Achieving Financial Independence

Basic financial freedom in 10 steps - start your New Year right: 1) If you are not able to live on less than what you make, no amount of investment planning will help you. The majority of my articles are on ways to increase what you make by growing your career. You’ll need to do one or more of those things before the rest of this post applies. 2) The alternative to raising your income is cutting expenses. Older car, local vacations, simpler clothing, cook rather than go out, buy used rather than new, etc. Each of my last two cars were 13+ years old when I let go of them, and I would have happily kept them if I could have. 3) With “extra” money after steps 1 and/or 2, first pay off any high-rate debt (bad debt). This usually means credit cards. Eliminate anything above 10% (roughly stock market returns). 4) Once bad debt is paid, build a cash cushion. This usually means 6 months of living expenses. Bad things happen. Be prepared. 5) Now that you can weather a layoff or emergency, start investing. The simplest, safest long-term investments for anyone under 40 are the stock market and your home (real estate). Some people will cite everything from bonds to Bitcoin, but candidly, that is complex and unneeded. If you are under 40 you will probably live 50+ more years. So you need to invest within that time horizon. That means only stocks and real estate unless you have far more time than this article to put into learning about wealth management. 6) If you have a 401k matching opportunity at your workplace, make this your first investment. Free money from your employer plus no taxes from your government. Too good a deal to miss. 7) Homes go up in value and you get to keep all the increase, but you get to buy them using someone else’s money and usually at a very low rate by having a mortgage. Buy a house you can afford in the nicest neighborhood with good schools. Then take care of it and wait. Rates are higher right now, but that will not last. They will go down as inflation retreats. 8) Mutual funds and anything managed by a bank will do worse than just buying an S&P Index Fund. 85% of fund managers did worse than the S&P index for the last 10 years. Some funds are much worse. Are you an expert to know the difference? For gosh sake, even Warren Buffett recommends this strategy, and he is an expert. 9) Hold stocks forever (more or less). Years. Decades. Day trading is a form of gambling. Sure, some people have made money. So have lottery winners. 10) Money accumulates very slowly at first, but the miracle of compound interest means that it explodes upward over time. If you are reading this at age 30 and retire “early” compared to the norm, at 60, you have time for a dollar you invest in the market today to multiply roughly 21 times. Time and patience are your friends. I shared all of this in a newsletter over 2 years ago. That version addresses common objections, problems, and corner cases: https://buff.ly/bEiLxbN

In 2021, I became the first woman to head a unicorn in Israel, AKA Startup Nation. In many parts of the world, women are excluded from even the most basic financial services, so leading a fintech company is far from their reality. United Nations data estimates that 3.8 billion women live in the world, 50% of which are adults. According to the World Bank’s Global Findex Database, 1.4 billion of those 1.9 billion adult women, are unbanked. That’s 73.65%. Visit that statistic again. It represents a disturbing gender gap in financial access, with women being far less likely than men to have bank accounts or access formal financial services. This financial exclusion has personal impact. It diminishes women’s economic empowerment by restricting access to education and limiting their potential for personal growth and independence. It makes women more financially dependent, and therefore, more vulnerable. There's economic impact, too. Research by McKinsey highlights the economic loss due to financial exclusion of women, noting that closing the gender gap in labor force participation could add trillions to global GDP. Financial inclusion isn’t just a matter of equality – ensuring the same opportunities for all. It’s a matter of equity - ensuring women have the tools and access they need to fully participate in the global economy. That’s where technology enters the picture to level the field. The rise of mobile banking is a great example of innovation enhancing financial inclusion. According to a report by the International Finance Corporation, mobile money accounts are more popular among women in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa, where access to traditional banking is limited. Various fintechs provide financial literacy resources, helping women understand financial products, budgeting, and saving strategies. Other solutions include AI-driven platforms that offer personalized recommendations and advice, empowering women to make informed financial decisions. Aside from personal apps and solutions, fintechs can facilitate community-based lending and saving initiatives, allowing women to support each other through group savings or microfinance schemes, fostering a sense of solidarity and shared purpose. This International Women’s Day’s theme is "accelerate action". In my mind, nothing accelerates action like innovation. As we mark International Women's Day, let’s advocate and innovate to enhance financial inclusion for women worldwide. #IWD2025 #financialInclusion Papaya Global

