One of the best feelings in the world is having a massive cash nest egg sitting in the bank. It gives you such a feeling of freedom and security. You know that many of the life problems surrounding money will not be an issue. We live in a society where money will always be an issue, but at least short term, your life’s rough money edges will be smoothed out.
I’ve always been a worrier about money. I used to envy people who just kept spending without a care in the world. They always seemed to have the cool stuff I couldn’t afford. I would look at them and think they had such a better life and such a better-paying job. The fact is many of them didn’t.
Many of them had a similar job to what I had; they were spending themselves in a hole. For a while I emulated them. I spent just to keep up. I soon realized the incredible spending didn’t make me any happier; it made me more miserable. I didn’t like my job. But, with bills to pay and a significant amount of debt sitting in the background, I felt trapped. I can’t remember the exact moment, but I knew I needed to dig my way out and I knew I never wanted to feel like that again.
For me paying down the debt and creating a nest egg was the best feeling in the world. So here I’m going to give you four good reasons to build your financial nest egg.
Nest Egg Money Reason #1; It acts as a buffer to smooth income irregularities
I think no matter what type of job you are in, you will always have income irregularities. If you are an hourly employee, sometimes you will have overtime, sometimes not. You might face a cutback in hours when work gets slow. Even if you are a salaried employee, you will still face the uncertainty of getting fired.
It’s stressful enough with the possibility of losing income. Now, add on top of that, the possibility of not being able to cover your bills, and the stress doubles. You need to have a little cash in reserve to smooth out the highs and lows and take at least a bit of the stress out of the situation. I know it was such a mind freer when I had finally paid off my debt and got my first thousand dollars in the bank.
Although I got to this point slightly differently than I recommend now, I paid off my debt and then began saving for my nest egg. Now, I recommend saving for your nest egg as you continue paying off debt; not one then the other.
Nest Egg Money Reason #2; It gives your mind a peacefulness to think about the bigger picture
To get to a place where you are financially independent, you need to think about the bigger picture. Your day-to-day bills will need to seem like not much of an issue at all. There are always people who say they do better under pressure. Meaning, that if they are worried about how they will pay their rent, they will work harder to achieve something. This isn’t me for sure. For me, I need to know I can meet all my short-term needs so I can concentrate on building something more significant.
It seems to me, that the bigger the project, the less payoff there will be in the beginning, and the more substantial payoff will be some time down the road. I’m looking for a more significant payoff now. I explain it in my ‘About Page’ which you can see here. I need all my concentration to keep me focused on the long term and not have any worries about the short term.
Nest Egg Money Reason #3; It gives you the power to say no
There is interesting psychology around the power to say no. Being tied to a job with a threat of not being able to pay your bills looming over your head, diminishes your power to say no. At first, it will be small things that don’t seem necessary, and you don’t mind doing anyway. You will feel more a part of the team by doing this little bit extra, and it does not cost you too much equity.
Then, the requests will get more substantial until you are canceling vacations to make sure this project gets done after someone else dropped the ball. That nest egg will give you the power to say no. I’m not canceling my family vacation to make sure the project gets done. It gives you a sense of security knowing you are not vulnerable to the repercussions of saying no. My site is about taking back your life. The power to say no, you come first, is one of the most critical aspects of it.
Nest Egg Money Reason #4; It gives you the confidence that you are in control of your income
I think there are a lot of people in high-paying jobs who look back and say, “How did I accomplish this?” “Was I lucky or could I do it again if I needed to?” Having the mindset to know you can create wealth for yourself is powerful. Knowing that if it all went away today you could build it back up is the best feeling in the world. I think building a nest egg gives anyone a little taste of that power.
I had nothing but an average job and managed to build quite a nest egg. I know if it all went away today, I have the tools and the knowledge to do it again. That confidence to be knowingly in control is powerful. I think as I get further down the path of wealth creation, that confidence will continue to grow. Getting a nest egg together will give you a taste of that confidence. It is a great feeling.
Besides getting out of debt, building a nest egg was the best thing I’ve ever done for my financial security. It will give you a level of confidence and pride that you are in control of your own financial life. It will give you the power to say no, that you and your family come first.
It will give you the comfort to sit back plan your life and see the bigger picture. If there is any step more critical to getting out of the rat race and setting your financial future on a different path, it is creating a substantial financial nest egg.
Be safe,
Kevin