
  • 1 — separate short-term + long-term goals
  • 2 — figure out how much you have to invest
  • 3 — determine target asset allocation
  • 4 — evaluate current fees + try to keep them as low as possible
  • 5 — pick the right investments (index funds recommended)
  • 6 — max out tax-advantaged accounts
  • 7 — invest in taxable accounts
Real Estate Investing
  • Real Estate Benefits
    • Consistent monthly cash flow + appreciation + tax advantages
  • Use of Leverage
    • 10% growth of $100 in stocks → $10 gain off $100
    • 10% growth of $100 in real estate w/ $20 down payment → $10 gain off $20
  • Tips To Find Investment Property
    • Develop criteria to follow
    • Set a budget + get credit preapproved
    • Look for immediate positive-cashflow properties w/ appreciation potential
    • Use an amazing realtor 
    • Hunt when everyone else isn’t
    • Look for foreclosures / short sales
    • Get familiar with the area
    • Find an experienced home inspector
    • Be prepared to walk away from a deal
More Than Enough
  • Withdrawal Strategy @ Retirement
    • Live off side / passive income as long as you can
    • Maximize tax deductions
  • Have enough interests to keep you busy
    • Retire to something, not from something
The Future-Optimization Framework
  • Just get started
    • Strategies are worthless without application
  • Learn to say no + Focus on the goal
    • It’s never been easier to waste time with modern gadgets
  • Execute consistently
    • Strategies will get you wealthy for sure if you stick with them, it’s not overnight
  • Life > Money
    • Sometimes you need a break – Take a step back to go farther forward
Living A Richer Life
  • Success = peace, not money
    • Measure success by how peaceful your life is
    • Money only matters in how it helps you live a life you love
  • With each level of financial freedom, you feel more in control – time, space, freedom

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