Freedom, Choice, Priorities, and Streams of Income

As we age, we have opportunities for multiple experiences.  My birthday is coming up this month, in fact, it's one week from today.  This has been a great time for reflection.  Part of my reflection has been about "freedom."  The freedom I am referring to is more than the freedom we enjoy as citizens of the USA.  That's wonderful in itself.  This freedom is about the possibility of making choices and priorities regarding quality of life now and in the future.

Robert Allen has written a series of books dealing with the importance of streams of income.  He talks about "money mountains" and that streams of money flow from these mountains.  If everyone has three or four of these mountains, then, if the stream slows or drys up from any one, enough money is still coming in from the other mountains.  The economy in the USA in 2009 shows the importance of many of these ideas. 

Some of these mountains include our employment (jobs, businesses, farms, what we do to earn income).  There are several investment mountains (stocks and bonds, residential and commercial real estate to name two).  The Internet is another mountain which can add a variety of income generating opportunities.  Another area of need is the concept of residual income.  Robert Allen suggests that network marketing may be one way to begin to generate residual income, though it is not always easy to find legitimate network marketing opportunities that someone wants to engage in.

Freedom comes when we can make the choices and priorities we want in our lives and have sufficient income to support them. 

Birthdays are good times to think about retirement.  I know I won't stop working.  I love what I do too much.  What I want to have the opportunity to do is to choose whom I will work with and to be able to make my fees reasonable and affordable so that I can work with more people and organizations.

An axiom in investment is that high rewards come from high risks.  In employment, high salaries usually are associated with high demands and expectations--and less freedom.  Often people choose to invest time and energy in high paying jobs today for a better quality of life tomorrow.

As I grow older, my tomorrows are today.  I want more freedom in my life and am willing to work for that.  The resididual income I have in place from work and experience done "yesterday" and my lifestyle choices today help me balance my freedom to choose what I'll be doing with my life in terms of income.

I need to keep working the "multiple streams of income" ideas to keep my future quality of life as good as it can be.  Health care insurance is important to creating this sense of freedom.  No matter how much reserve we accumulate, health care needs in our future can consume everything we have.  With a good balance of health care insurance as part of our daily quality of life choices, we can preserve our freedom and quality of life in our futures for a much longer time.