Finding financial freedom looks different depending on where you live, but the core habits don’t change. I live in New York City, one of the most expensive places in the United States, and I can tell you from experience that high costs are not an excuse to ignore investing. If anything, they make the habit of investing even more important. Rent is brutal, groceries are unpredictable, and lifestyle creep is always lurking. Yet the question I keep asking myself is simple: if I don’t prioritize my future now, who will?
I recently watched a video of people in their eighties talking honestly about money and retirement. Their biggest regret wasn’t spending too much on fun or taking risks. It was not investing small amounts consistently when they were younger. These were Americans who lived through different economic cycles, different booms and busts, but the lesson hit hard. Time is the one asset you can’t buy back. Why do so many of us realize this only when it’s too late?
I meet people in their forties, fifties, and sixties here in New York who genuinely thought they did everything right. They paid their bills. They avoided consumer debt. They bought property if they could. They contributed to retirement accounts like a four zero one k or an I R A when it felt convenient. And yet they’re shocked at how little wealth they’ve actually built. How does that happen in a country with so many financial tools available?
The answer, in my opinion, is painfully simple. Most people spend first and invest last. Whatever is left over goes into savings or investments, and most months, nothing is left over. In a city like New York, where there’s always something to spend money on, this approach almost guarantees underinvesting. Is it really surprising that retirement then feels impossible?
For a while, my daughter invested a large portion of every dollar she earned into a low cost global index fund through a beginner friendly investing app. Was it the cheapest platform out there? No. But it was simple, accessible, and perfect for building the habit. She also contributed to a retirement account and kept cash savings for short term needs. That early investing habit gave her a strong head start, and more importantly, it gave her confidence. She could see her money working for her. How many young adults can say that?
Sustaining a high investing rate isn’t easy. You either need very low expenses or a high income. Living at home helped her. Living in New York quickly teaches you the opposite lesson. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle, and that middle keeps shifting as life changes. That’s exactly why I believe in setting a clear investing target and protecting it as much as possible.
Money that is invested has the potential to grow. Compounding isn’t flashy, but it’s powerful. It’s also unforgiving if you delay. The people in that video didn’t understand compounding early enough. I don’t want that to be my story, and I definitely don’t want it to be my daughter’s story. Do you?
One of the biggest mistakes I see is waiting for the perfect moment to invest. When bills are lower. When income is higher. When the market feels safer. That moment rarely arrives. There is always a reason to delay. In New York, that reason might be rent increases, healthcare costs, or simply the pressure to keep up. If you wait for perfect conditions, you may never start.
In my own household, we aim to invest a fixed percentage of our take home income. We didn’t arrive at that number through complex spreadsheets or financial modeling. It was trial and error. We set up automatic transfers that move money into a separate account every week. Once a month, that money gets invested. Automation removes emotion, and emotion is often the enemy of consistency.
What surprised me most is that we didn’t really choose our investing rate. It revealed itself over time. I slowly increased the amount and watched how it affected our ability to cover expenses and maintain our emergency funds. When things felt tight, I tried adjusting spending first. Only as a last resort did I touch the investing amount. Over time, a sustainable number emerged.
Would I like to invest more? Of course. But real life matters. Income is finite, energy is finite, and I value balance. Financial independence shouldn’t come at the cost of burnout or resentment. The key is not perfection. The key is priority. We invest first and live on what remains. That mindset shift is everything.
Teaching this habit to my daughter has reinforced it for me. Many young people don’t invest simply because no one explained why it matters. Young people who don’t invest often become older people who still don’t invest. Despite upcoming education expenses, we helped her define a non negotiable investing rate. Why lock it in early? Because life will always bring financial pressure.
If you pause investing every time life gets expensive, you’ll never build meaningful wealth. You’ll just survive. I want her to understand that a portion of what she earns belongs to her future. This idea comes from classic personal finance wisdom, but it remains timeless. A part of all you earn is yours to keep. How different would our financial lives look if we truly lived by that rule?
There’s a well known concept in the financial independence community that your savings rate matters more than almost anything else. Not market timing. Not stock picking. Your savings and investing rate largely determines how quickly you gain freedom. That idea keeps pulling me back whenever I feel distracted or discouraged.
So I come back to the same simple framework again and again. Invest first. Pay your bills second. Spend what remains. It works in New Zealand. It works in New York City. It works anywhere because it’s rooted in behavior, not geography.
The future version of you is watching the choices you make today. Will they thank you or resent you? What are you waiting for? Start now, start small if you have to, but start with intention. Your financial freedom depends on it.