Watching the news the other night, I heard the old saw about getting a good education to get a good job.  Most of us were told that.  Our parents told us.  Our school councilors told us.  And I’ll bet if you’re a parent, you’ve told your children this too  – repeatedly.

The news commentator reminded me how much I disagree with this – how I take great exception to this mantra.  Because I think it promotes a falsehood and is incomplete.

No, I am not saying that getting a good education is a waste of time.  I think education is extremely important.

And I’m not saying getting a good job is unimportant either.  A good job can help people achieve their goals.

But it’s that goals thing I focus in on.  Because that’s what the “Get a good education to get a good job,” mantra totally misses.  It stops short.  It says the ultimate financial goal is to get a good job.

Which it is not.

Your ultimate financial goal, whether you have been aware of it or not, has always been to attain your economic freedom.  Getting a good education to get a good job is just step 1 and 2 toward that goal.

So what is this economic freedom thing and how do you get there?

Well, when you have attained your economic freedom, your money works for you, instead of you working for your money.  When you attain your economic freedom, you don’t have to work another day in your life, although you probably will.

But it will be work  you love and are passionate about.  You will not approach that work with a weekly sense of dread as many do today.  You will be doing it because you want to – deeply.

You may even work very hard and many more hours than before.  For example, I often say that the world famous photographer Ansel Adams never worked a day in his life.  True, he put in many eighteen hours days, lugging his heavy photographic glass plates up mountain passes on pack animals to take his stunning images.

But he wasn’t working.  Not really.  He was following his passion of photography.

Okay, so that’s the economic freedom thing.  But how do people get there?

The answer is rather simple.  It’s through investments in profitable businesses.

That is to say, businesses where people go to work every day to create wealth for you, not the other way around, where you go to work every day to create wealth for someone else.

And fortunately, we live in an age where investing in profitable businesses is easy to execute.  It’s easier than any time in human history.  As easy as a few mouse clicks to invest in great companies with dividend paying stocks.

Yes, I know, the stock market took a serious downturn a few years ago.  And it seems stuck in a trading range of late.  And there are worries about Europe and China heading toward a recession, and us too for that matter.

And yet, in the midst of all those worries, those dramas playing out on the world stage, let me give you a real and current example of what I mean about economic freedom as the real goal, and making your money work for you.

I got an email notification yesterday that three dividend checks had been deposited in my account for a total of $600.  And three months from now, this will probably happen again.  And every quarter for as long as I keep these small investments in these three companies.  That will be $2400 a year on just three investments that total up to $16,000.

And I’m not doing ANY work for that money.  Other people had to show up at work to create that money – and then give it to me.

You see, I only had to work one time for that money.  That’s because I …

1. Got a good education, then
2. Got a good job to work for that money, and then
3. Invested it in three profitable companies.

And it’s that last part, Step 3, that moved in the direction of the ultimate goal — the goal of economic freedom.

Interestingly, there are people who didn’t get a good education, or even a great job, who have also gained their economic freedom.  And yes, it probably took them longer.  No doubt it was harder.  But they got there because they had a clear-eyed vision of the ultimate goal.

They knew it was economic freedom.

So the next time you hear the worn out mantra to get a good education to get a good job, remember that has never been the ultimate goal.

And if you have children, or are a councilor or mentor, be sure and tell the whole story to those who learn from you.  Tell them about Step 3, and economic freedom.

Just like you may wish your childhood advisors had done for you.

To your health and prosperity – John