But the reality of achieving financial freedom is not on the far side of some crazy, complex set of instructions that you need to figure out on your own.

但是，實現財務自由的現實並不遙遠，你需要自己摸索出一套瘋狂而複雜的指令。

And so in this video, I wanted to walk you through the four-step payday routine that I believe, if you can get right, will help you master your financial life with less stress and more confidence than you've ever had before.

是以，在這段視頻中，我想教你發薪日的四個步驟，我相信，如果你能掌握好這四個步驟，就能幫助你掌握自己的財務生活，比以前壓力更小，信心更足。

Before I get into it, what does financial freedom mean to you?

在進入正題之前，財務自由對你意味著什麼？

I asked you guys this question on my newsletter some time ago, and I wanted to read out some of the snippets from the answers that I got.

前段時間，我在我的新聞通訊上向你們提出了這個問題，我想把我得到的答案中的一些片段讀出來。

Financial freedom means to me being able to choose where I want to sit on an aeroplane and not having to worry about the additional cost.

對我來說，財務自由意味著可以選擇飛機上的座位，而不必擔心額外的費用。

Being able to eat good food whenever I want and enjoy a fresh haircut every three months.

想吃美食就吃美食，每三個月剪一次新發型。

Flying home to see my parents.

飛回家看父母

I haven't seen them in four years.

我已經四年沒見過他們了。

Taking up a new hobby, trying a new experience, just doing something for the first time and not feeling bad about spending money on it.

培養一種新的愛好，嘗試一種新的體驗，第一次做某件事情，並且不會因為花錢而感到後悔。

Being able to try a new business venture without worrying about how I'll take away from being able to pay for my day-to-day expenses.

能夠嘗試新的創業項目，而不用擔心會影響我的日常開支。

Financial freedom is more than just a number.

財務自由不僅僅是一個數字。

It's a feeling.

這是一種感覺。

It's a state of mind.

這是一種精神狀態。

It's the idea of feeling so confident and in control of your finances that you're able to spend freely on the things that you love today, knowing that it's not taking away from your other priorities and your bigger life goals.

這就是一種自信的感覺，你能夠掌控自己的財務狀況，能夠自由地花在你今天喜歡的事情上，同時知道這不會影響你其他的優先事項和更遠大的人生目標。

So let's get into the four steps.

那麼，讓我們來看看這四個步驟吧。

By the way, if you're someone who wants to go away and implement everything from a video step-by-step, I have a downloadable cheat sheet that gives you the summary of each of these points and details on exactly what you need to do.

順便說一下，如果你想走出去，一步一步地實施視頻中的所有內容，我有一份可下載的小抄，為你總結了每一個要點，並詳細說明了你需要做的事情。

It's completely free and you can download it in the description below.

它完全免費，你可以在下面的說明中下載。

The first step is to track.

第一步是跟蹤。

There is a famous quote that is, the first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you're not going to stay where you are.

有句名言說得好：要想有所成就，第一步就是決定不再停留在原地。

And then I would say the second step towards getting somewhere is to know where you currently are.

然後，我想說的是，要想有所收穫，第二步就是要知道自己目前所處的位置。

I always hear people say, I'm trying to save more this year or I'm trying to spend less this month.

我總是聽到人們說，我今年要多存點錢，或者我這個月要少花點錢。

And my first question is always, how much did you spend last year?

我的第一個問題總是，你去年花了多少錢？

Or how much did you spend last month?

或者你上個月花了多少錢？

Most of the time, they have no idea.

大多數時候，他們根本不知道。

But if you don't know where you currently stand, how can you get better?

但是，如果你不知道自己目前所處的位置，又如何能變得更好呢？

So that's the very first thing to do.

所以，這是要做的第一件事。

Track where you are right now.

跟蹤你現在所處的位置。

You want to categorize your spending into three buckets.

您要將支出分為三類。

Your fundamental expenses, your fun expenses, and then the amount you're putting towards the future you.

您的基本開支、娛樂開支，以及您為未來的自己投入的資金。

Fundamental costs are your essential living costs.

基本費用是您的基本生活費用。

So this includes your mortgage, your rent, utilities, car or transportation, groceries, and minimum debt payments.

是以，這包括您的房貸、房租、水電費、汽車或交通費、日用品以及最低債務還款額。

You want to try and aim for all of these to total up to less than 50 to 60% of your take-home pay.

