How to Achieve Financial Freedom in 2026 (Complete Guide)

This is my honest advice for everyone who wants financial freedom and it comes from years of personal experience. Most people work their entire lives without ever achieving true financial freedom. But with the right plan, it’s possible to build a life where your money works for you — not the other way around. I was just 16 years old when i started my first work as a mechanic which involved repairing car and bikes for only $5 per hour. This was just enough to cover my expenses but i always wanted to be free to do the things i loved without being a slave to my boss.

I came up with a plan and managed to achieve millionaire status and financial freedom within my 20s. To become financially free today is very simple. If you have got the right plan. So by the end of this article I will give you a clear roadmap to get financially free as quickly as possible.

Step 1. Find Your Financial Freedom Figure

First step is to find your freedom figure. Your freedom figure is the amount you need to live your life without having to worry about money ever again. Once you invested that figure correctly, it will generate enough passive income to fully support your lifestyle without ever running out. The first thing you need to do is set your financial freedom baseline.

let’s go through the different areas of your life and estimate what each one might cost to live comfortably. Now, grab a piece of paper and feel free to adjust the number to match your own goals. So first up your house, for most people in their 20s wants a city life on the outskirts. If you get a spot on this place, you could be paying around about $30,000 per year for one bedroom flat and if you are in the tier 1 countries, then rent prices are pretty similar.

Next up is your car. Now the porsche 911 always seems to appear on dream car list. Luxury cars like this come with higher costs after considering fuel, maintenance and insurance on the top of the car payment, you would be looking at a total of around $24,200.

Now for the vacations the sweet spot seems to be around 4 trips for a year. For four mid-range trips you’re looking at about $5,500 for a single person. If you are bringing someone along, you can expect to double that.

Next, we have to consider the boring bills. If we stick with the one bedroom apartment in a city, then with electricity, heating, water and internet, I’d estimate that would cost about $3000 per year. Next is food. Now I’d assume you’d want a mix of home cooking and eating out. I reckon you could do this for about $5000 per year.

Now, for heath insurance, if you’re in the USA, then you can pay expect to pay $2500 per year for a mid level plan. Finally, there’s leisure this covers your gym memberships, nights out and any other spur of the moment spending, a reasonable yearly budget for this could be around $4000.

Once you’ve written down your cost for each category and then add them to see how much you’ll ned to live your dream life each year. In our example that adds up to $75,825 a year.

Step 2. Hack your Life

Step two is to hack your life. I get that reaching your financial freedom figure is an investment account might seem like an impossible task. It Definitely felt that way for me when I first started, but there are a few strategies that can help you get there faster.

I highly suggest taking a closer look at all the areas where money might be slipping through your fingers. Chances are you are spending far more than you realize on things that don’t really matter to you.

Don’t worry I’m not gonna lecture you about skipping Starbucks or making packed lunches every day. Instead, I wanna show you clever ways to keep living the life you love while saving money through some smart hacks.

Let’s kick things off with car hacking because I think a lot of people need to know this. Social media might have you thinking that everyone is driving around in Range Rover and Lambo’s.

But let me tell you, that’s usually not the case. Most of these people have their cars on finance or loans paying hundreds of dollars every month. According to Lendingtree, the average monthly car payment for a new vehicle in 2024 hit a whopping of $9000 a year down the drain.

The worst part, most people can’t even afford these payments, which is why there are around a hundred million Americans with outstanding car loans right now. So, my advice is don’t get sucked into such traps.

Instead of buying a car on loan buy a quality used car. You can drive it for a few year and then sell it for close to what you paid. No massive monthly payments and no debt hanging over your head. This is something I like to call brand hacking.

Now, for the big one, House Hacking as we know from step one, Housing is usually your biggest expense but what if you could reduce or even completely eliminate this cost ?

Don’t worry I’m not gonna say you to go for a smaller apartment because they don’t suit Everyone. So, Here’s a smarter strategy you can use instead of getting a typical apartment, think about getting a duplex or a property with an extra room or two.

Sure, This might mean a slightly higher deposit upfront but it’s worth it. You live in one unit and rent the other one out, using this rental income to cover most if not all of your mortgage. That way you’re effectively living for free while building equity in your home.

Now For Tax Hacking, I know this one might sound a bit dodgy but trust me, there are lots of ways you can legally keep more of your money. One great hack is to take advantage of deductions.

If you have a small business or side hustle, you can reduce your taxes by claiming expenses. You can claim expenses of your home office, Internet or travel as they’re used for business

Step 3. Get a Credit Card

Step three is to get a credit card. The biggest lie young people are told is that Credit Cards are evil and that you shouldn’t have one. A lot of people think Credit Cards are just a quick way to get into debt but the truth is they’ve actually one of the best tools you can have for building a solid Credit Score, if you use them wisely.

Your Credit Score is like your financial reputation showing lenders how reliable you are with money and with a high score. If you’ve been using a Credit Card responsibly and building that score up, you could qualify for a mortgage with a lower interest rate.

That means that more of your hard earned money stays in your pocket instead of going to the bank But if you’ve ignored your Credit Score, you could end up with sky high interest rates or even be turned down altogether.

So, don’t fear from Credit Cards use them to build your credit score but keep you balance low and pay it off every month.

Step 4. Create Additional Income Streams

Step four is to create an additional income stream. If you’re serious about financial freedom building an extra income stream is key.

Think of your income like a chair with one leg. If you’re relying on just your job, that’s a single leg holding you up your entire life. If the leg breaks, Let’s say somehow you lose your job, then you’re left with nothing to keep you steady.

This happens way more now then it ever used to the truth is secure jobs aren’t as common as they once were. Most people will have around 14 different jobs over their lifetime, but if you add a few more legs like a side hustle or investments, that chair becomes rock solid.

Now, if one leg fails, you’re still supported by the others. Building multiple income streams is like adding extra legs to your financial stability. A great way to start is by choosing a side hustle that builds on skills you already have that way you don’t have to learn something brand new from scratch.

There are plenty of options like affiliate marketing, freelancing, E-commerce or even more. The main thing is the value you bring. The more valuable your work, the more you learn.

Now, I know the usual excuses. I’m too busy. I don’t have enough money to start. I don’t know how? But let’s be honest, these are load of rubbish.

Let me be real with you. There are 168 hours in a week. A nine to five job takes up 40 hours and if you sleep eight hours a night that’s 56 hours, plus about 10 hours for meals and 10 hours for commuting. That still leaves you with over 50 hours of free time every week.

So, If you tell me you’re too busy, then you just don’t want financial freedom enough.

Step 5. Use Money For Its True Function

Step five is to use money for its true function. There’s one thing that rich people do completely differently to middle class and poor people.

Poor people think that money exists to pay bills and fund their lifestyle. Middle class people think money’s for building credit. So they can get bigger loans to buy bigger houses and nicer cars. Rich people know the true function of money is expansion, which means using your money to make more money.

So once you’ve got some side hustles or extra income streams going, it is time to think bigger and I don’t mean a bigger lifestyle. That’s the trap catches a lot of people out. As soon as they start making more money, they start spending more.

Instead think about how you can use money as a tool. This is when you start looking into passive income streams where your money can grow while you sleep. This is why the rich got richer they’re not just working for their money, they’re making it work for them.

Now, No income streams is truly passive but by investing wisely, you could reach a point where your money does the heavy lifting. The stock market is one of the easiest places to start and if you wanna know exactly how to set up an investment account step by step.

Then l’ll come up with that article but make sure to subscribe if you wanna grow your wealth.