From April 2024, I started taking a fixed monthly salary. Before that, I took all the profits directly.  I used to think SackBerry and I were the same entity. But that's not true - if you want to grow a company, you must pay yourself a salary just like your employees. The remaining profits should be saved to build up 6-12 months' running costs as a safety buffer. Only after that should you start taking the leftover profits. Why did I decide to make this change? The main reason is that, as an agency owner, I don't want to go month by month. Having a difference between my personal savings account & company bank account has helped me if: 📍 A client ghosts me and doesn't pay at all. 📍 I hit a slow month. 📍 I want to experiment with new things: - new service - new resource - an expensive hire - new ways to scale In those situations, you still need cash reserves to pay your team for the next 1 year. Because they're working for your agency, not directly for the client. If you don't start saving up from the very beginning, you'll likely face these 3 consequences: 1/ With no savings buffer, a few delayed payments could leave you struggling to cover payroll and operating costs. 2/ If you can't reliably pay employees on time, your best talent will understandably jump ship. 3/ Without working capital reserves, you'll lack funds to invest in new capabilities, hire strategically, or explore new opportunities. So, what should you do? 1/ Live lean, save diligently, and pay yourself a reasonable salary. That separates you from the business and its needs.  2/ With healthy cash reserves, you can survive client non-payments, attract top talent by always making payroll, and be opportunistic about growth possibilities. It's tempting to take all the profits home when starting out. But that short-term gain risks crippling your agency's long-term potential. Won't you agree? #PersonalBranding #MarketingAgency

I interviewed a woman who has two master's degrees and runs a team of 15 people. She told me she's never once asked her husband about their family's investment strategy because she doesn't want to seem "distrustful." That sentence honestly rattled something in me. This piece started as research. I wanted to understand why women in India, even successful, educated women, approach money so differently than men. Why we hold 27 million demat accounts but still park most of our wealth in gold and fixed deposits. Why we invest more but feel less entitled to returns. What I found wasn't about financial literacy. It was about scripts. Boys are raised to see money as glory. Girls are raised to see it as survival. And that split, protection versus propulsion, shapes everything. Career choices. Investment portfolios. The ability to negotiate. Even the language we use when we want more. This isn't about telling women to "just take more risks." It's about building the conditions where risk becomes possible, and ambition stops being treated like a character flaw. If you've ever been called "money-minded" like it's a bad thing, or if you've wondered why your biggest financial goal is just "enough to leave", this is for you. You're allowed to want more. Money doesn't make you greedy. It makes you free. I hope you share this with a woman in your life, and more importantly, I hope you share this with the men in your life. Naming and accepting discomfort is the first step towards fixing it. Read the full piece: https://lnkd.in/db9pHWDD (And huge thanks to the Plum team (esp Ganapathi Ramanathan and Shreyas Achar) for publishing this as a part of their new Humanise edition on Matters of Money, featuring the wonderful, incredible Rohit Kaul, Dravisha Katoch, Sarthak Dev, and Ria Shroff Desai. What august company to be in!) #WomenAndMoney #FinancialIndependence #Humanise #MoneyMindset

