Becoming Financially Independent as the world changes.
It is impossible for most people to map the future, because it is not like things are now. So, it is actually very difficult to plan for a future.
Lets say a very smart kid, in middle school is planning on going to college to become a scientists or engineer. There is only 4 or 5 years before they will enter college. How much will change by then? But, in 8 or 9 years the science and engineering fields will have changed so much that college graduates will be saying, "Why did i go to college". Their future children will be asking, "What is this thing they called 'college'?" How do you plan for this?
An auto mechanic will lose their job soon. Very soon we will have magnet motors, which will power an electric motor or drive the wheels, and no one, or very, very few people will need to know how to work on ICE engines. Only collectors will still try to keep old cars running. One needs gasoline and lots of maintenance, the other just goes. And then, the wacky inventors also do away with tires. (electro-gravitics again) We now have flying, or at least hovering cars. The entire automotive industry is about to disappear. How do you plan for this?
Saving for the future is in the same camp.
Lets say that there was FRNs (Federal Reserve Notes), Dollars (New, goods backed money, that will probably be digital, or mostly digital, and Bitcoin. (This is simplified to keep confusion down.) So, soon FRNs are going to be worthless. Just like Zimbabwe notes. The FRN will go into INFLATION, and the people will lose faith in it. Sometime soon, Trump is going to say, we are going to have The US Treasury create dollars, and they are going to be backed by a basket of commodities; gold, oil, bitcoin… But, anyone who is watching the future, sees bitcoin heading over a million, and no one selling their bitcoin.
How should you save for the future? The FRNs and everything based on it, stocks, bonds, will disappear. And if you miss the exchange window, will be completely worthless. The New Dollars may or may not last that long. (above, you see the end of oil) And bitcoin will just the newest thing, that will be being replaced in the further future.
How do you plan for this?
A place to stay
Lets try to break down housing.
Today, you need to buy (which means rent from the bank and govern-cement) or rent some real estate. So, you have to figure how you are going to get a job that pays you enough, or make an incredible amount of money to buy one.
Tomorrow, you will be watching all the real estate markets crash. And, if you have a mortgage, you may lose your home as banks try to call in loans to keep themselves solvent.
The next year, you will be watching as suburban real estate becomes "if you can keep it, it's yours". Property laws aren't honored, and it really doesn't matter, because there are so many empty houses. And everyone who could get out, left the cities.
The next decade, there is no "real estate". The concept is gone. The king/govern-cement does not own the land. And the land "belongs" to the person maintaining and caring for it. Even the term "belongs to" isn't the same anymore.
So, we need to break this down even more.
What do we want? A place to stay. A place to safely sleep. (and in the future, a place to grow food)
The idea of saving up lots of money to buy a house seems silly if this is the future. What you need to do is survive until "real estate" crumbles. There are two paths from here. Stay mobile, and rent or get a homestead and start building your greenhouse and raising your sheep.
If you start saving in bitcoin right now, you will watch as the price of property drops and the price of bitcoin skyrockets. But, this, for most people is extremely scary, and to some, insane. However, the other stance, mortgaging yourself to the hilt to buy a suburban McMansion, is seen as completely normal, and "winning", but you will end up with nothing.
Becoming financially independent.
Becoming financially independent is a great goal. Well, at least in this world and this financial system.
But, we really need to define "financial independence" if we are going to aim for it during such a time where the future is greatly changing.
Financial independence means having the financial ability to live your life without having a job. This could mean having a lot of money in the bank, or having a homestead that provides all of your food.
In a world where money speaks, and a lot of money can be power, than having a lot of money in the bank is financial freedom. However, if the banks collapse, it means nothing. It would also be meaningless if everyone stopped taking the banksters' money, or in some way turned their back on the (old banking) system.
In a world where rich people go hungry, because the only way to get food is to grow food, then financial independence is you growing enough food to not go hungry.
Where will you go?
Imagine that all the destination you would fly to, all the cities that you want to visit, suddenly let a bunch of murderous thugs in. And now, these terror-cells were terrorizing the cities. Not just by being bad neighbors and raping children, but now commonly were arsonists with weapons and armor rivaling the military.
Soooo, do you still want to live the jet setting life? Even if there are still flights, and they are still taking dollars? Well, if you are rich enough to hire bodyguards, or pay for luxury hotels that hire a real defense force.
However, i believe it will be far better to get away from the cities onto your own homestead that you share with members of your tribe.
The thing is, T.H.E.Y. are moving migrants into "1st" world countries along with military units disguised as migrants. The cities will become dangerous places. And, unless you are very rich, living/visiting tourist cities will be dangerous too.
There will be difficulties with air travel too. Airlines having all kinds of "problems" from planes breaking, to high fuel cost, to torn up runways. So getting to destinations will range from troublesome, to you can't get there from here.
And the worst problem will be that the world stops taking dollars. If you don't have a lot of the local currency, you may not be able to buy a plane ticket home.
Your current plans about what you will do when you get rich, may not be available.
Having enough money, gold, silver, bitcoin and other cryptos to live where you want to will be the best plan. Be flexible, able to read the local climate, and be prepared to get out of Dodge.
Or go the homestead route. Find people that will have your back, and help defend against attackers.
You still want to get to "financial independence", however, that is a moving target now. Its meaning is changing as we speak. It used to be that having enough stocks and bonds to pay your monthly expenses was the way to go, today, those financial instruments are just waiting to disappear.
It is good to have cash. FRNs in your hands. However, this isn't going to be good for long. T.H.E.Y. have CBDCs planned, and other people groups have New Dollars planned. But, those FRNs, green pieces of paper will be useful for while, even after they old dollar collapse. Well, as long as you are in America. (people are trained to take the local currency, and it will be a while before they stop. The banks may close, and may be told that the FRNs are no longer good, but the momentum will mean that you can use them for a while longer.
And then comes the time of change over, where they govern-cement offers new dollars for old dollars. Or, if the govern-cement is no longer in charge, we enter the age of chaos, where the people try to figure out what is valuable and tradeable. Gold and silver are the go to "bartering" items, but really, it may be big bottles of Tide®.
So, keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground. And have food, silver, gold, and paper dollars in your hand. (these are to help you survive to the next financial system) Invest in things that you see will be valuable in the next system, like bitcoin and local manufacturing.
If you set yourself up well, it won't just be about surviving, it can be about setting yourself up well. When the banks close, many things will go on SALE. If you have cash, you can buy all kinds things people are trying to convert to cash.
Plan for the changes 😝