[E16] Is Financial Literacy a 21st Century Survival Skill?

<p>Awareness + Sound Principles + Discipline + Money = Wealth</p><ul><li><strong>Awareness</strong>: You have to be aware of the fact that you have a problem/need. If you’re disillusioned by the idea that your finances are fine or that you can spend your way out of the issue, you’ll never make the changes needed to discover financial freedom.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li><strong>Sound Principles</strong>: You need the right techniques, tactics, and frameworks to get from where you are (broke, paycheck to paycheck, anxious, stressed, envious, etc.) to where you want to be (no longer anxious, financially free, able to spend time doing what you enjoy).</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li><strong>Discipline</strong>: The principles I teach are proven. They work. (And they’re easy to understand.) The difficult part is putting them into action and developing the mental muscles to make smart decisions over and over again. If the principles are the technical element in the equation, this is the soft side - the psychological/mental side of things.</li></ul><p> </p><ul><li><strong>Money</strong>: Finally, you need money. I intentionally include this last on the list because I think it’s the least important of the four.  But you do need money to build wealth. And it helps if you’re proactively working to elevate your career so that you can gradually increase your earnings over time. Because while it’s not necessary to make $100k, $250k, $400k per year to gain financial freedom, it can certainly accelerate the process.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Financial literacy rates are lower than they’ve ever been among young people, which is a byproduct and a consequence of a broken system. It’s not your fault. Your educators, the government, and even some of your parents have let you down...and they aren’t going to pick you up or show you the way.</p><p>It’s up to you to seek out financial education and understand how to earn, spend, save, invest, and give with intentionality and purpose.</p><p><i><strong>“Financial literacy is a 21st century survival skil