Breaking generational financial patterns isn't just about earning more, it requires fundamentally different thinking about money, time, and opportunity. After years of working with professionals who've built seven-figure net worths from modest beginnings, here's my advice on five key mindset shifts: 1. Master a high-income skill: Focus on building high-income skills that can pay you well monthly in any economy. Become irreplaceable by offering value that's in high demand. 2. Stack multiple income streams instead of just chasing raises: Don't just climb the career ladder. Create several ways to make money at once. Multiple smaller income sources often provide more security than one big paycheck. 3. Live like you're broke while building wealth: Keep your spending low even when your income grows. The gap between what you earn and what you spend is where wealth is built. This discipline creates the foundation for serious investment growth. 4. Network like your life depends on it: Your network equals your net worth. Build relationships across different industries and groups. Remember: opportunities flow through people. Give value first and focus on connections that can open doors. 5. Take calculated risks for investment: Make decisions thinking 5-10 years ahead while others focus on next month. Significant wealth comes from strategic risks that might cost you in the short term but pay off enormously later. The biggest difference? Think in decades, not days. While most chase quick wins, build for the long term. Becoming your family's first millionaire isn't just about money, it's about breaking old patterns and creating new ones that may feel uncomfortable at first but lead to lasting change. Check out my newsletter for more insights here: https://lnkd.in/ei_uQjju #executiverecruiter #eliterecruiter #jobmarket2025 #profoliosai #resume #jobstrategy #wealthbuilding #financialindependence

Most women don’t *plan* to lose their financial independence. It happens quietly...through caregiving, career pauses, relationship dynamics, and the thousand small choices we make to keep a family afloat. On this week’s Hello Monday, I sit down with Steph L Wagner to talk about what it really takes to rebuild your financial life when life cracks open. Her new book is "Fly! A Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom and Building a Life You Love." Steph built a strong career in investment banking. She loved numbers, strategy, the sense that she could shape her own path. But a short break to raise her children turned into 14 years. Over time, the financial control she once had slipped away—first quietly, then completely. When her marriage ended when she uncovered her husband's double life. The emotional blow was matched by a practical one: she no longer had income, confidence, or a clear sense of who she was without the financial partnership she’d relied on. Steph's story is relatable to anyone who’s lost their footing (through divorce, loss, or an unexpected life turn) and had to rebuild from the inside out. We focus on three takeaways every woman should hear: 1. Pay attention to the quiet drift. Financial power erodes slowly. Steph explains the subtle signs—when you stop making decisions, when you outsource the money conversations, when you tell yourself it’s “just temporary.” Awareness is the first safeguard. 2. Understand your money story. Most of us inherit beliefs about money from childhood—scarcity, fear, guilt—and they show up in our habits. Steph shares how identifying her “money personality” helped her break patterns she didn’t know she had. 3. Build systems that actually work. Forget rigid budgets. Steph’s 45/20/35 model gives structure without shame—and helps you regain momentum even when you’re starting from zero. Steph’s journey is a reminder that financial freedom isn’t really about having more. It’s about reclaiming agency, rebuilding trust in yourself, and making choices that align with who you want to become. Find the full episode here: 🎥 YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gwbUM5rY   🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gbApx_SR   🎧  Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gtptWAGA

Every time a finance guru says “invest in SIPs” to reach financial independence, most women find it alien.  It doesn’t seem so, which is why it needs to be pointed out.   Here is the thing: 1. Investing is not an issue. We are making our money. Choices are an issue. We do not want 50 mutual funds to choose from. 3-5 that adhere to our specific goals are good to begin with. 2. Women don’t have time. Working women sometimes place up to 3 orders on Quick Commerce platforms, that too before leaving for office, while cooking 2 different meals for their entire family! Women do not have time to go through the lengthy onboarding process. Make it easier for them to get on the investing platforms, and you’ll see them reach their goals! 3. Women don’t just need a seat at the table, they also need conversations. Almost all men have video game buddies, investing buddies, golf buddies, gym buddies. Women also need their investing buddies, along with buddies for other activities. Make it easier for women to share their stories of investment. SIPs will then be a natural outcome. … To be clear, the takeaway is not “don’t say invest in SIPs”. I do believe they are the goldmine to financial independence. But let’s not say “invest in SIPs” as a default. Whatever you say, you should have enough empathy to bring inclusivity to your customers—and know that you are building trust and not losing it through your words and actions.

