5 Steps to financial independence – a guide to protecting your financial future

For those looking to create long term wealth passive income has long been regarded as the elusive Holy Grail that everybody aspires to achieve. If you’re not familiar with the term then in layman’s terms passive income is money that you earn that requires very little or no effort to maintain. There are many strategies that savvy investors use to achieve this highly sought after income stream and in this edition we once again caught up with renowned entrepreneur and investor, Rodney Peyton OBE to try and gain an insight into the mindset and the techniques that help individuals create long term wealth.

Rodney Peyton OBE MD. is a remarkable individual. He’s best known as a trauma surgeon and is widely regarded as the world’s leading surgical coach. He is also an international keynote speaker, businessman, entrepreneur and investor with a portfolio that spans three continents. We were lucky enough to be able to speak to him again, this time about wealth creation and some of the key strategies that can help achieve financial freedom for ordinary people. These strategies are effective regardless of the financial climate which is reassuring as the world reels from the global Covid 19 pandemic and the unprecedented turmoil and uncertainty that it has brought. Having financial freedom is something we all yearn for but sadly very few of us achieve it. Ultimately what holds us back is a lack of knowledge and understanding about wealth and how it is created. Whether we like it or not having money allows you the opportunity to live life on your own terms and it gives you the freedom to make choices in life that are simply not available to others. Rodney describes it as “financial intelligence”, and it is your financial intelligence that will help you progress from your current reality to a future of having the financial freedom that you and your loved ones deserve and dream of having. Particularly now in the digital age, there are lots of mentors and financial gurus out there who make big promises but simply don’t have the knowledge or the track record to back up their claims. In contrast Rodney Peyton is a man who practices what he preaches. For more than thirty years he has been successfully investing in a range of investments in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia. He has built an impressive property portfolio and as an author has written and spoken extensively on many wealth related subjects. For those truly serious about creating wealth the goal is to develop, grow and maintain diverse passive income streams in the pursuit of the financial independence we all crave. The ultimate objective is to build that passive income to a level where it covers all your living expenses and supports the lifestyle you choose. That is what true freedom looks like but it’s not a level many of us reach because we don’t have the right knowledge, mindset or plan.

Understanding the key dynamics

Rodney shared with us a story which is typical of the existence many have where we have income but not the passive income we need to maintain our lifestyles. “When speaking at a recent business conference in Orlando, I was exploring with the audience their concerns about financial security. One answer, in particular, summed it up for many of those present.  A lawyer stated he felt “like a hamster on a wheel”. He reflected he was doing very well financially provided he kept going, but if he were to retire, or even slow down, he would not be able to maintain his lifestyle.” It’s a situation many of us find ourselves in as Rodney goes on to explain, “I have found that many people, particularly professionals, would have great difficulty in maintaining their present lifestyle – especially if inflation is added to the equation. I am not a financial adviser. What I am is someone with more than 30 years’ experience, not just as a medical professional, but as an entrepreneur, investor and business owner, who has learned from personal experience. I have also had the opportunity to study and discuss wealth strategies with experts from around the globe and make them relevant for professional colleagues.”

Many professionals spend their entire lives studying and working towards achieving their professional ambitions but have little or no education about financial matters. Many of us take our advice from so-called financial advisors but what we don’t take into account is that we are taking advice from individuals that are usually not independently wealthy themselves and are often employees of large corporations whose advice will be influenced by how much commission they will earn. Why would you put your financial security in somebody else’s hand when by becoming educated and financially astute you can take the future of you and your family into your own hands.