你要儘量使所有這些費用的總和少於你實得工資的 50%至 60%。

If you are thinking there is no way that these costs can total less than 60% of my take-home pay, then the two you want to start with focusing on are your car and your home.

如果你認為這些費用的總額不可能低於我實得工資的 60%，那麼你首先要關注的就是你的汽車和房屋。

Because these tend to take up the biggest chunk of our income.

因為這些往往佔我們收入的大頭。

And we don't need to be able to afford to pay for the entire purchase.

而且，我們不需要有能力支付全部的購買費用。

We just need to be able to afford the monthly payments.

我們只需要付得起月供。

And so because of this, we end up buying a bigger home or a nicer car than our debt to income ratio allows.

正因為如此，我們最終買了比我們的債務收入比所允許的更大的房子或更好的車。

So other than the 50 to 60% guideline for your fundamental costs, another way to see if you are on track is to add up all of your monthly debt payments.

是以，除了基本費用的 50%至 60%這一準則外，另一個瞭解自己是否步入正軌的方法是將每月的債務償還額相加。

So your mortgage, your car payments, and any other loans or debt payments that you have and divide it by your monthly gross income.

將您的房貸、車貸以及任何其他貸款或債務支出除以您的月總收入。

And you want to try and keep this between 35 to 50%. 35% is on the good side. 50% is on the higher side.

儘量保持在 35% 到 50% 之間。35% 是比較好的比例。50% 則偏高。

If you want to balance enjoying the things you love today with long-term investing and short-term saving, then it's going to be hard when you have a huge car payment or a mortgage payment that takes up all of your income.

如果你想在享受當下喜愛的事物與長期投資和短期儲蓄之間取得平衡，那麼當你的鉅額車貸或房貸佔據了你所有的收入時，這將是很難做到的。

It may be that you have to make some uncomfortable changes in the meantime, but they will be temporary and it will make a big difference.

在此期間，你可能不得不做出一些令人不舒服的改變，但這些改變都是暫時的，而且會帶來很大的不同。

Once you're past step one, we move on to step two, which is to save and repay.

一旦過了第一步，我們就進入了第二步，即儲蓄和還款。

A third of adults in the UK have no savings or less than £1,000 in their bank account.

英國有三分之一的成年人沒有儲蓄或銀行賬戶中的存款不足 1,000 英鎊。

And 78% of Americans don't even have one month of their income saved up.

78%的美國人甚至沒有一個月的收入積蓄。

If you are able to save just one month of your living costs, then you are in a better place than most people.

如果你能節省一個月的生活費用，那麼你就比大多數人過得好。

And this is purely for the psychological comfort.

這純粹是為了心理安慰。

When something goes wrong, you already have the financial stress of worrying about how you're going to pay for it.

一旦出現問題，您已經有了經濟壓力，還要擔心如何支付。

You don't want the mental stress to go with it as well.

你不會希望精神壓力也隨之而來。

Once you've saved one month, then you want to pay off your high interest rate debt.

一旦你存夠一個月的錢，你就想還清高利率債務。

Now, this goes against a lot of the advice which you probably see or hear online, which is that you should save up a six-month emergency fund first.

現在，這與你可能在網上看到或聽到的很多建議背道而馳，這些建議認為你應該先存六個月的應急基金。

So I want to explain why I say it in this order.

是以，我想解釋一下為什麼要按這個順序說。

Let's say you had saved up £5,000 earning 5% interest annually, and it pays you £250 each year.

假設您儲蓄了 5,000 英鎊，年利率為 5%，每年可獲得 250 英鎊。

Let's say you also have £5,000 on your credit cards with a high interest rate of 22%, costing you £1,100 every year.

假設您的信用卡上也有 5,000 英鎊，利率高達 22%，每年花費 1,100 英鎊。

When we compare the interest you earn with the interest you pay, you're actually losing £850 every year.

如果將您賺取的利息與您支付的利息進行比較，您每年實際上會損失 850 英鎊。

To take this one step further, let's analyse what would happen in two different scenarios if you decided to pay off your credit card debt with your savings versus if you decided to keep both your savings and your debt.

