In 2017, my wife and I were thinking about starting a family.

I thought we were doing okay and that we were ready financially.

We decided to start small and adopt a rescue that no one wanted– a bristly twelve-pound Chihuahua named Oscar.

Two days after bringing him home, we found out he had pneumonia.

Insurance doesn’t cover rescues for 30 days, so the cost is on us.

$10k to save him, or he’d likely pass away.

I didn't have $10k.

That hurt. 😞

I thought I was ready to support a family, and I wasn't even ready to support a Chihuahua...

From that day, I got an idea stuck in my head that I haven't been able to shake.

Escape velocity

Escape velocity is the speed needed to break free from Earth's gravitational pull - 40,000 km/h.

In finance, it's when your assets do the heavy lifting to fund your lifestyle (not your time).

Once you solve that problem, you are free to focus on other things.

It’s not about leaving your job or telling your boss to go shove it.

It’s about having the freedom to:

- put your family first 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

- take the weekend off 🏝️

- volunteer 🎗️

- pay for the unexpected 🐕

Here’s the thing - escape velocity isn’t set in stone like the speed needed to leave earth’s gravity.

This number is yours.

It’s unique to everyone, reflecting your personal and financial goals, your lifestyle needs.

As you progress on your professional journey, you can build assets that generate income on their own without requiring more of your time.

How this works was best said by Benjamin Franklin.

Money makes money. And the money that money makes, makes more money.

As soon as you cross that line of escape velocity - where your assets are covering your lifestyle - you’ve made it.

That is the day your life changes.

Why is it so important?

Well, let’s go back to my unexpected vet bill.

I chipped in all the cash I had and borrowed the rest of the $10k from a friend.

That was embarrassing. 🤦‍♂️

But I knew we had made a commitment to that little guy.

I was lucky. I was in the United States, with a stable job and in a position to rescue an animal.

And it worked.

Oscar is 16 lbs now and brings SO MUCH joy to our two little girls.

That $10k lesson showed me I needed to get financially free, which I now know means different things to different people.

For me, paying for Oscar’s medical needs required a shift in mindset.

Because even before Oscar, so much of my time was occupied with this worry about money…

Shuffling funds between bank accounts and credit cards.

I can't remember how many times I'd go into overdraft a few days before my paycheck hit the bank account and I’d pray to the banking Lords that they’d help me make it a few extra days.

My credit score was not so good.

And why this sucked is it prevented me from doing other things, like being more creative or taking risks that could enrich the experience of our lives.

I’ve seen this with other people too, the pressure and the pull that money can have on somebody is unbelievable.

It’s like the earth’s gravity, it keeps you on the ground rather than out among the stars.

Because here’s the thing:

The number goes up

Whatever your number is - as you reach it, it's going to increase.

The majority of people always want more than they’ve got, and that’s in our human condition.

It’s like a survival instinct.

When we start at point A, and set off to achieve point B - and we finally get there - our mind tends to create a new point B.

I’ve seen it and still have that today.

You probably have it too.

But your desire’s not the only reason that number increases. As you get older, it’s natural for your expenses to rise.

For us, having kids meant a few extra hundred dollars to buy groceries.

Then there’s insurance, phone bills, school fees, dental bills...

Man - the bills keep coming.

Obviously, we’re incredibly lucky to be able to do any and all of this.

My point is whatever your number is, know that by the time you get there - it's probably going to be even higher.

What's my number?

For the longest time - my number was $2 million.

I don’t know what yours is, or if you’ve really thought about it.

Your number will depend on your current situation: your age and health, maybe your current credit card debts or mortgages.

I expect that, for a lot of families, $2 million dollars is a good number to shoot for. Because, once you have $2 million dollars, you can generate 10% returns on that money.

With that, you’re clearing $200 grand a year. Which is what I think most families need to live a comfortable life where I’m from.

While I mention a 10% return on investments, that’s overly simplistic.

Some of that money is going to be liquid vs tied up in stuff, and I’m using round numbers to keep things simple.

I knew I could keep our living expenses below $200k. And any extra would be added to our net assets, and give us more thrust for next year.

You can think of this as pouring more fuel into a rocket.

You are going to have more and more thrust for next year to get even further out of gravity’s pull.

But it goes both ways.

If your thrust is $200k but your expenses are $250k, you’ll crash to the ground.

Your thrust isn’t enough, and you’ll need to find other ways to keep you airborne...

How do you get there?

There's a great story by Jim Rohn about getting some help on his personal finances from a mentor.

The first thing Jim’s mentor asks is to see Jim’s goals list.

“I don't have a goals list,” says Jim. And the mentor says: well then I can probably guess how much money is in your bank account.

This is so simple but true.

The most important thing is being super clear on what that number is. What’s your goal and what’s it going to take to get there?

Well, there's two ways to do it - get your income up or get your expenses down

In my life, I found it far more productive to focus on getting my income up.

I'm writing an article on the 4 myths I see holding working professionals back from reaching their number.

So, stay tuned for that.

Bye for now.