What is the meaning of financial freedom? What does financial freedom mean to you?
Is it the freedom to quit your job? Or maybe the freedom to pick up and travel anywhere, anytime? Maybe you just want enough to be comfortable.
Financial freedom means different things to different people…
- As a young adult it could mean independence from mom and dad’s purse strings.
- As a working parent, it could mean the choice to stay home with your child.
- At any age it could mean not having any debt.
- It could mean being able to travel as much as you want.
- As a senior, it could mean never having to worry about your retirement.
But whatever their definition, wouldn’t it be fantastic to have what you view as financial freedom!?
Traditionally we are raised believing we need a college education, a job and a car. Then get married, buy a house, have kids, get a pet.
Get a better job, make more money, buy your dream house, send your kids to college.
Then miraculously, at 65, you retire with enough money to relax and do all the things you were waiting to do.
That’s the dream isn’t it? Or is it? Is it even possible?
Unfortunately, “living the dream” usually just puts us in a pile of debt we struggle all our lives to climb out of.
By the way, this is where I learned how to achieve my own financial freedom.
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Contents
Definition of Financial Freedom
Interestingly enough, Wikipedia defines it as Financial Independence…
“Financial independence is a term used to describe the status of having enough income to pay one’s living expenses for the rest of one’s life without having to be employed or dependant on others.”
Yet not everyone’s idea of financial freedom is to have an abundance of money and wealth. You need to find your own definition. That’s the only way you’re going to figure out how to get there.
When talking to various people in my life, I discovered many ideas of financial freedom. These are just some quotes from people of all ages:
- I’m already there. With hard work and perseverance, I’ve followed my life plan. I live paycheque to paycheque, and pay everything with cash. I have peace of mind because I have no debt hanging over me….53 years old.
- We have enough to pay the bills, put food on the table, and gas in the car. We’re happy….68 years old.
- For me it’s when I get to the point where I can do what I enjoy every day, without worrying about the money running out…32 years old.
- When all my credit cards and mortgage are paid off, that’s when I’ll be financially free…45 years old.
- Financial freedom to me is when I can provide for my family and still spend quality time with them…28 years old.
What Does It Mean To You And Me?
For myself, this was something I started thinking of later in life. When I was first married, we both worked so money wasn’t an issue.
Then the kids came and we decided to sacrifice my income so I could stay home with them.
I truly believe it was easier to do this back then than it is now. Or maybe we were just happy to do without all the toys and things.
But these day, it’s almost impossible for a young family to live on one income. At least in North America. The living costs are too high, and general wages aren’t usually enough.
Everyone wants to own a house, some credit cards, have two cars, and expensive toys for the weekends.
But as my husband and I started getting closer to retirement, we realized we wouldn’t have enough saved to live on. And senior government assistance helps, but is nowhere near enough.
Our financial advisor once told us how much we would need to invest for our retirement, and that proved to be insufficient, lol. And with two stock market crashes since then, we’ve lost quite a lot and not recovering fast enough.
Poor financial planning on our part…
Unfortunately, there are too many who aren’t on track for their retirement goals either. If they’re young enough, they can change their habits and adjust their course.
But those of us near retirement don’t have the luxury of time!
I believe we need to remember that this is something anyone can achieve with planning and discipline. This isn’t just something for the rich.
It also doesn’t have to come all at once. We can gain this freedom in increments, as we work towards the later part of our lives.
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The Traditional Stages Of Financial Freedom
This isn’t necessarily something you obtain at a certain point in time. It can be broken down into four stages.
No Freedom
This is usually in your twenties when you’re just starting off on our own. You rely on that monthly paycheque to pay your bills. Without it, you’d be defaulting on your expenses and possibly running to your parents for help.
Some Freedom
This is probably in your thirties and forties. (Don’t forget, I’m just generalizing here…) You’re hopefully spending less than you earn, and are investing your savings for the future.
You’ve taken the steps you need to lower your debt. You might have started your own business on the side, from a hobby or passion, to create a new income stream.
More Freedom
Through hard work and perseverance, you now have enough saved up that you feel secure switching jobs, going back to school, or doing those things you couldn’t afford earlier in life.
You probably have a side business bringing in another income stream. Though this is still work, it’s something you enjoy doing and find fulfilling.