Five steps to achieve financial freedom

What Rodney shared with us is a five step system he teaches that encourages individuals to take the steps they need to achieve financial freedom. It’s an operational system that can be compared to the strategic path a physician would use with a new patient to help them bridge the gap between their current circumstances and their goal of financial freedom in the future. His system has five steps which we will take you through step by step so you can start making the changes you need to secure your future today. A common misconception is that you have left it too late or you are too old but whatever your current financial situation, how you arrived at it and whatever stage you’re at in your life there is always the opportunity to evaluate your reality, make adjustments to the underlying factors and, much like a physician would do with a patient, come up with a treatment plan. Rodney describes step one of the plan as ’History Taking’ which he elaborates on by saying, “Dis-ease is the most powerful driver for a brighter future. The first step, therefore, is to recognize there is a problem and identify the nature of the dissatisfaction. What is it that you want, how far are you falling short and since when has this been an issue?” Genuine progress in life often starts when you recognize that you are dissatisfied with your current situation. In any walk of life successful people are those that are always striving for more, happy to take themselves out of their comfort zones in an effort to keep improving and moving forward. Life doesn’t stand still and neither should you. Just because something has worked and been successful in the past is no guarantee of future success as Rodney powerfully illustrates, “The Apollo space mission was a marvel of its time, then there was the space shuttle and now Space-X, which makes the computing on the Apollo mission look like a child’s toy. Unfortunately, after the successful moon landing, there was no ongoing drive, vision, or purpose at government level in the USA for the future of space exploration and therefore advancements in space travel ceased.”

So stagnating or standing still will eventually lead not just to a lack of progress but regression. In monetary terms inflation alone will diminish the real value of your income or investments if you choose to accept your current plight without trying to progress. So how do you achieve that progress? First of all you must establish what your goals are as part of your future financial plan. You must evaluate what for you constitute the lifestyle you desire and the level of financial independence you need to achieve to fund that lifestyle. Success will not just happen by accident which is why you must be clear on your required outcomes, purpose and strategy.

The next step on the plan is ‘Investigation’. This requires an honest assessment of where you’re currently at. You have already established what your financial goals are and why they are important. You need to calculate your current income streams from your salary, pension and your passive income from investments such as property or shares. Take the time to work out the difference between your current situation and the income needed to achieve your financial goals. The next stage of the process is ‘Assessment and Diagnosis’. Try and think of the reasons for your under achievement or not being where you want to be. For Rodney this is a key stage in the process, “We need to reflect on what happened in the past and why we have not achieved the level of success to which we aspire.”

The next phase in the process is the ‘Treatment’. This is where Rodney’s background as a trauma surgeon comes to the fore as he explains, “As with any physical health challenge, once the diagnosis is clear, everyone must participate in their own recovery. The treatment plan has to be agreed and then followed. Just as negotiating geography requires a map, negotiating financial geography requires a different form of MAP – a Massive Action Plan.”

The final part of the process is the ‘Follow Up’. Adopting medical terms again, as with any form of clinical treatment the impact needs to be evaluated over time in collaboration with a physician or in financial terms with your mentor. Feedback from your mentor and reflection are an essential part of ensuring you are hitting each goal or if you are not trying to evaluate the reasons why not. Securing your long term financial future is something that is in your own hands. It will not just happen by accident and by following the process you too could take your first steps towards the financial freedom you dream of. You need to change your thinking and your mindset. Educate yourself and develop your financial intelligence.

Inspiring and leading the way for many

Mr J.W Rodney Peyton OBE, founder of Peyton Medico Legal is an internationally renowned trauma consultant, author, trainer and keynote speaker who has enjoyed a long and distinguished career that has spanned several decades. He is a Consultant Trauma Surgeon and is regarded by many as the leading surgical coach in the world. His remarkable list of achievements and his standing in his field mean he is quite rightly regarded as a leading authority in surgical education. He has spent much of his professional career driven by a desire to improve surgical practice to ensure better outcomes for patients.

To contact Mr Peyton his office is available on rpeyton@rpeyton.com

“It could be that your overall goal seems distant in which case it makes sense to break it down into smaller individual targets which are easier to achieve and stop you from being discouraged by a lack of progress.”

“There are things in life that we have no control or influence over and if we put our emotions aside it can often be easier to see a way forward. It’s far better to expend our energy on the things that we can control.”