I Didn’t Qualify. But I Know I’m Free.
July 2025
I don’t “qualify” for a mortgage right now.
Not because I’m irresponsible.
Not because I’m in debt.
Not because I don’t understand money.
But because I live outside the system.
I receive structured repayments from a legal settlement—$1.4M over five years.
I have over half a million dollars in liquid assets.
I manage a diversified, growing portfolio of stocks I chose myself.
I’ve designed my financial ecosystem with precision and heart.
But the system doesn’t recognize any of that.
They want W-2s.
They want twelve months of history.
They want what they know how to measure.
And I don’t live in that world anymore.
Five days before the COVID crash, I pulled everything out of the market.
Not because someone told me to.
Because I knew.
Because I could feel it in my body.
And I’ve done it again, and again.
More often than not, I beat the average investor.
Not through strategy. Through sovereignty.
It’s taken years to separate truth from fear.
To stop handing over my power to people who made me doubt what I already knew.
To stop seeking permission to trust myself with money.
I’m not asking anymore.
I live with a man who sees me.
Who knows that I’ve got us.
Who doesn’t need to track every trade or hold the reins to feel safe.
I run the numbers.
I track the rhythms.
I listen to the field.
I’m not reckless—I’m relational. With reality. With resources. With truth.
Yes, it still stings when the system says “no.”
That old conditioning—am I doing something wrong?—still flares.
But it fades faster now.
Because I’ve walked myself back to center too many times to lose the thread.
I know what’s real.
I know what works.
And no, I didn’t qualify for a mortgage.
But I qualify for this life.
This freedom.
This love.
And I trust that what’s meant for me will come.
It always does.
~Stephanie