Total Freedom
At this point you no longer need a paycheque from an employer. Your investments and/or side businesses are providing enough income to pay all your expenses. Now you have choices!
Do You Desire Financial Freedom?
I’m sure you do. We all do at some stage. It means having enough passive income to spend freely, on many choices.
You need to ask yourself a few questions that will hopefully prompt you to take the necessary steps towards being financially free.
- Are you happy with your current lifestyle?
- Do you enjoy your job and find personal satisfaction in what you do?
- Do you spend the amount of quality time you’d like to with your family?
- If money wasn’t an issue, what would you be doing right now?
If you answer honestly, these questions should reflect your desire to be financially free. Unless you’re one of the fortunate ones whose work is their passion, you need to make an active change in your life.
There are different ways to do this. For example, you can seek a promotion or change jobs to something with a higher wage.
You can reduce your spending to lower your debt. You can adjust your investment portfolio to a higher risk, higher benefit scenario.
Or you can create additional income streams to supplement your income.
Personally I found additional income streams to be the fastest way forward, with my own online business.
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Do You Mean Getting A Second Job?
No, I mean starting your own online business, that you can work on from home.
Think about something you enjoy talking about. Are people always asking you about a certain topic? It could be something you’re knowledgable about.
For that matter, it could be something you want to become an expert in!
No matter what product, service, or topic you want to build your business around, there are endless ways you can create an income from this.
As an example, my income comes from advertisements on my blogs (Adsense) and from affiliate links. This is what’s known as affiliate marketing.
And with this extra income, you can answer the above four questions the way you possibly wished you could.
- With additional income, your current lifestyle could change dramatically in your favor.
- Because your business should be a hobby or passion, you’ll get personal satisfaction in doing it.
- When you’re business gets successful enough that you can quit your day job, you’ll have more quality time with your family.
- And finally, with the money you could make, you have the choice to do whatever you wish. Early retirement anyone!!
Yes, it’s all possible. It doesn’t mean you can make money overnight. It’s takes dedication and persistence to build your business up. But when you do, you can repeat the process many times, and achieve many income streams.
I know owners of online businesses making thousands of dollars each week and more. Many have quit their day jobs, and work full time from home.
Some create 3 or 4 websites in popular niches. They write content that people want to read, and attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each month. With traffic like this, all their income comes from advertisements. They don’t even sell anything!
Other’s hire freelance workers to manage their businesses, so they can truly have the freedom they desire.
The sky’s the limit. The great thing is that you are in control of your own schedule.
I found this video quite inspiring. If you have 6 minutes, please listen to what Brian Tracey has to say.
I know he’s talking generally, but if you apply all his techniques to building an online business, it can help your success dramatically.
But I Don’t Have Any Online Skills!
Don’t worry. I didn’t at first either. None!
The basic steps are to find your niche, build a website, find a product or service to promote, blog using keywords, and voila. You’re up and running.
OK, just kidding. But I can show you where you can go to learn all these steps and so much more.
I would love for you to come and see where I learned how to create my own successful business, and where I run it to this day.
This platform has everything you need under one roof. No need to search online for more training and tools. It’s all there for you.
Here’s some of what they offer:
- Training – Step by step courses, classrooms, tutorials, and live weekly webinars.
- A domain registry – An easy way to find the perfect name for your business.
- A website builder – With over 4,000 WordPress themes to choose from.
- Website hosting – With powerful servers, security, backups, and emails, and more.
- A keyword research tool – Find low-competition keywords for the best ranking.
- A large and active LIVE community – They always have your back!
- And much more…
I’ve been there since 2011, and I love it! Actually, it the community that keeps me there. They have over 1.5 million members worldwide, and the community is always busy. I’ve made friends worldwide now.
And what if I told you that you can start for free…
And the owners, who you meet and interact with whenever you wish, are so confident in their platform, that they allow you to start with a FREE starter membership. No credit card necessary.
There’s really no other place like this online today!
If you click on the image below, you can read all about it. And when you join, I’ll be there to greet you and help you as long as you need me. See you soon!
So what would you like to do if money weren’t an option? I’d love to hear from you.
If you have any comments or questions, just leave them below and I’ll get right back to you.
And if you know of anyone else how desires financial freedom, please share this post.
