I Asked ChatGPT To Explain Financial Freedom Like I’m 12 — Here’s What It Said

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Artificial intelligence can be a magical tool for all sorts of things, including financial literacy. While there are still a few bugs to be sorted out, and it’s not a 100% accurate answer generator, platforms like ChatGPT can be a useful tool for understanding big concepts.

GOBankingRates asked the AI tool to explain the concept of “financial freedom” as if they were addressing a 12-year-old, and here were the results:

Picture a Money Jar

First, ChatGPT offered an example to help illustrate how financial freedom works: “Imagine you have a magical money jar. Every time you want to buy something — like candy, games or go to the movies — you reach into your jar, and there’s always enough money there. You don’t need to ask your parents, worry about how much things cost or stress about getting more money.”

ChatGPT went on to describe that this is similar to financial freedom because it “means you have enough money saved or coming in (from a job, a business, or investments) that you don’t have to worry about paying for the things you need and want.”

Three Steps to Financial Freedom

In order to achieve financial freedom, ChatGPT laid out three simple steps. The first one involved earning money, which could be done by gaining an allowance from doing chores or setting up a small business, like a roadside lemonade stand.

The next step was to save some money instead of spending it all. Having a good amount of money available meant that there was more flexibility to do what you want with it. Lastly, it advocated that you should “invest some of it, like planting seeds that grow into money trees.”

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Money Grows With Time

Continuing the metaphor of planting and nurturing a money tree, ChatGPT explained that “Over time, those money trees grow big enough that they give you fruit (money) all the time — even when you’re not working.”

It was never fully explained if this was alluding to funds for a vacation, emergency savings for an unexpected hospital stay, or perhaps retirement after leaving the workforce. In any case, ChatGPT summed up the concept like this: “So financial freedom is like having enough money trees to take care of you, so you can do what you enjoy — without worrying about money all the time.”

“Cool, right? ????” it asked in conclusion. Very cool, ChatGPT.

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