We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort. – Jesse Owens
We are about to enter the month of Elul, which means that Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are right around the corner. Elul begins the time of reflection on the year past and trying to improve in the upcoming year. Earlier in the week, I was searching for something on YouTube and somehow ended up watching the song “Piano Man,” by Billy Joel. The last time I heard the song was years ago when my friend Roy sent me a video of Billy Joel performing it at a concert that he attended in Madison Square Garden in New York. I then watched it over and over again few more times. If there was ever a contest for best song lyrics of all time, it would have to be in the running. “Now John at the bar is a friend of mine/He gets me my drinks for free/ And he’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke/But there’s someplace that he’d rather be. He says Bill I believe this is killing me/As a smile ran away from his face/Well I’m sure that I could be a movie star/If I could get out of this place.” Awesome. The song is about a few characters that have unfulfilled dreams, and the piano man helps them “forget about life for a while.”
Money cab
Not more than 12 hours later I was late for a meeting and needed to take a cab. I got in and to my surprise the driver was a woman. You just don’t see too many female taxi drivers in Jerusalem. For full disclosure, I always strike up a conversation with my cab driver. I actually asked her how many female cab drivers there are in the capital and she said that there are about 40. I was surprised. There are two or three well-known female drivers but who would’ve guessed 40. I told her it was always my dream to drive a cab. To speak with a wide variety of people and get their stories is something that’s always fascinated me. She then said, “Do you want to know what my dream is? “ It would make for too good a story if she said that she wanted to become a financial advisor. She continued, “It’s to become a lawyer. I started to drive a cab three years ago so I could put myself through law school”. I said how amazing that was and kol hakvod to her. So inspirational. Now just so you can understand, she didn’t look like she was 25 years old, so I said to her that I did not mean to be rude but, “How old are you?” She said she is turning 54 this Sunday! Happy birthday Michal! That is so cool that she never gave up on her dreams and in two years from now she will be a qualified lawyer.
Financial freedom
Are you not where you want to be financially? You can make the change. It’s not too late. Keep in mind that you aren’t going to go from debt to a secure financial future overnight. It takes some hard work. Just ask driver Michal. She drives a cab 12 hours a day and then attends classes and studies. She will tell you that it’s not easy, but if you want to achieve your goal it’s worth all the hard work. Get yourself on a budget, cut your expenses and make saving a paying off the debt a priority.
I recently spoke to a man who had a goal of retiring early, post-coronavirus (whenever that will be), and spending six months a year on a Greek island writing novels. He works in hi-tech for a firm that recently went public in the US. He has a seven-digit net worth, earns a very good salary but said his finances were a mess, and had no clue how he could achieve early retirement. It turns out that he didn’t realize he had more than one million dollars in savings because they were spread out among four or five different accounts that he had inherited, as well as the money from his stock options. I helped him make order and then explained how he will be able to generate from investments the money that he needs to live off of if he quits his job.
Don’t be like one of the customers in “Piano Man,” who live life unfulfilled and with regrets. Go ahead and try to achieve your dreams. You can have a secure financial future.
The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.
The writer is the author of Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing. www.gpsinvestor.com; aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il