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Express.co.uk spoke exclusively with Ken Okoroafor, founder of The Humble Penny about the practical steps that people can take when embarking on their financial freedom journey. Mr Okoroafor was able to become financially free in his 30s and now works with his wife to help others do the same.
Before starting this journey, people need to have the right mindset which he discussed previously. However, the next step is to figure out the plan.
People should know their strategy; becoming financially free is not something one can just go blindly into.
What Mr Okoroafor teaches his clients is that there five different pathways that they can chose from.
He said: “First is stock market investing, or property investing. Another is to create a successful online business or maximise your career.
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“People can aim to climb the ladder at their jobs and grow their income and the fifth thing is to become 100 percent debt free and debt free.
“There are other things you can do as well that people are starting to explore but we focus on things that are tried and tested, that have worked for us personally and helped us become financially free as a family.”
Mr Okoroafor suggested people should pick two of these things to focus on. For example, someone could say they will work very hard in their career and climb the ladder whilst also investing in the stock market – this could be a pathway.
Alternatively, another person could decide to start an online business and start investing into property.
These pathways will be different for everyone, but people should know what two are best suited to them and their lifestyle.
The next step is to develop one’s skill set.
He continued: “Reading books for me is a really powerful way of doing this. Let’s say you decide to invest on in the stock market, you could binge on YouTube videos about stock market investing or you could find someone who is a coach.
“You have to push your skill set forward, it’s about your learning. For a lot of people this goal is very aspirational, but a lot of people don’t know how to practically do it so they end up giving up.
“I know it is highly achievable, but it takes a while, it’s not something you will achieve next year or the year after. You may need to between five to ten years or more, but you will achieve.
“The key here to persevere and focus.”
He emphasised the importance of focus and the acronym attached to it: Follow One Course Until Success.
People shouldn’t go looking for get rich quick schemes or keep changing their strategies if they hear something new or the “next big thing”.
Mr Okoroafor explained real wealth creation is in time passing.
He concluded: “It’s really all in compounding and seeing our money grow. It’s about us putting more money into that thing that is compounding and seeing it work.
“This is quite a big shift in people’s minds to understand that.
“Often we’re looking for that big shiny new bullet that will make us the money but that’s not the mindset to achieve financial independence.”
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