By Christopher Cervantes, RFP

MANY people are losing their jobs every day for reasons beyond their control. Even if you have a great position right now, that might not be the case in six months. Job security has become like the Philippine weather, which could change any time and has become harder to predict.

I was a seafarer for 17 years until I realized that my job would not serve me for life. That was the time I started thinking about escaping the rat race, how to stop running and start living the life I wanted.

The problem most working people have right now is that they sometimes fail to realize that they could stop earning at any moment. They have become accustomed to life in the rat race.

But the frightening reality is that the majority of our corporate working forces right now are composed of young people who have been tagged as the future of our country.

We entered the workforce full of dreams and aspirations, and started making money. Then we started aspiring to have a nice car and sign a mortgage deal for a big house to show off our newfound corporate success. Despite all the material things we have accumulated, it didn’t do anything to improve our lives, and happiness became elusive.

Understanding the danger of being trapped in the rat race could be a great start in achieving financial independence. You must reach the point in which having a 9-to-5 career no longer appeals to you, intellectually and emotionally.

You may want to stop reporting to your abusive boss or, if you’re an overseas Filipino worker, want to start living a life without needing to leave your family, but the question is:

How? Without a significant amount of savings, there is less security, and the lack of that may hinder you from leaving that 9-to-5 job.

Many of my colleagues criticized my decision to leave my high-paying seafaring job and become a financial advocate. To be honest, I am yet to feel regret for choosing to live my life based on my purpose.

In fact, I was able to prove to myself that the lesson most spiritual gurus teach was definitely true: Do whatever will make you happy and money will naturally follow.

If you want to regain control of your life, you must understand that living in a small house is not the primary source of insecurity, but having huge debts.

No matter what kind of debts they are, these would be lurking in every corner and definitely control your happiness if you are not careful with it.

Remember, the reason we are working so hard is that we can earn enough money to provide a good education to our children and live a comfortable life when we reach old age.

Fulfilling these two will be the key to self-fulfillment, with the rest just a bonus. Having a house and car, the latest gadgets, or even traveling are bonuses, but the problem is that we are always prioritizing these bonuses.

There are three main things that we need to do if we want to exit the rat race fast. First, if you cannot develop a passive income, at least find a career or build a business that has the potential to sustain you and how you live.

In my case, it’s not a passive income, but a change of career, but since I love what I am doing, it doesn’t feel like work.

Second, you also need to protect your wealth — including your savings and investments — from potential long-term losses and risks. These include inflation, a sudden economic turndown, loss of business, sickness, disability and even a premature death.

Third, you need to monitor where your money goes. Unfortunately, our money disappears not because of our big-time expenses, but because of small financial leakages. Identify where your money leaks and plug it immediately.

With “change” being hip nowadays, now may be the best time to consider changing your financial strategy that is not giving you the results you want. That’s even a greater reason to make sure that if you’re planning to get out of the rat race, you need to do it well and gracefully with the right financial plan.