Benefits of Financial Independence For Software Engineers

If you read this post, chances that you are a software developer who is seeking financial advice for smart money-saving or investment or early retirement.

📝 In this article:

1. Why is it for software developers first
2. The sad truth about the retirement
3. My finance knowledge so far
4. Mythos about the investments
5. What’s next?
   
   

💻 Why is it for software developers first

Because developers are lucky at some point, we are flexible. Moreover, developers love creating their own tools. So we can generate a passive income that could support us over time!

If we wish, we could:

• Get a very high paying job
• Work remotely and live in a city that is not that expensive and save more money
• Develop side projects along with passive income

That’s why it’s necessary to achieve Financial Independence (FI) that can make your life better. At least, it can help us not continually thinking about paying bills, and we will stop live in a world of scarcity.

“Never depend on a single income, make an investment to create a second source.” — Warren Buffett

🥺 The sad truth about the retirement

Years ago, I moved to Germany. Lately, I had to request a pension notice to get a german permanent residence permit. Looking at my pension notice at that time, I sadly realized that the small amount that my later pension should be at my 70 is not enough to live on — it will be enough to survive.

Since that day, I started…

• Feeling anxious about the future, retirement, and old-age poverty
• Thinking about wealth accumulation with securities
• Learning how to invest money
• Building passive side income

The retirement system in Germany seems like a scam to me. It means that the working generation pays with their social contributions to the pensions of the retired generation. If you want to learn more about the German retirement system that is similar to most European countries, check this link out.

In short, there are around 2 active workers per retiree in developed countries because of the relation between the low birth rate and the high aging population rate.

Along the time, this ratio, the number of active contributors per rentee supposedly is decreasing dramatically.

❗️ There is no guarantee that the retirement system will still maintain and pay off the same percentage of money according to the 2020 pension rate.

❗️There is no guarantee that it will be the same in 10–20–30–40 years when I get old-aged.

I am 100% sure I cannot rely on it.

📊 My finance knowledge so far

My personal starting shot for financial independence came in the last months after I got my permanent residence permit in Germany and quit my job to start working for myself.

Learning how to invest money might seem scary, especially if you get started when the market is experiencing a crash. Still, it’s easier than you think, and you can begin no matter how much you have saved before.

Here are my top-15 tips on how to free extra monthly cash from your dev-salary for investment.

What I have learned since then is enormous:

• Read lots of books and articles on finance and investmentsListened to podcasts on financial independence topics
• Watched many hours of videos
• Took control over my finances: no credits, no consumer debts
• Opened security accounts by different brokers and banks to start my investing journey
• Developed my investment strategies for the index funds and single stock-buying
• Even started taking a degree course at the one of the top-ranking business school

What am I learning now:

• More about REITs
• More about investing in active fonds

💭 Mythos about the investments

Myth #1 You should be a math genius

The truth is that you shouldn’t be one to be successful in the stock exchange market. It’s an absolute fallacy, and I am living proof of this. I know the maths, but I am not a math genius.

Myth #2 You should have significant capital to start

You can start even at 25$. Moreover, I would recommend you to start with a small amount of money to invest. First, to understand how the exchange market works, its dynamics. Secondly, to learn how to read key numbers, charts, and understand stock performance. So later, you can invest a more considerable amount of money more confidently.

Myth #3 You can do it only from a developed country

Completely wrong! As I mentioned before, I am originally from the East-European country, where there is no opportunity to open a security account for investment into the stocks of the developed countries at the national/country banks. There are still a few working international brokers in my home country that grant this opportunity for the residents.

Basically, you can start investing almost from anywhere!

🚀 What’s next?

I am still learning a lot about active and passive investments because my goal is to become financially independent:

I firmly believe, if you learned how to code, you could learn how to achieve financial independence.

Most developers have well-paid jobs, live free of debt, and can start investing today.

All of us have our dream-life, and it’s in our power to start to live it much earlier before the retirement comes along.

There is a lot of information about wealth building on the Internet, but minimum practical advice and strategies for doing that on the exchange market in real. There are not many step-by-step guides, e.g., on how to analyze specific stocks to make the right buy/hold/sell stock decision.

For that reason, I decided to post more about my financial independence learning journey: financial strategies I practice, the resources I learn from, scripts, and automated tools I implement to execute these strategies efficiently and manage my finances.

You are welcome to join me on this journey too via my weekly newsletter or RSS. Let us accumulate wealth and become financially independent together!

I remember myself when I began, I knew almost nothing about the finances! I was lucky to have saved money to start and experiment.

Disclaimer: I am not a Financial Manager, I am not an Expert in Finance. Through my articles, I will share how I am figuring this all out.

Live your best life, Ilona

Previously published at https://ilonacodes.com/blog/importance-of-financial-independence-for-software-developers/