Financial Freedom: 5 Reasons to Run from the Corporate Cube

I've been out of the corporate cube for two months.  I've seen it from both sides.  Being on the outside looks and feels a lot better.  Here's 5 Reasons Why:

1.  It's tough to earn financial freedom in one lifetime by working for someone else.

If you still need to earn money, (i.e., your parents haven't willed you a couple of million in a trust fund), just know that owning our own business is one of the few ways in this country to create wealth in one life time.    I picked up these tips from the Millionaire Next Door classic book.   But I suggest you get your own copy and pour through it. 

Let's start with taxes.   I learned a lot in the Jackson Hewitt Tax School and I learned that Earned Income you get in the Cube is taxed more highly than any other kind of income.    Taxes are one of your biggest ongoing expenses.   Those who are self-employed, or who earn money from dividend income, or rental income -- well, they don't have as high a tax burden.   Do whatever you can (legally) to reduce these.

2.  Office politics is a soul-sucking form of hell.    Do I really need a source to prove that to you?

 

Can you believe that we actually have to discuss how to deal with bullying narcissistic sociopaths in the workplace?  That our culture tolerates this instead of shunning it?  Well, we do tolerate it, and if you have run into one of these types in your workplace, then you know what it can do to your life. 

 3.  The commute, and all that sitting, is killing you.

 

During one of my cube adventures I wrote a marketing research report on corporate wellness plans.  The ones that force you to watch videos and walk 10,000 steps a day.  Problem is, they usually don't work.   It's a dirty little secret and a lot of people are struggling with the issue -- good people who want them to work.  I hope those well-intentioned people come up with a great new solution.  But I've heard hush-hush conversations with professionals in the exercise industry telling me that "you just can't undo 8 hours a day of sitting, no matter what."   I'm not sure who is right, but at this time, people sitting in corporate America 8 hours a day are still gaining weight, which can lead to a host of other health problems.  Serious ones that damage the rest of your life. 

4. You don't have to be employed to get affordable health insurance anymore. 

 

Call it the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Obamacare, SCOTUScare or government hand outs.  No matter, you can get some of your own right here (http://www.healthcare.gov/marketplace)  It's not cheap, and it shouldn't be.  You could pay $200-$500 a month before you even start on the deductible.  But at least you'll have coverage.  Remember that medical costs are the number one reason for bankruptcy in this country.  

5.  Because You Can.  It's possible in this country to change your finances and your life.     

 

Opportunity + hard work = success.  Ask the guys on Shark Tank.  Or Ask "I Will Teach You to Be Rich" Ramit Sethi, he'll tell you.  The United States has a system that allows and encourages small businesses.

(I earned my first $1,000 side-hustle money with inspiration from Ramit.  I don't make a dime promoting him to others, he's just a great resource for us all.)

 Coming Next -- 5 More Reasons to Run From the Corporate Cube