This post has been sponsored by Wealthfront. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Scott and I have always been ambitious, hard workers, who believed in the value of experiences over things. We both went to top rated Universities, worked for Fortune 100 companies, and always held ourselves to a higher standard. Three and a half years ago, we started to question, “what were we actually working towards?” Was the work we were doing day in and day out fulfilling our souls? We were climbing the corporate ladder, but we weren’t satisfied with the direction that we were ascending.

We wanted to travel the world, tell stories, create, and lead a life filled with passion that could inspire others. Most importantly, we wanted to do it together and we didn’t want to wait until we were the “typical” retirement age to do so. With that same resolve that drove us to be top performers in the typical corporate world, we then turned that determination into exploring the actual globe. But first, we needed help planning our financial independence, which is why we turned to Wealthfront to help us manage our fiscal goals.

Initially, we traveled the world and built our business on a savings account that was built to buy a second home. At the chance of reaping big rewards, we took sizeable chances – all based on the fact that we were able to take smart risks that were quantified, measured, and feasible. Three and a half years later and we’re happy to say that we’ve built a successful business together that is based on our pure love for travel. Now it’s time to take a step back, create new financial and personal goals and we’re doing it all with the help of Wealthfront.

We’ve always believed in building a strong financial parachute for our dreams. When we first left for our seven-month (turned 18-month) around the world trip in 2015, we had over $40k in savings to work off of. We built an excel spreadsheet that detailed our daily spending that would ensure that we would never dip into debt. Over time, our business started to supplement and eventually form an entirely new source of income and savings. While our $40k was initially depleted in order to follow our dreams of world travel, it was eventually replenished and multiplied with income from our business. We saw the initial $40k as an investment in our happiness and our futures, but it turned into a much larger source of monetary and personal fulfillment.

Now that we have built a strong foundation for our business and we have another fiscal parachute, we are honing in our financial goals for 2019. Our two main goals are that we want to buy a second home – yes, the one that we were initially saving for nearly four years ago! Secondly, we want to be able to afford time to take time off to travel outside of work. As entrepreneurs, we are only paid when we’re working so it’s hard to take a day off. We don’t have a normal payday, a set schedule, or a boss to say “good job.” We want to be able to afford time off, both financially and mentally. In order to do this, we’re utilizing the expert knowledge of our financial planner at Wealthfront.

Ultimately, our goals in life are to have both creative and financial freedom. We want to be able to share amazing stories from our world travels, create a strong family unit that is financially stable and independent, and return to a home that we’ve created for ourselves in Hermosa Beach, California. Wealthfront is our all-in-one financial key that has replaced the archaic way of managing finances. Instead, we know that Wealthfront has put our financial dreams first, allowing us the financial freedom to take smart risks, and live a life of purpose. Let’s face it – money isn’t always sexy, especially when it comes to marriage. Wealthfront has allowed us to be objective and smart with our financial goals while also taking our emotional attachments into account.

Stay tuned right here on Roamaroo as we dig deeper into our financial goals for the New Year with Wealthfront. We want to inspire and teach you how to follow your dreams in 2019. Let’s do this!