Financial Freedom and Career Choice Are Inextricably Linked

It's a simple fact that you can't really control. It's not your fault. But you can work it to your advantage:

What you do and where you do it are the number one things that affect your financial situation.

So when you think about your finances—your budget, your spending, your housing, your savings, your debt, your investments—think about your job. If you're not on the path to financial freedom, consider how your career choice is helping (or hindering!) that effort.

Which jobs in which industries present you with the greatest financial rewards? How can you achieve the best possible future for you and your family? What options do you have?

Let’s face it, there are so many things to consider before you begin a career.

• Are you passionate about the field?
• Are there good job opportunities today?
• Will there be good job opportunities in the future?
• Do you have (or can you get) the right qualifications?
• Will you be respected at work?
• Can you take pride in the work you do?

Thinking critically about your life choices is emotionally challenging, especially when some of the answers include "I didn't make the right decision." So while it's important to be honest with yourself, it's also important to empathize with your past self: You made the best decisions you could, with the information you had. And no matter how things turned out, those decisions helped make you into the great person you are today.

With that in mind —

Building wealth and planning for your financial future can feel overwhelming. But it's never too late to make a change. You deserve a career that’s going to provide the best possible standard of living for you and your loved ones.

Here are some important things to think about:

Building Financial Freedom Starts Now

1 - Understand what you’re saving for

Building a resilient financial situation sometimes requires sacrifices. Yet it's very hard to choose to make sacrifices when you don't know what you're building towards. Many people struggle to save because they can’t define their saving goals.

Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey suggests that you should begin with an end in mind.” It’s far easier to reach your end goal when you can clearly define it. So start by writing down your savings goals.

Are you saving for a house? A car? An education? Something for your kids? A holiday? Designer fashion? A medical expense? New furniture? An investment portfolio? A rainy day? A comfortable retirement?

It's good to have a list of multiple goals, or breaking down one large goal into smaller goals along the way. A great way of setting goals is through the SMART method:

• Specific — Target a very narrow, named objective. So not just "a car," but "a newer-model 4-door car that's good on gas and has room for the whole family"
• Measurable — Measuring the right thing is everything. To achieve financial freedom, it's not enough to "save money" generally; You should track your progress and hold yourself accountable along the way.
• Attainable — SMART goals are realistic (or else they would be "stretch" goals). If your goal is to "become the richest person on earth", that's all well and good, but it's also almost certainly setting you up for failure.
• Relevant — Make sure you can draw connections between your smaller goals and your over-arching objective. It's okay to treat yourself. But don't lose sight of the purpose of the exercise.
• Time-based — Set yourself a specific time frame for achieving your financial goals.

Once you've laid out your financial objectives, it's time to start building a plan for how to achieve them.

2 - Learn about the financial world

Financial management and investing are lifelong pursuits, but you can get started today. You don't need to go out and open an investing account, purchase risky cryptocurrencies, or pay someone to give you financial advice. But you should put yourself into a position where you understand the different financial options that are available to you:

• Checking vs Savings accounts, and shopping for accounts whose fee structures match your needs
• The risks and benefits of taking out loans, using credit, and making on-time payments
• The cost implications and growth potential of renting vs buying property
• Putting your money to work with an investment portfolio of mutual funds, stocks, or ETFs
• Leveraging different types of registered accounts (for example in the US: 401Ks and Roth IRAs; and in Canada: RRSPs and TFSAs)
• Managing your earnings and expenses to optimize your tax situation

Learning about the financial world doesn’t happen overnight. And because it's something you might only look at a few times each year, it's easy to forget or feel like you've fallen behind. So try to stay organized, and stay informed!

When it comes to your financial situation, the best time to get organized was 10 years ago! But the second-best time is right now. The sooner you get your affairs in order, the sooner you'll be able to achieve financial freedom, whatever that means for you.

3 - Orient your career towards higher-earning professions

Some careers pay better than other careers, and that’s just a fact of life. But the story is more complicated than that: There are actually three different wage ranges that you should compare: Role, industry, and level.

Most people know the typical high-earning roles, such as investment bankers, accountants, lawyers, management consultants, and medical doctors. But there are significant variations in each of these jobs: For example, a corporate lawyer usually earns significantly more than a criminal prosecutor, and a partner typically earns a lot more than a new associate.

This is true in virtually every career: In the restaurant industry, dishwashers rarely earn more than minimum wage. But high-profile manager-chefs can make millions.

It's also true for a given role, as it varies across industries: Accountants in the banking industry tend to have higher incomes than accountants in the oil and gas sector, who tend to have higher incomes than accountants who work in government or for non-profits.

So when you think about getting a new job, think about what you want, and what the financial opportunities are! There are essentially five types of changes you can make:

• Different role, same industry, same level = Lateral move
• Same industry, higher-level = Promotion
• Same role, different industry, same level = New industry
• Same role, different industry, higher-level = New Job
• Different role, different industry = New Career

Unlock a high-income career

If you think a new industry, new job, or new career might be the best path forwards, you should consider a tech sales career. (If you already work in tech and want to accelerate your success as a sales rep, consider getting some additional sales training!)

Since software is taking over every market, your experiences in prior roles is valuable even if you've never worked in sales before. It's easier to sell software to restaurants if you understand how the restaurant industry works, right?

There are countless job openings in SaaS Sales, and wages are very high: According to data from Zip Recruiter,

• The average SaaS Sales salary is over $78,000/year.
• The top 10% of earners in SaaS Sales earn over $135,000/year (so it pays to be very good at your job)!

For sales reps at software companies, a common strategy is to budget so that you're able to live off of your base salary, then use your commissions for savings, investments, or to pay down debts faster.

If these strategies might work for you, register for our next free Step Into Tech Course, and start exploring your options.