I ride the train.
I do so every time I go out. There are three reasons why.
First, it is not that I can’t afford a car, rather it is that I can’t afford a driver. Why do I need a driver, you might ask. You see, I go the extra mile in optimizing my time - I use all my time working to attain my financial freedom. Thus, my travel time is spent reading books on wealth management, investments, successful and rich people, self help, etc; or when I am in the mood I also write articles. Without a driver, I would, instead, be spending my time navigating traffic.
Second, I think a lot which means that at times I am in my own world. Being in my own space while driving on my country’s roads is a death wish. So what do I think about? I think about how to allocate extra income (my regular income has already been allocated). I think about how to use my financial freedom money.
Third, in my current financial situation, I am better off putting the car and driver’s salary fund in an investment pool.
What I am getting at is that when you’ll see me with a car, the driver is soon to follow. And when you see me with a car and a personal driver, I have hit some of my financial goals.
So how does using the public transportation relate to achieving financial independence? The lesson is "everything we do, every decision we make should be in support to our financial freedom."
Remember that the number of cars you have and their brands are not the absolute measure of how much money you have. How wealthy you are will always be measured by how much money you have.
I know this is difficult to take in with all the media we see that image matters. In wealth accumulation, your image is not your goal, but rather earning money such that you can be financially free. I know someone who makes six figures trading foreign currencies, but drives a decade old and beat up Mitsubishi Pajero. I also know someone who has a brand new car, a ton of credit card debt, and works like crazy to pay for the credit cards and the car’s amortization. My friend with the Pajero need not work at all for the rest of his life to maintain his lifestyle. He works because he wants to rather than needs to.
So, who would you rather be?
