But, WHY?

How often do you ask yourself, 'Why am I doing this?' It's a question that surfaces for most people from time-to-time, although most of the time, we're perhaps all just to busy to take a step back and really think about the direction we are going in.

My early 'why?'

In the early years of my career, before I became a teacher, my 'why?' was all about finding a way to become an airline pilot - my childhood dream. My various career twists and turns - sales jobs, taxi driving (yes, really!) and a first foray into network marketing with a US skincare company (yes, REALLY!) - were all with a view to somehow saving up the £100k+ needed for commercial flying training. Naïve perhaps, but I was pretty determined. However, when a medical issue closed this door once and for all, my 'why?' was left pretty high and dry. Fortunately, my other passion at the time was radio and I got a couple of lucky breaks into the commercial radio industry and had a blast for a number of years. I guess my 'why?' had become more about enjoying my work, even if it wasn't quite my first choice of career.

A parent's 'why?'

On becoming a parent in my early 30s, my 'why?' became about settling down and building a solid foundation for my family - as I'm sure it does for all new parents. I took a sensible pill and trained as a teacher, climbing the career ladder quickly to become an Assistant Headteacher. Professionally, my 'why?' was all about making a positive difference to the lives of the young people in our care. I gave this my all for almost twenty years and it was always fulfilling and rewarding, if also exhausting and very frustrating at times!

So, what changed? Aside from the ever-growing and well-documented pressures of teaching starting to take their toll, as I approached my 50s, I started to pay more attention to my teacher's pension (the only pension I'd got around to starting) and thoughts of a decent lifestyle in retirement at some point.

My wake-up call

This proved to be a somewhat nasty surprise. Whilst the teacher's pension scheme is no doubt more generous than most public-sector pensions, my late arrival into the profession meant that my annual pension really wasn't going to allow for a fulfilling retirement of any kind. We wouldn't be destitute, but at the same time, our plans to travel and really make the most of the latter stages of our lives would be somewhat curtailed, unless something changed. At the same time, we were becoming increasingly aware (as I am sure all parents are) that the opportunities for our offspring to earn a decent living, own their own properties and be able to save for their own retirements, were becoming fewer and further between.

Time for Plan B

It was at this point that I returned to scratch the 'UW itch' that had been hanging around in the background for around ten years - I have outlined this in a previous blog post. It didn't take me long to see the big picture, in the shape of a truly residual (or passive) income that is on offer to anyone who puts in the time and effort to build their UW network successfully.

By making a few short-term sacrifices - stepping out of my comfort zone from time to time, foregoing time in front of the TV to build my business - I now have a truly passive income stream growing steadily, with zero financial risk. This will serve to top up my teacher's pension to allow for those bigger plans when the time comes to retire.

However, it gets even better. The passive income I am building is will-able (unlike the majority of my pension). It will be left to my children and will continue to grow without me - giving them true financial freedom at a time when there is so much uncertainty for future generations.

So, my 'why?' today? As it says on the lock-screen of my mobile (so that I am reminded of it daily)...

I'm working hard to build a legacy so that my children are financially free.

Contact me to find out more - jason@savingspittstop.com