9-5: A Permanent Slave Route or the Complete Path to Financial Independence for the Masses?

The term 9-5 has become popular over the past years especially due to the rise of the internet and how widespread many people now access to. There doesn’t seem to be a fixed meaning for it, various meanings exist but two stand out and are most popular online.

Firstly, 9-5 can mean working from 9am-5pm for five days in the week i.e. Monday to Friday. This seems mostly true in the West especially with regards to the Americans. It goes like this; you wake up at say 5am, take your shower, breakfast and get dressed for work. You leave home by 7am so you don’t get delayed on the road and arrive at your workplace roughly around 8:30am to 9am. You do this consecutively for five working days.

The other side looks at it this way, basically working from morning to evening. There’s no clearly universally defined timeframe. Some can begin as early as 7am to maybe 3pm, others can be 8am to 4pm. It just depends on local conditions. This is mostly true for places in the Global South especially Africa. In Africa, work usually starts in the morning then closing comes in the evening.

The 9-5 in poor countries can be viewed as far more stressful and intimidating than in the developed parts of the world. Why is this so? Several factors count for this. To begin with, several countries in the Global South lack effective systems in place to ensure a comfortable living for its people. Traffic especially is a mess; workers spend hours daily commuting to and from work. Imagine spending 3-4 hours in traffic just to get to work and doing same on your way back home. That’s frustration pro-max on your part.

There are reports on online about workers in some countries having to be up by 3am just to make sure they don’t get late for work. Picture cities like Lagos in Nigeria, Accra in Ghana, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Cairo in Egypt and the list goes on and on. These cities have varying levels of high traffic daily. It’s just a nightmare scenario for workers who find themselves here daily.

Now to the big question; is 9-5 a permanent slave route or a complete path to financial independence? It depends on who you ask, it’s more like people on the political divide, everyone gives different answers based on factors like history or what they’ve seen. And no, you can’t fault anyone for holding a particular view, our lives are basically different so it makes sense.

To the average Joe on the street, 9-5 is a surefire way of having a comfortable life and possibly climbing the social ladder. He doesn’t see any other way apart from that. Can we blame him for having a scarcity or small mindset? No, he’s obviously speaking from what he has seen and experienced.

Let’s flip that to someone who has been consuming tons of self-development and motivational videos online. The answer will be a resounding NO! They will vehemently refuse any explanation or reason to see why the path to financial freedom can come from 9-5. Can they be faulted for this? The answer remains a no. They’ve seen the online gurus like Andrew Tate, Tai Lopez, Robert Kiyosaki and the likes pouring out same content every time on why you can never make it through 9-5.

The general consensus among online gurus and their followers is that one needs to start and scale up a business or invest like their life depends on it. Here’s the sad or depressing truth; most people are not cut out to be business owners. They lack the foresight, strength, endurance and mindset to run a business successfully. Just reading a book or listening to podcasts on why you should start a business isn’t going to magically make you a good business owner.

Multiple studies have shown that 90% of businesses usually collapse within the first five years of being established. It’s not a coincidence, remember humans are humans after all. Just take a look around your neighborhood, can you recall the number of businesses still standing from your childhood days? Yeah, you have your answer.

Salary is the antidote to the masses money issues. This isn’t to say it’s the best, but it’s the most appropriate for this. You cannot build or maintain more than your mental capacity; this is where most people fall short. If you have a weak mindset or you’re one easy to manipulate emotionally or mentally, guess what; your chances of building and growing a business is basically zero.

Ask many business owners and they will tell you the uncomfortable truth; it’s not child’s play to start and keep a business in operation. You need to be ready to face and defeat uncertainties, chaos and financial manipulation from close family and friends who feel entitled to your business earnings. And let’s not forget that sometimes sales drop, you struggle to even keep the business afloat, maybe even have issues with the law; it’s just a long list of issues 90% of people are not built to handle.

Earning a regular paycheck is the realistic option for the masses. Why? The money is constant and you can plan your life around it. You spend sleepless nights wondering when your next income will come from. You know that at the end of the month you will be receiving something in exchange for your services.

A little diversion here to look at the larger picture. Every economy needs a strong civil service and working population, without that all you will have is economic chaos. This is necessary to keep an economy working and preserve sanity in the country. If you dispute this, just look at countries where the civil service is mainly inactive due to various reasons especially conflict; Ukraine, Yemen, Ethiopia, Sudan etc.

There’s a twist here, just the mere fact that you earn salary does not mean you will be financially free or doomed for life; it all depends on how you play the financial game. There are many ways you can do to still live a dignified life even as 9-5 worker. Let’s look at them, shall we?

Budgeting

You should have a plan on how to spend your paycheck when it comes in. Don’t just spend without making a financial plan as if there’s no tomorrow. Put money aside in various categories; rent, utilities, food, clothing, savings, investment etc. This helps you to keep track of how much and where you are spending on.

Avoid Lifestyle Inflation

Well, we are now here on something that stealthily erases any increased income workers get. Lifestyle Inflation simply talks about upgrading or spending more when your paycheck increases. Let’s say you earn $1400 monthly and spend it all, when your paycheck rises to $2000, you also increase your various expenses to match the increased $600. It is a silent trap that keeps many workers grappling with financial issues. Learn to keep your spending in check, don’t rush to increase your expenditure when you have an increase in pay.

Investment

Just like we eat fruits and plant the seeds, same should also be done for our money. You’re not supposed to spend everything that comes in; set aside a portion of your income to invest in various investment vehicles. If you don’t have the stomach to take big risks, you can invest in mutual funds, treasury bills etc. The Stock Market is another option to build long term for yourself.

Avoid Comparisons

You’ve heard the saying “If you don’t earn like them then don’t spend like them.” You are playing a different financial game to your neighbors or colleagues. Don’t try to match their lifestyle; that’s a recipe for financial Chernobyl. Responsibilities on both sides are different; heck some even have parents still supporting them unlike you who have to shoulder everything.

This post isn’t telling you not to start a business, it’s telling you that it’s not everyone that’s cut out to start and run one. Know yourself and do what’s best for you. If you have the mental fortitude, mindset and strength to run a business, why not, you can do it. Owning a business can be a sweet and fulfilling experience if you are able to scale the heights of uncertainties surrounding it.