If you know me at all then you know that I always have crazy dreams and ambitions. When I was in high school I wanted to be married by the time I was 19, I got married at 20. I also wanted to have kids before I was 23, I will be having my first baby just after my 22nd birthday. Now I have the crazy dream/ambition to become financially free in 5 years. So I plan on being able to retire by the time I am 26.

Now that wouldn't be so hard if I was earning upwards of $100,000 per year, but I'm not. It also would be easier if we didn't have a baby on the way, but we do. In fact I plan to accomplish this starting of in $20,000 worth of consumer debt and earning a combined income of around $40,000 per year, before tax. Not a lot to start of with.

I know people who have earned upwards of $100,000 their entire lives (30+ working years) and are still not financially free. So what makes me think that I can do it, when so many other people have failed? Well let me explain why I think I will be capable of becoming financially free in just 5 years (by the time I am 26).

1. I Think In Terms of Cashflow Not Net Worth
A lot investors think in terms of net worth. They want to have a net worth of over $1,000,000 or if they buy shares for $10,000 then they want to sell them a week later for a profit, thus increasing their net worth. I on the other hand think in terms of cashflow. When I buy something, I don't care if it goes up or down in value, I care about the cashflow it throws off.

If I buy a house and it generates me $30/week, then the value drops 20% I won't care as long as it is still generating me $30/week. That is $30 per week that I don't have to work hard to earn and that is money that I can live of, or that I can reinvest. I am not trying to ride the property market on the up and bail out before the down, I am trying to generate as much cashflow as possible.

I know this doesn't sound like a huge difference, but a lot of people cannot become financially free because they are focusing on making money, instead of generating cashflow.

2. I Am Always Learning
You can pretty much always ask me "What book are you reading now?" and I will have an answer about some book on money or real estate or shares that I am reading. You can also ask me "What have you been learning this week?" and I will almost always have an answer for you. I am always applying myself and I am always learning more.

The more financially educated I become the richer I will become naturally. When you know better you do better and that creates better results.

I don't have the financial education right now to become financially free immediately. But I have the next 5 years to be learning and learning, and all of that knowledge adds up and makes me smarter with money over time. So I know that I have the accumulated knowledge of 5 years of study ahead of me and I know that that knowledge will certainly help me to become financially free.

3. I Am Not Just Willing To Take Risk, I Want To Take Risk To Learn
A lot of people are too afraid to lose money that they never make any money. A true investor seeks to learn something from every deal they go into. I am not afraid of risk and I know that by taking risks and taking steps of faith you learn. As long as I learn from each risk that I take I will be able to make a lot of money in the long run.

If I go into a property deal and end up losing $50,000 then I will be a little upset, but I will be ok with that as long as I learn something. It might cost me $50,000 now, but that learning experience will likely make me millions in the future.

4. Having Financial Intelligence Attracts Money and People With Money
Having financial intelligence attracts money and people with money. I have maybe been studying money full on for 2-3 months and I am already attracting people with a lot of wealth, because I know what I am talking about. A lot of people have a lot of money but don't know what to do with it. Some inherited it, some got lucky, so are just really good at their jobs, but most of them don't know a thing about investing and having your money work for you.

Financial intelligence is the intelligence to use money to gain more freedom and happiness for yourself and others. This is generally done by making money work harder for you, so you can earn more and work less. I know how to find positively geared properties, most people don't. I know how to leverage the banks money to increase your return on investment, most people don't. I know the basics of tax law and how to earn more and pay less tax, legally, and most people don't. I know how to make money work harder so you can work less, and people don't know that.

Knowing what I know naturally attracts money. Everyone has fear and greed when it comes to money. My knowledge taps into their natural greed for more money (which is not always a bad thing) and reduces their fear of risk (because I am educated in what I am doing). So even though we only earn a combined income of $40,000 per year we can attract a lot more than that by my financial intelligence.

5. I Will Use Leverage
Leverage is basically doing less with more. I plan on using the leverage of other people's money and other people's time to make me rich. Starting out with other people's money I will use the banks money to purchase my investments. I might put 10% down and the bank will pay the remaining 90%. My tenants will then pay all of my expenses and neither the bank, nor my tenants get any of the profit from the investment. I pay 10% and I get 100% of the profits. So if I put $10,000 down on a property worth $100,000 and the tenant pays my expenses. If that property goes up 5% I earn $5,000, which is 50%/year of my initial investment.

Leverage can significantly increase your return on investment and that is why I will be able to become financially free in 5 years, because I will use leverage to earn more with less.

6. I Love The Game
I really enjoy the game of money. I enjoy learning about money, I enjoy using money, I enjoy investing money. I enjoy business, corporations, investing, property, shares and anything else to do with money. Some people play poker as their game, some people play golf as their game. Money is my game, I love it and I want to win.

My love for the game pushes me to learn more and be better, it pushes me to practice and pushes me to be good at it. The love of the game will push me hard until I become financially free, then it will push me even harder to get better and better.

7. I Know My 'Why'
I have sat down and talked to a few people about their investments. I always ask the question "Why do you want to invest?". The funny thing is that most people do not have a clear answer to that question. I have a clear answer to my why and that clear answer directs my investment decisions. My why is:

So I can have as much free time as I want to spend with my family, and so that I can have a platform from which to speak into people's lives.

I want to be financially free so I don't have to work but I can spend time with my wife and Kids. I also want to have a lot of money because having a lot of money automatically makes people want to listen to you. If I was a billionaire you would want to hear what I had to say because everyone wants to be rich. By becoming rich I then have a platform to speak into people's lives and to cause change for the better.