There are many aspects of financial freedom, and I am going to touch a few of them because it serves my purpose to help you define your economic independence. Simply put, to be financial independent means to have no need to perform any work to gain money. It’s not simple and some might think it is impossible. In fact it could be easier than we think.
Why do we need financial freedom? Everyone has their own reasons. I, for example, don’t like to be required to go to work. If you gave me the choice I would probably do it anyway because I like to work. Some people don’t like to interact with other people. Some of us hate the commuting, or the bus driver’s strike, or we are pure and simple lazy. Being financially independent means you don’t have to go to work if you don’t want to. You don’t work for an employer but you don’t work for yourself either. You only work if you wish to.
How independent can you be? That is a very important question, because not everybody can be totally financial free and more important not immediately. Sometimes that can take years. Not everybody wins the Lottery Jackpot and not everybody inherits a fortune. You follow an investment plan and at 65 you can retire. That’s a little too much to wait, isn’t it? What about an economic crisis like the one that just hit? You could lose all your investments. In fact some people lost a lot of money in this period.
What if we could retire now, or in a couple of years? What would it be like to work one or two days per week? Or work one week and take off three? For me, either of variants sounds fantastic. I could choose my own hours and week days to work, avoid traffic, avoid interaction with people I don’t like, avoid making useless reports, or I could even afford to be lazy.
I personally don’t look at financial freedom as a way to stop doing anything. That wouldn’t be healthy for me anyway. I look at it as a way to improve the quality of my life. When I first started to think about it I made a list with things that I wanted to improve in my life and things that would make me happy. Then based on this list I created a plan.
Everyone has their own priorities and personal needs. For me, for example, a mountain trip is more important that driving an expensive car. Define your needs, create your plan and stick to it. Ask for your family’s and friends’ help to attain your goal. Associate with people who share your ideas, it’s a lot easier to win in a team that alone. People are social beings; your weaknesses could be your associate’s strength. Do not discourage if the things aren’t working from the first time. Do not bet too much on a business idea if you are not sure if it’s going to work. Find ways to test your product/idea before spending too much on it. Do not start a business if you don’t know how to do it, read as much as you can, work for someone who did it and experiment live, take training for that.
