MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom (Tony Robbins Financial Freedom Series) - Hardcover

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Tony Robbins is an international entrepreneur, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and philanthropist. Worth magazine recognized Robbins as one of the top 100 most influential people in global finance for two consecutive years. Accenture honored Robbins as one of the “Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World.” Robbins is a leader called upon by leaders: He’s consulted and coached some of the world’s greatest athletes, entertainers, Fortune 500 CEOs, and four US presidents.

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Money Master the Game

CHAPTER 1.2

THE 7 SIMPLE STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM: CREATE AN INCOME FOR LIFE

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

—LAO-TZU

Tell me something: Have you ever had that experience, you know . . . the completely humiliating experience of playing a video game against a child? Who always wins? The child, of course! But how does she do it? Is she smarter, quicker, stronger?

Here’s how it works. You’re visiting your niece or nephew, and she or he will say, “Come play it with me, Uncle Tony!”

You immediately protest, “No, no, I don’t know this game. You go ahead and play.”

And they say, “C’mon, it’s easy! Just let me just show you.” Then they shoot a few bad guys when they pop up on the screen. You still resist, so they start pleading. “C’mon! C’mon! Please, please, please!” You love this kid, so you give in. Then she says the simple words that tell you you’re being set up: “You go first.”

So you decide you’re gonna make it happen! You’re going to show this kid a thing or two. And then what? Bam! Bam! Bam! In 3.4 seconds, you’re dead. Shot in the side of the head. Smoked.

Then the kid takes the gun, and suddenly it’s bam-bam-bam-bam-bam! The bad guys are dropping from the sky and whizzing around every corner in hyperspeed. The kid is anticipating every move and picking them off—and about 45 minutes later, you get your second turn.

Now you’re ticked off, and even more committed. This time you last a full five seconds. And she goes another 45 minutes. You know the drill.

So why do these kids always win? Is it because they have better reflexes? Is it because they’re faster? No! It’s because they’ve played the game before.

They already have one of the greatest secrets to wealth and success in life: they can anticipate the road ahead.

Remember this: anticipation is the ultimate power. Losers react; leaders anticipate. And in the following pages, you’ll learn to anticipate from the best of the best: the Ray Dalios and the Paul Tudor Joneses and the army of 50 other extraordinary financial leaders who know the road ahead. They’re here to help you anticipate the problems and challenges on the path to financial freedom so you don’t get hurt along the way. Like Ray Dalio says, it’s a jungle out there, full of things that can kill you financially, and you need trusted guides to help you get through it. With their help, we’re going to lay out a plan that will help you anticipate the challenges, avoid unnecessary stress, and arrive at your ideal financial destination.

I want to give a quick overview of where we’re going and how this book is set up, so you can make the best use of it. But before we do that, let’s be clear about our true purpose. This book is committed to one primary outcome: to set you up so you have an income for life without ever having to work again. Real financial freedom! And the good news is, it can be achieved by anyone. Even if you’re starting out in debt, deep in the hole—no exaggeration—with a little bit of time, consistent focus, and the right strategies applied, you can get to financial security or even independence in a few years.

Before we walk through the steps, let’s first take a look at why being financially secure used to seem so simple. What’s changed? And what do we need to do? Let’s start with a little history lesson.

You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it.

—TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Everything about your financial life seems so much harder these days, doesn’t it? I’m sure you’ve wondered why it is so difficult to save money and retire comfortably. We’ve come to treat retirement as a given in our society; a sacrosanct stage of life. But let’s not forget that retirement is a relatively new concept. The idea has really served only a generation or two—for most of us, our parents and grandparents. Before their time, folks generally worked until they couldn’t.

Until they died.

Do you remember your history? When was Social Security invented? It was created under Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression, when there was no social safety net for old and sick people. And “old” was a different concept back then. The average life expectancy in the United States was 62 years. That’s all! And Social Security retirement benefits were supposed to kick in at age 65, so not everybody was expected to collect, or at least not for very long. In fact, Roosevelt himself didn’t live long enough to cash in on his benefits (not that he would have needed them). He died at the age of 63.

The Social Security Act eased the suffering of millions of Americans during a time of crisis, but it was never intended to become a replacement for retirement savings—just a supplement to cover the most basic needs. And the system wasn’t designed for the world we live in today.

Here’s the new reality:

There’s a 50% chance that, among married couples, at least one spouse will live to the age of 92 and a 25% chance that one will live to 97.

Wow! We are closing in on a life expectancy of age 100 pretty damn quick.

And with longer lives, we expect longer—much longer—years for our retirement. Fifty years ago, the average retirement was 12 years. Someone retiring today at age 65 is expected to live to 85 or longer. That’s 20-plus years of retirement. And that’s the average. Many will live longer and have 30 years of retirement!

It is not realistic to finance a 30-year retirement with 30 years of work. You can’t expect to put 10% of your income aside and then finance a retirement that’s just as long.

—JOHN SHOVEN, Stanford University professor of economics

How long do you expect to live? All the breakthroughs we’re seeing in medical technology might add years to your life—decades, even. From stem cell technology, to 3-D printing of organs, to cellular regeneration, technologies are exploding onto the scene. You’ll hear about them in chapter 7.1, “The Future Is Brighter Than You Think.” It’s a blessing, but are you ready? Many of us are not.

A recent survey conducted by Mass Mutual asked baby boomers to name their number one fear.

What do you think it was? Death? Terrorism? Pestilence?

No, the number one fear of baby boomers was outliving their savings.

(Death, by the way, checked in a distant second.)

The baby boomers have a right to be scared, and so do millennials. According to an Ernst and Young study, 75% of Americans can expect to see their assets disappear before they die. And the Social Security safety net—if it survives into the next generation—won’t provide a reasonable standard of living on its own. The current average benefit is $1,294 per month. How far do you think that will stretch if you live in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Miami? Or how long will the equivalent system work in your country if you live in London, Sydney, Rome, Tokyo, Hong Kong, or New Delhi? No matter where you live, if you don’t have another source of income, you could end up the best-dressed greeter at Wal-Mart.

It’s obvious that we’ll need to stretch our retirement income longer than ever before—smack in the middle of a flat economy...