再進一步，讓我們來分析一下，如果您決定用儲蓄償還信用卡債務，與同時保留儲蓄和債務，在兩種不同的情況下會發生什麼。

Situation A, assuming no emergency happens.

情況 A，假設沒有緊急情況發生。

If you don't use your savings to pay off your debt, you continue to lose £850 a year.

如果您不用儲蓄還債，您每年將繼續損失 850 英鎊。

Or if you choose to pay off your credit card debt with your savings, you'll neither earn nor pay any interest.

或者，如果您選擇用儲蓄來償還信用卡債務，您既不會賺取利息，也不會支付任何利息。

So you're actually saving £850 a year.

是以，您實際上每年可以節省 850 英鎊。

Now, situation B, an emergency happens.

現在，情況 B 發生了緊急情況。

Your roof caves in and you need to spend £5,000 to fix it.

您的屋頂塌陷，需要花費 5,000 英鎊來修復。

In option one, if you didn't pay off your debt, you can now use your savings for your emergency, leaving you with no savings and you still owe £5,000 on your credit card.

在方案一中，如果你沒有還清債務，你現在就可以動用你的儲蓄來應急，這樣你就沒有儲蓄了，而你的信用卡上還欠著 5,000 英鎊。

You'll continue paying 22% interest on that debt.

你將繼續為這筆債務支付 22% 的利息。

Option two, if you had already paid off your debt using your savings, you won't have the savings for the emergency anymore.

方案二，如果你已經用積蓄還清了債務，那麼你就再也沒有積蓄來應急了。

So you need to use your credit card again.

是以，您需要再次使用信用卡。

So paying off the debt will save you money in interest payments, putting you in a better financial position unless an emergency forces you to borrow again.

是以，還清債務將為您節省利息支出，使您處於更有利的財務狀況，除非有緊急情況迫使您再次借款。

Then you'd be in no different of a situation than you were in originally.

這樣一來，你的處境就和原來沒什麼兩樣了。

That is the reason why I talk about doing it in this order.

這就是我說要按照這個順序來做的原因。

Once you pay off your high interest rate debt, then you can also build out your emergency fund to three months, six months while simultaneously doing the next step as well, which is number three, to invest.

一旦你還清了高利率的債務，那麼你也可以將應急基金積累到三個月或六個月，同時進行下一步，也就是第三步，進行投資。

This is really important because this is where real long-term wealth is created.

這一點非常重要，因為這是創造真正長期財富的地方。

This is where 10% of your income should be going at a minimum.

這是你收入中至少應占 10%的部分。

And the way in which you invest really depends on what path to financial freedom you want to take.

而投資的方式則取決於你想走什麼樣的財務自由之路。

There's the investing in yourself route.

還有一條是投資自己。

So this comes down to investing in your knowledge, investing in your skills, whether it's entrepreneurial skills, sales, marketing, business, or skills that increase your value as an employee.

是以，這歸根結底是要投資於你的知識，投資於你的技能，無論是創業技能、銷售、市場營銷、商業，還是提高你作為員工價值的技能。

So for instance, leadership training, skills that help you get to where you want and build wealth faster by increasing your personal value.

例如，領導力培訓、通過提升個人價值來幫助你實現理想和更快積累財富的技能。

Then there's a passive route, which is investing in assets that compound.

還有一種是被動投資，即投資於能產生複利的資產。

Real estate, the stock market.

房地產、股票市場。

If you can dedicate 10% to this, 10% of your income every month, this money will grow and compound.

如果你能拿出 10%，即每月收入的 10%，這筆錢就會不斷增長併產生複利。

And there will be a point where you make more from your investments than you do from your income.

有一天，你的投資收益會超過你的收入。

Let's look at two scenarios.

讓我們來看看兩種情況。

If you started investing at 35 years old and you invest 500 a month for 10 years, then by the time you're 50, you would have 190,634.

如果你從 35 歲開始投資，每月投資 500 美元，持續 10 年，那麼到 50 歲時，你將擁有 190,634 美元。

And of that, only 90,000 is your own money.

其中只有 9 萬是你自己的錢。

The remaining 100,000 is free money that you made in interest.

剩下的 10 萬是你賺的利息。

Whereas if you started investing at 40, you could still end up with a similar portfolio by the time you're 50, 191,249.

