“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”<\/p>Benjamin Franklin<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Before we dive in, let\u2019s revisit the idea of financial independence. This may or may not be a phrase you are familiar with, but it is one that is a consistent theme in our blog. Financial independence means something different for everyone, but for my wife and me<\/a>, it means having the flexibility to do what we want when we want. It means having our money work for us so we don\u2019t have to trade our time for money our whole lives. It means freeing up our time to spend it more with family and less in the business world. Regardless of what financial independence means to you, it is going to take work. A lot of it. It is going to take learning, preparation, and dedication. But it helps to get a jump start of managing your money properly. This is why we\u2019ve categorized four essential funds to help people create financial safety nets, build wealth, and enjoy life along the way. So without further delay, here are the four essential funds you should start right now, in order of priority and importance! If you don\u2019t already have an emergency fund<\/a><\/strong>, this should be your first and only priority until you have at least<\/em> $1,000 saved up for a rainy day. Just last year, life hit us pretty hard. We just incurred a bunch of\u00a0 unexpected hospital bills relating to our daughter’s birth, then the catalytic converter in my car needed to be replaced, shortly thereafter my clutch started going out, and on top of that all, I had graduate tuition to pay for the upcoming semester. That was a lot of money in a short amount of time. Luckily, we had an emergency fund that helped soften the blow quite a bit. Start making a conscious effort to put money aside until you build up that $1,000, then continue until that $1,000 becomes three months worth of living expenses. Life comes at you fast, but if you are prepared, it won\u2019t be the end of the world. Check out Casey\u2019s article on 5 Reasons Why You Need an Emergency Fund Now<\/a><\/strong> for more tips and suggestions on building your emergency fund! Whenever I think of investing, I think of the parable of the talents found in Book of Matthew in the New Testament. The parable talks about a man who gave a certain amount of talents to his servants according to their abilities. To one he gave five, to another two, and to the last he gave just one. The man then traveled away for a season and came back to see what his servants had done with these talents. The servants who had received five and two talents both doubled their lots, but the servant who only had one remained with one. Why? Because he was scared and buried his talents. Now, this can be interpreted many ways, but when it comes to investing, I view the talents as the money these servants had earned. They didn\u2019t all earn equally, but they all had equal opportunities to double what they had earned. Although the servant with one talent could\u2019ve done the same, he let his fears get the best of him and he buried his money away where it did him no good. I think it\u2019s easy for us to have these same fears. \u201cWhat if the stock market crashes again?\u201d \u201cWhat if I make a bad investment?\u201d These are all legitimate concerns, but we would be foolish to only <\/strong>put our money in places where it is literally losing value due to inflation, like a savings account. \u00a0Or even worse, just live paycheck-to-paycheck because we we are too enticed by the newest gadgets that we forget to invest for the future. Don\u2019t just work for money, let your money work for you! Getting started with investing isn\u2019t that hard and it makes all the difference. I love the thrill of investing and watching my money grow. Sometimes it loses value too, but that\u2019s ok because the market always goes up. Wherever you are at now, start putting aside money from every paycheck. Eventually, work up to be able to put 15-20% into investments. You\u2019ll be glad you did! Check out this article on 6 Principles for Successful Investing<\/strong><\/a> and this article for why Vanguard is a great option to get started<\/strong><\/a>! And keep an eye out for our future posts about how to pick winning investments! Now that we have addressed the two most important funds for building financial flexibility and wealth, let\u2019s focus on what we all actually want to put our money towards: DOING FUN STUFF!! While we are definitely proponents of making wise financial decisions and saving money, don\u2019t forget that life is short. Have fun along the way! Set aside money from each paycheck to be able to go and do fun things you enjoy, that way you aren\u2019t taking money away from other aspects of your finances to pursue our hobbies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If your hobbies are inexpensive, all the power to you! I recently listened to a podcast where this individual talked about how all of his hobbies required an upfront investment that wasn\u2019t necessarily cheap, but allowed him to have loads of free fun once that investment was made. Camping, mountain biking, photography, paddleboarding, and many other things are all great examples of this! And having a fun fund to utilize to make these investments can make all the difference in your path to becoming financially independent. Emergency Fund<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thefundfamily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/LRM_EXPORT_20180804_213213-1.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1\")
Investment Fund<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fun Fund<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thefundfamily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/0408-2018-092436952360793818.jpeg?resize=475%2C633&ssl=1\")
Vacation Fund<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thefundfamily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/pjimage.jpg?resize=800%2C800&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n