Does your paycheck give you freedom?

[Joey English]

As I write this I’m 15,000 feet in the air, courtesy of Delta Airlines, somewhere between Atlanta and Springfield, Mo. I’m on my way to go see one of the strongest and bravest people I know. Her name is Kaleigh, and she’s my little sister.

What makes Kaleigh so brave you might ask? She’s fearless. Well that’s not true. She frets on the inside just as badly as any of us. But then her strength takes over, preventing those fears from beating her into submission. She just looks them in the eye and defiantly marches past them, daring them to get in her way as she continues on her quest of obtaining her dreams.

She has no idea how much I admire her.

This particular story started back in Adairsville when she and her husband, Michael, decided their dream was to move to a little town in Missouri, personally build a log cabin and start their own farm. After a few years of planning, we said our teary-eyed goodbyes as Kaleigh and Michael left Georgia for their property in Missouri that would be the setting where their dreams would play out.

As Michael cut the trees and formed the logs that would become their cabin, Kaleigh worked on growing their collection of goats and chickens. I have to tell you, it was quite a sight to see my five-foot-five, 100 pound-nothing little sister wrangle the goats in, milk them and turn them back out to pasture. I always kid her that she’s the toughest chick I know, but she really is.

As these things often go, the process of working toward their dreams wasn’t easy. The drought took its toll. The crops barely came in, and the free-range chickens couldn’t find enough to eat. They lost an entire herd of goats to a parasite that doesn’t affect goats in Georgia. During those adversities, Kaleigh’s strength took over, and she optimistically soldiered on.

Michael finished their cabin and they moved in. They established a new herd of goats, planted their gardens and settled their chickens in. They even found out there would be a new addition to the family. Things were really looking up.

But then something happened. The baby was born safely, but Kaleigh had some complications revealing that she’d had Lymes Disease since childhood. And with the state of her now weakened immune system, the Lymes quickly progressed to stage 3 -the worst it can get- wreaking havoc on both her body and her mind.

I’m not flying for business, but I wouldn’t call it pleasure either. Kaleigh called back to Georgia asking for help because of the condition the Lymes had put her in. And for my strong little sister to ask for help, I knew things were severe.

When I told her I was coming, she responded, “But Joey, you have to work.”

But the truth is I don’t.

At the get rich quick seminars, they flaunt flashy cars, big houses and expensive vacations trying to tout those things as financial freedom. Not being tied to a job that requires me to be present in order to get a paycheck, however, is what I call freedom. That’s the beauty of rental property. Whether I’m in my home town, or nearly halfway across the U.S., I’m still getting paid.

Because of our rental income, I have the freedom to fly out to help those I love. I’ll be gone for a week. When I get home, Ashley will take my place. That means we’ll have effectively been absent two and half work weeks– yet our monthly income won’t miss a beat.

Can your pay check do that? If not, I’d consider replacing it with rental income.