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       CHAPTER FOUR

       Financial Freedom

       FINANCIAL FREEDOM

      The freedom (and the desire) to choose, based on responsibility and understanding of the framework of abilities and economic possibilities at any given moment.

      The Knowledge and Tools to Make the Right Choices

      When the value Financial Freedom came to me, it came from deep within myself. Personally, it was not an expression that I had ever heard before that point, but since developing and sharing the Doing Good Model, I have come to realize that “financial freedom” has become quite a common phrase in North America.

      This vision came to me because I am always looking for ways to create positive change in everything that I do. In this case, for years I had been contemplating my controlling stake in Bank Hapoalim. What could I do to bring added value in the world of finance? Although I had managed to instill quite a few positive values in the bank when I was on its board, I felt that much more was needed in order to make a real difference in the actions of the bank and the way those actions are perceived by the public.

      It has always bothered me that I was part of something that people in general seemed to hate so much. I realize some people had good reasons for distrusting or hating banks, like losing their homes, cars, or businesses, for example.

      I felt empathy for people who were up to their ears with loans that they had trouble paying back. Personally, I wanted no part of this, but here I was owning a bank. I kept racking my brain to figure out how I could turn this around. Then it came to me—we could do it by creating financial freedom.

      It was the perfect answer to my burning question: what good could a financial institution do for people, its employees, and its clients? The answer was to educate them on how to create financial freedom for themselves!

      That’s what we set out to do: find a way to give everyone we could the awareness, the education, and the tools to make wiser choices. Our goal was to help individuals better understand their finances, their paychecks, and their actual expenses, and show them ways they could balance it all more efficiently to create their own growth and prosperity.

      Financial Freedom Is for Everyone

      Financial freedom is a value that is not just applicable to individuals. The concepts work just the same for families, companies, and non-profit organizations. For any person or group with financial concerns, we as a financial institution developed tools to help everyone become responsible and make the changes that need to be made. We understand that the responsibility lies on the financial institution, its employees, and the client; everyone has a part in creating positive solutions for complex problems.

      Our approach to financial freedom offers a concrete way to deal with finances that has been proven to work at virtually all levels of life, whether it is personal or for business and organizations. It works because when you are mindful, responsible, and educated about what you have, then you can do the best you can with the resources you do have, be they modest or plentiful. Once you know and understand your financial situation, you can make the right decisions and choices that will open you up to a prosperous life, while living within the framework of what you have.

      We have all seen the results of individuals, companies, and even countries that have not acted in responsible financial ways. The outcome and effects of their actions spin out and affect a much broader scope than just themselves. Unfortunately, these effects have created negative impacts. But your life and your business don’t have to go down that road, and this value was developed to illustrate a better path. The good news is that with proper information, education, and tools, you can reach your own financial freedom.

      Changing the Mindset

      So once I had this realization many years ago, I believed this vision could be a win-win. I would be able to stay true to my own personal values, while the bank could help people at the same time. But the general feeling about banks was still deeply negative. I knew people in general tend to blame their bank when bad financial things happen to them; I guess that can be easier sometimes than looking at how their own decisions might have contributed to their losses.

      I also knew from experience that people don’t tend to look at banks the same way they look at other retail products or services they might purchase. It always boggled my mind that the mark-up on clothing or shoes might be 100% to 300% or more, and yet people still buy those items without a moment’s thought about the actual cost to produce and deliver the item. Yet when it comes to paying a bank for the services it provides, people very often don’t want to pay anything at all.

      Clearly, we had several rather big challenges to overcome if we wanted to shift people’s thinking about this, both within the bank itself as well as in the minds of our employees and customers. I wanted everyone to benefit from the shift.

      But how could such deeply held views be changed? I felt the only way to really change these views was to create real transformation and help people realize that we are all in this together. We needed to approach this as a partnership where both sides are taking responsibility; we needed to create a win-win for both the customers and the bank so we could all prosper.

      That’s how my idea of introducing the value of Financial Freedom came about. My management team at Arison Investments encouraged the bank with my vision, and the bank acted on this by finding ways

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