𝟕𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝟑𝟎𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐬. 𝟏𝟎 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. Yet financial experts say you should have 4.5X that amount by age 39. I was shocked to discover this gap last year. Like many of you, I was working hard but not seeing my wealth grow meaningfully. The problem wasn't income—it was system. After interviewing 17 self-made millionaires and financial advisors, I discovered three financial milestone categories that transformed my approach: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐟?" 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞'𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: • Build a ₹3.5-4 lakh emergency fund (covers 6 months of expenses with inflation buffer)  • Secure term insurance worth 10X your annual income  • Eliminate high-interest debt within 24 months 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡" 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: • Start education funds with 15-year SIPs for children  • Consider property investment only if staying 7+ years in one location  • Aim for passive income streams covering 30% of expenses by 40 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲" 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭: • Allocate 5% of income to experiences that bring joy  • Begin estate planning earlier than you think necessary My colleague implemented just the first category and eliminated ₹12 lakh in debt within 18 months while building a 3-month emergency fund. 💪 The most powerful insight? Financial freedom isn't about wealth—it's about options. What's one financial milestone you're determined to hit before 40? Comment below. #WealthBuilding30s #FinancialMilestones #PersonalFinanceIndia #MoneyManagement

20 years of investing and teaching personal finance, I’ve seen the same 8 habits keeping people stressed, and stuck from growing their wealth. The good news: every single one of them is fixable. 1. Living on autopilot Almost 65% of adults don’t use a budget or tracking app. When you’re not watching your money, it leaks - subscriptions you forgot, impulse buys, bank fees. Awareness alone can free up 10–20% of your income for saving or investing. 2. Treating debt as normal Credit card interest averages 20% APR. The average Singaporean carries around S$3,000 in credit card debt; in the US, it’s US$6,360. Servicing debt first is often the single fastest return you’ll ever get. 3. Only saving what’s left The simple switch of “pay yourself first” can move your savings rate from 5% to 15% without feeling it. 4. Chasing shiny investments Most retail investors underperform the market because of poor timing. FOMO erodes compounding and confidence. 5. Ignoring financial education OECD studies show financial literacy explains 30–40% of wealth outcomes. Without a basic grasp of risk, diversification, and fees, you’re handing control — and your returns — to someone else. 6. Lifestyle inflation Even high earners fall prey. Every upgrade — bigger home, luxury car — delays financial freedom and raises stress. 7. No emergency fund Lack of a buffer forces bad choices: selling investments, taking high-interest loans, or missing bills. Aim for 3–6 months’ expenses in cash. 8. Not investing early and consistently Waiting even 10 years to start investing can halve your retirement wealth. Example: $500/month at 7% for 30 years grows to ~$610,000. Start 10 years later and it’s only ~$260,000. Wealth is built by eliminating the habits that silently hinder your progress. Start by tracking, automating, building a buffer, and committing to consistent investing. 🔥 Want more financial clarity? Comment “MONEY” for our 11 Financial Questions to Ask Yourself workbook - the exact reflection guide we use with our participants. #finance #investing #moneymanagement #financialeducation #investmenttips

The government contract I support has been on a stop work order since 10/1, but I’m still getting paid. How? I’ve established multiple income streams and systems beyond my W-2 to protect against these sorts of disruptions: 🏠 2 Rental Properties: I bought my first and second homes with rental potential in mind. While I lived in them, I made upgrades. When I needed to move—one time for work, one time for love—I turned them into rentals. 🤝 Small Business: Through WCA I coach women in cybersecurity in securing positions of power in the industry. We run programs and events that generate profit. Usually I reinvest that money back into the company, but in a pinch I could take an owner distribution. 💰 High Yield Savings Accounts (HYSA): We keep 6 months of fixed + variable expenses in cash. This earns us interest income each month. 📈 Stock Market Investments: Money invested in a 401k, Rollover IRAs, and Brokerage accounts are all earning an average return of 10% each year. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that there’s as much security in working for someone else as there is working for yourself. A backup plan when working for a corporation or the government is essential. And it’s something that has to be built over several years. One cannot spring up these sorts of things overnight in reaction to a layoff, termination, government shutdown. It takes time to: - Save money to invest - Build trust with customers - Build relationships in networks - Create something worth buying - Have the people who want you, find you The good news is it’s not too late to start thinking about how you might diversify your income, make money work for you, and/or make more money independently. Women in cybersecurity—I would especially love to coach you on this!