This is one of my favourite lessons about finance and it’s pretty timeless. And also it’s pretty relatable because, regardless of whether we realise it or not, we fall into one of these three categories that I’m about to describe, and the lesson is on the vehicles that we can use to obtain our ultimate objective of financial freedom. The vehicles that we can use for that journey, so to speak, because if we’re going to go on a journey, we need a vehicle. We need a vehicle that’s going to take us from point A to point B, point A being where we are, point B being the ultimate objective, which is financial freedom. However that looks for you, whatever you’re going to do with your time whenever you get there, the point is that when you do get there, you have the freedom to do whatever you desire in any single moment, because money is no longer a constraint. So, whenever it comes to invest in, whenever it comes to growing our wealth, really that’s the ultimate objective that there is, or really that’s the ultimate objective of investing. So, as I say, if we’re going to go on a journey, if we’re going to get from where we are to where we want to go, and where we want to go in this specific instance and this specific podcast is financial freedom, then we need a vehicle. So this is one of my favourite lessons that I’ve ever come across whenever it comes to finance is actually adapted from a book called the Millionaire Fast Lane by Jay DeMarco, and the important thing to remember is, whether we realise it or not, we’re inadvertently in one of these three vehicles, or some combination of the vehicles. So what am I talking about? Well, let me go ahead and pull up a post that I put on Dennis you Invest very recently, which very neatly articulates this concept, and I’m going to go ahead and narrate the post because I feel like it describes it beautifully and it gets a point across very nicely. So here it goes. Most of us are on a journey that we didn’t necessarily sign up for. We think it will lead us to financial freedom, but the truth is we are often using the wrong vehicle to achieve this objective. The ultimate destination most of us are after is freedom Freedom to do what we want in any given moment, and guess what? That includes having more fun. Financial freedom just so happens to be the thing that offers anyone the ability to do this. For any journey, we must have a vehicle. Fundamentally, there are only three vehicles you can have whenever it comes to your financial journey. Each one corresponds to a particular relationship with wealth. There are only three that are possible and even if we don’t actively pick our relationship with wealth and therefore a vehicle, we will have one by default. The key is to choose the vehicle that suits your wants and needs. The three vehicles are as follows the bicycle A bicycle is pretty simple to ride. However, it doesn’t go anywhere especially fast. A long journey on a bicycle is slow and arduous. We may also become tired and never reach our goal. How does this relate to your finances? How does the bicycle vehicle this concept relate to your finances? Well, the simple fact is that the journey is often pretty long. Therefore, if we take the bicycle, then we are unlikely to reach our destination in a timely manner, if at all. The bicycle corresponds to not having a plan whenever it comes to our finances. We meander around without ever getting closer to our overall objective. The key thing to understand is that we are on the bicycle by default. Therefore, we must do something to get off. We must take action. Vehicle number two the bus. The bus is consistent and reliable. Relatively speaking, it gives us a high likelihood that we will reach our destination. The primary issue is that, whilst it is faster than the bike, it is not that quick overall. Because it is public transport. It means we are sharing this method with everybody else. No issues with this in principle. It’s just that we may prefer a more individual approach. How often? How does this approach correspond to our finances? Well, the get rich slowly and buy in whole strategies are effectively the bus method. There’s a very high likelihood we’ll get to our financial freedom. However, this usually takes 20 to 30 years. This is mainly when most people retire at 60 or 65 or so. If we are using the same methods, everybody else will get the same results. It’s important to state that this is totally fine. However, if dentistry is not something you particularly enjoy that much, then 20 to 30 years is a long time to spend doing something that you don’t like. In a way. That is the risk with this method. Don’t get me wrong. We should all be using the bus method. We just have to understand when it applies and when it doesn’t. The good news is that there’s a whole, entire other vehicle that may be applicable and may be useful to you. Vehicle number three the sports car. Sports cars are fast. It has the potential to get us to a goal of financial freedom very quickly. However, it is not super reliable and may break down. This may even mean we have to start our journey all over again. The sports car can be very scary, but it is the only vehicle that has real potential to allow us to be financially free and in our relative youth. The sports car corresponds to anything that will generate great wealth in a fast manner. This effectively means we can pull wealth forwards from the future to today. Two examples of these methods are a high-leverage skill, eg public speaking, or a successful business. Those are just two examples. Of course there are many more. It’s definitely not for everyone, as many would call these skills or these activities risky, in vertical commas. However, it is the only enviable alternative to the other two vehicles, should they not suit your needs. It usually requires huge leaps outside your comfort zone to drive the sports car. The risk would be that we never really get to enjoy life in the moment. Important part there is no right or wrong path. Just make sure you pick the right vehicle that is best for you. Whichever vehicle you choose can be one exclusively or a combination Key thing to note or a combination, just make sure you are happy. This message is about choice rather than a specific path. We have to understand that of the three options, there are exclusively only three options and three relationships that we can have when it comes to wealth. The key is to choose the right one for us and not inadvertently fall into one which doesn’t really suit our needs, as the majority of society do. Most people sacrifice the journey, working too hard and not having enough free time to reach the destination financial freedom. It’s really cool to realize that this isn’t always necessary. You can have fun on the journey and make suitable provisions for the future. Maybe this lies within having some combination of sports car activities and bus activities. The only vehicle I would suggest not being in is the bicycle. Remember, we are on it by default unless we do something. We have to create a plan for our wealth. We have to create a plan for our finances if we want to get off the metaphorical bicycle. My personal opinion is that we should do some combination of bus activities and sports car activities. Then we will have skin in the game for the best of both worlds. This community Dentist who Invest isn’t about making you pick a specific path. It’s more about letting you know what your options are so that you can choose.