Rahkim Sabree “aspired to be poor” when he was growing up. He saw his parents collecting section 8 housing vouchers, getting food stamps, and thought that this was the way life was. He didn’t grow up around many homeowners. All of his friends lived in apartment rentals and were in the same financial situation as him. There were no “financial literacy talks” at Rahkim's dinner table. It wasn’t until Rahkim left college and got a banking job that he decided to look at where his money was going and what it was doing for him. He started reading books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Millionaire Next Door, which shifted his mindset and gave him the foundation to chase financial freedom. He bought a duplex, house hacked it, and started throwing all the money he could into investments. As his own financial knowledge began to grow, he was able to share what he learned with others. He’s written two books, spoken at TEDx talks, and been invited to numerous conferences to speak. This didn’t bode well with his employer, who would consistently ask him whether his outside-of-work activities were clashing with his nine-to-five responsibilities. After hearing this over and over again, he decided to “fire his boss” and focus on building his own income, all without an emergency reserve stashed away!  In This Episode We Cover Why it’s so difficult to break out of poverty without financial education Deciding to house hack so your mortgage can be offset  Why you should always keep a safety reserve in case of emergencies  Maxing out your 401(k), HSA, and ESPP contributions  Thinking of low-interest credit as another type of safety reserve Knowing when the appropriate time to leave your W2 is  And So Much More! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices