What does this actually mean? Some feel it at the most basic level of not having to worry about the number of groceries they buy and some never feel it and continue adding to their wealth accumulation until the day they die. It’s a confident perception that differs for everyone.
It is intangible and tempers the unknown.
Nassim Taleb once wrote, “You are rich if and only if money you refuse tastes better than money you accept.” Suggesting a person is truly rich when they have enough financial security and personal conviction to decline profitable but undesirable or unauthentic opportunities, finding more satisfaction in that refusal than in accepting the money. It emphasizes the importance of integrity and control over one’s life over the mere accumulation of wealth.
Looking back as I did too often, I now see this as the substantiation I wanted when I left my final job after only two weeks. It was the highest compensation I had ever attained but it put me in the most undesirable circumstances I had ever been in.
Unsurprisingly, I received criticism and other comments but the one I will never forget is the best compliment I ever had to decipher. One that I could’ve easily chosen to be offended by. The interpretation I chose was evident when he left not long after I did.
I realized I wanted more time than money and was willing to give that up along with the career prestige to get the former. As I attempted to articulate this concept while interviewing for other positions, I was unsuccessful in conveying this. The nature of most professions is built around the traditional model of trading time for money especially with higher compensation and titles. Since I had attained a high level in my profession, the perception of going back to a lower one was suspect.
At that point, I didn’t consider us to be financially secure, but I had the personal conviction we could get there. I just had to figure out how. That is key. Someone needs to have the personal conviction to know they can be financially secure. It can be you or it can be the person you share life with.
If you both believe that higher compensation and prestigious titles are the answers, it will turn into a competition. If your strategy is to appear financially secure, it’s another competition you will never win. If you both believe that financial security is unattainable, you’ll never reach it at any level.
Financial security is predicated on having that personal conviction. That it is attainable at whatever level you begin at. The more confidence you feel as you successfully implement key strategies, your financial priorities shift and the next level is attainable. The greater the impetus for financial security, the more willing you are to forego things you don’t have or value.
Once again, there aren’t many quality resources available to share more of what this concept entails. Most of it is highly generalized and somewhat outdated. It isn’t financial freedom or independence as financial security must be attained first. It’s an enigma that is missing from the context.
I did, however, find this summary of a Knight Kiplinger article without the current-day ads from 2008 that first appeared in Kiplinger’s magazine in 1997. It’s a timeless key to lock in your financial security.
Eight Keys to Financial Security | Texas Southern University
Featured Image – a dock on Mackinac Island using a 360 camera, an enigma. Photographer Cary Wauters’ right hand is holding it up.