The Freedom Yield: Measuring ROI A Different Way
How to compare life in different parts of the world
“Time is the substance I am made of.
Time is a river which sweeps me along,
but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me,
but I am the tiger.”
— Jorge Luis Borges.
What’s the difference between an hour in New York Vs 60 minutes in Lisbon?
Is life more enjoyable working 60 hours a week in London for 6 figures a year or are you better off working 20 hours per week in Rio De Janeiro?
Should you believe the X accounts promising that “zero taxes” in Asunción or Panamá City beats an honest living in Sydney?
I have spent time thinking about these very questions.
We treat time as uniform - but it isn’t.
Every hour has a different ‘yield’ depending on where, how, and why you spend it the way you do.
In today’s short essay I explore these topics and present two tools which I’ve created in order to reduce the complexity faced when comparing apples to oranges - or more like a fruit salad if you will - considering the many and varied factors that go into comparing lifestyle opportunities around this wonderful world we live in.
Good news - you can swipe these tools for free and apply them to your own situation.
The first key variable it may be helpful to standardise is: time units spent (measured in hours) and their yield, or what those units produce for you beyond just the monetary remuneration.
The Yield on Time: Freedom Yield (FY)
We often obsess over various forms of capital at our disposal except the one that governs all others: time.
Calculating your capital accumulation involves more than your salary, portfolio return, or marginal tax rate as they only tell part of the story. What matters is how efficiently each hour of your life converts into freedom, which might be thought of as further units of time capital at your disposal to be spent how you wish.
Think of it as the hourly profit margin of your life.
It tells you how much disposable freedom you create for every hour you sell/invest.
The below Freedom Yield or ratio if you prefer, is my attempt to make that invisible yield visible.
It measures how much real life each hour of work buys you as well as calibrates the quality of your life units spent in various parts of the world. Think of it as the hourly profit margin of your life. It tells you how much disposable freedom you produce for every hour sold.
Think of it as the hourly profit margin of your life.
Two people can earn identical incomes yet live in completely different worlds.
One might make $200,000 in New York, work seventy-hour weeks, and spend nearly everything on rent, transport, and convenience. Another might make $70,000 in Lisbon, work thirty-five hours, and spend a third as much. On paper, the first looks more successful. In reality, the second owns more life per unit of time.
Here’s a simple illustration:
A New Yorker earning $10,000 a month after tax, spending $7,000 to survive, and working 240 hours has a Freedom Yield of $12.50/hour.
A Lisboeta earning $6,000, spending $2,500, and working 160 hours achieves $21.90.
Here I’ve provided an example for Sydney, using the median value for Monthly net income, expenses and hours worked according to the statistics bureau.
The FY calibrates these key financial values to allow comparison between various economic opportunities around the world and how much relative freedom they provide.
You can use sites like Numbeo or your LLM of choice to get estimates of the cost of living in most places around the world and plug it into the formula to give you an idea of whether that big move is going to add or subtract from your economic and time freedom.
But that is only part of the equation..
The Quality Factor (QF)
But not every hour of “free” time feels the same.
One might gain a lot more economic and time freedom working from Playa Venao, Panamá, for example, but those surplus hours and dollars may not be as enjoyable to spend in the same place.
That’s where the Quality Factor comes in: a simple way to measure how much life or enjoyment a given location adds to your freedom yield.
It’s the bridge between numbers and experience.
It is also impossible to objectify, however the QF is my attempt to calibrate - as best one might - the difference in quality between the time spent in various locations.
Interpretation
FY tells you how much time freedom you buy.
QF tells you how enjoyable that time is likely to be.
In my model I weight the scores evenly and you can search most places around the world and get a consensus number using sites such as: Numbeo etc.
Putting the two together, you can have a crude, but useful tool in evaluating options of where may be best for you in this ever changing world.
Feel free to swipe it and adapt it to your own needs and form your own database here
(Just make a copy and get to work)
Hopefully this essay was helpful and resonated with you.
If you like these short, left-field takes, please do leave a comment.
And if you’re serious about levelling up your freedom you must check out my mastermind waitlist below!
Until next time - All the best and due your own due diligence.
Benjamin
Disclaimer: This publication is intended solely for documenting my personal journey with trading and investments for income and travel purposes. I am not a certified financial advisor nor am I a financial professional and none of the content provided should be construed as investment advice. It is essential to conduct your own thorough research and consult a registered financial service provider for appropriate guidance. I cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented. Any actions taken based on the information shared in any of my work are done at your own risk and discretion
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