而如果你從 40 歲開始投資，到 50 歲時，你的投資組合仍然可以達到 191,249 美元。

But you would have to put in 1,000 a month.

但你必須每月投入 1000 美元。

You're putting in double every month.

你每個月的投入都是雙倍的。

So in total, 120,000 of it would be your own money.

是以，總共有 12 萬是你自己的錢。

And then the remaining would be through interest.

剩下的就是利息了。

This is the power of compounding and why the earlier you start, the better.

這就是複利的力量，也是為什麼越早開始越好的原因。

You may already be doing this through your employer, through a retirement contribution.

您可能已經通過僱主為您繳納了退休費。

And then you also want to use tax-free accounts that are available first and then look into taxable accounts as well.

然後，你還想先使用可用的免稅賬戶，然後再考慮應稅賬戶。

Then the fourth step is to manage.

第四步是管理。

There's a famous quote by Benjamin Franklin that is, beware of little expenses.

本傑明-富蘭克林有一句名言：小心小開支。

A small leak will sink a great ship.

小漏必沉大船。

It's normal for your spending to rise as your income rises.

收入增加，支出也會增加，這是正常現象。

It's human behavior.

這是人類的行為。

If it continues to rise at the same pace, or even worse, at a faster pace than your earnings, then you're never going to break out of a cycle and feel financially in control.

如果它繼續以同樣的速度增長，甚至比你的收入增長得更快，那麼你就永遠無法擺脫循環，也無法感覺到財務上的控制。

Yes, you absolutely deserve to enjoy the finer things in life, the beautiful holidays, the high quality items, the experiences that bring you joy.

是的，你絕對應該享受生活中的美好事物，享受美好的假期，享受高品質的物品，享受帶給你快樂的體驗。

But equally, you deserve not to live paycheck to paycheck for the rest of your life.

但同樣，你也不應該一輩子靠工資生活。

You deserve the financial freedom to walk away from a relationship that isn't serving you or to walk away from a job that you don't like without worrying about how you're going to pay for your bills.

你理應擁有財務自由，可以從一段不適合你的關係中抽身而退，也可以從一份你不喜歡的工作中抽身而退，而不必擔心如何支付賬單。

Ten years from now, that brand new car probably isn't going to make you happy or financially free.

十年後，那輛嶄新的汽車可能不會讓你感到幸福或財務自由。

But making the decision to invest the money today instead, invest that difference, that is going to very likely be the thing that gets you there.

但是，如果你今天就決定把錢拿去投資，把差價拿去投資，這很有可能會讓你成功。

You want to make sure that you take the time out every 12 months to review your finances, increase the amount that you can invest, adjust your investments if you need to.

你要確保每 12 個月抽出時間來回顧一下你的財務狀況，增加你的投資額，必要時調整你的投資。

And as you approach retirement, make sure you evaluate your risk appetite.

臨近退休時，一定要評估自己的風險承受能力。

Being financially free doesn't mean quitting your job or becoming a millionaire.

財務自由並不意味著辭職或成為百萬富翁。

It's being able to spend on the things that you love guilt-free whilst knowing that your bigger life goals and your aspirations are also taking the front seat.

這就是能夠毫無愧疚地花在自己喜歡的事情上，同時知道自己更遠大的人生目標和抱負也被放在首位。

If you really want to take the four-step routine seriously, if you want to learn more about each of the steps that we go through in this video, and you want to take action and make sure you follow through with each of these steps, then I have a completely free masterclass available.

如果你真的想認真對待這四步工作法，如果你想更多地瞭解我們在視頻中介紹的每一個步驟，如果你想採取行動，確保你貫徹執行每一個步驟，那麼我有一個完全免費的大師班。

I've included my best tips for each stage of this routine.

我為這套程序的每個階段都提供了最佳建議。

So I include what tools to use, how to stick to good money habits, how to avoid common mistakes that most beginners make when it comes to building wealth that you want to make sure you sidestep.

是以，我的內容包括使用什麼工具、如何堅持良好的理財習慣、如何避免大多數初學者在積累財富時容易犯的錯誤，這些都是你要確保避開的。

Again, it's completely free and the link is in the description.

同樣，它也是完全免費的，鏈接就在說明中。

Thank you and I hope to see you there.

謝謝你，希望在那裡見到你。

Thanks and goodbye.

謝謝，再見。