The formula for financial freedom is indeed terrifyingly simple: get documentation → open an account → dollar-cost average into Q/VOO → wait for compound interest over time.

But what destroys this formula has never been its complexity—it's human nature.
VOO has a 0.03% fee ratio with 14.55% annualized returns over the past decade; Q has a 0.2% fee ratio with 19.61% annualized returns. The data is right there—you could invest with your eyes closed and still outperform 80% of retail traders.
Yet the vast majority can't pull it off. Not because they lack money, but because they can't endure it.
When the market drops 20%, you'll question whether you're an idiot; when it surges 50%, you suddenly feel like a genius and want to lever up and chase futures contracts. The most counterintuitive part of dollar-cost averaging is that it demands you keep buying during maximum panic and show restraint during maximum greed.
Even more brutal is that this path requires you to have the "exit ticket" first. Without a passport and overseas accounts, you don't even have an entry pass.
The greatest truths are the simplest; knowing is easy, doing is hard. The real barrier isn't IQ—it's mastering your own human nature.