Your friend,
Suzanne
Suzanne,
I think financial freedom is the goal for so many of us. Starting an online business is certainly a start to that goal. I like Wikipedia’s definition of financial Independence.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Yes, it’s something we think about, especially as we get older, lol. I’m glad you enjoyed the article. With your own online business, reaching financial independence gets closer each day!
Cheers,
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne. This is an easy and very thoughtful read. It connects well and got me thinking about a lot of issues I’m working on. It gave me some ideas!
I too get great benefits from using Wealthy Affiliate as a training community.
Hi Dianne,
It’s so good to know you’re a fellow Wealthy Affiliate member. They are amazing aren’t they? They offer so much for such a small fee. And I know the benefit of being successful at your business is their sole concern. I wish you all the best.
Cheers,
Suzanne
My first experience of what financial freedom looks like was with my father’s aunt. She would just buy a car when she wants, buy a new house in a different neighborhood if she no longer likds her present neighborhood and so without any pressure at all..
And I always thought that it was so cool for someone to just do that effortlessly, I think that’s where my definition of financial freedom comes from. The only thing was that she did years of hard work and she did not get to really enjoy her financial freedom until she was in her late 70s. So I was always figuring out how be like her but only younger.
Hi Oneil,
You certainly can be like that, at a younger age, if you start now. The nice thing about building your own business, online, is earning those extra streams of income. When you succeed at one, just repeat the process and start another. This is where Wealthy Affiliate can help you. I wish you great success with your financial freedom!
Blessings,
Suzanne
I found this article very informative. My husband and I are in our 40’s. Your timeline matched up well. Our financial freedom was threatened by physical disabilities on my end. I turned to online business as a way to offset our loss there. WA was the answer that we needed to keep what we defined as financial freedom intact. Freedom even under obstacles, it was a great opportunity for me!
Hi Christina,
I so happy you chose Wealthy Affiliate. They will help you with your business goals so that no obstacle can get in the way. That’s whats so nice about online marketing. Most anyone can succeed at it.
Wishing you well,
Suzanne
Hello Suzanne,
Great thought-provoking article! Yes, freedom means a lot of different things to all of us…and then when we ‘tack’ another word on that word – it becomes something else.
I was introduced to Wealthy Affiliate a few months ago and I am finding my way through the courses and I am learning ‘tons’ of ways to make a presence online. Great tip!
Thanks so much, Suzanne and the best to you.
Michelle
Hi Michelle, and thanks for your comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. And I’m happy to hear you’ve joined Wealthy Affiliate. They have amazing courses, and will help you achieve success in no time. We all want financial freedom, no matter what it means to us.
Cheers,
Suzanne
For me, financial freedom is all about quality of life.
Ok, I suppose we would all like a new car, holidays, not have to work, but for me it is being able to go through life without worrying about money.
Just to know my bills are payed and I have food on the table for my family would be more than adequate for me.
Sometimes not having to worry is all the freedom people need.
Great information here.
Thank you
Chris
Hi Chris,
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Freedom from worry would improve everyone’s life. That’s why an extra income stream from your own online business can help. It doesn’t have to make you millions, just enough so that you’ve succeeded in reaching your goals.
Blessings,
Suzanne
How do I define My financial freedom? What a great question. I know that I define my not ever having to want for anything. – There you go! But I agree building an online business is more rewarding than anything I have ever done. And Wealthy Affiliate is where’s it at!
Hi Sean,
I think most people think that way, lol. And yes, it is rewarding having your own business, isn’t it. I’m glad you agree about Wealthy Affiliate. It’s the most all-inclusive platform I’ve found online.
Cheers,
Suzanne
This is a great article. A lot of people are working online, remotely. Whether it’s work from home, school, dating lol. I read your review and it’s very thorough so thank you for that. I started with Wealthy Affiliate a few months back and I am so glad I did. WA has the best training I have ever come across.
Thanks Viviana,
Having an online business is such an awesome way to earn extra income. And the fact that you can work from anywhere with an internet connection is such a bonus. You’re no longer tied to a desk at work, or 9-5 schedule for that matter. I’m so happy you chose WA for your training. It is truly the most complete training online.
Cheers,
Suzanne
I like how you break down financial freedom based on age. I never thought of it that way before. I’m mid 30’s and I am working on paying off debt. I hope to be able to do a lot of things with my family before I get to old. You are right, Wealthy Affiliate is the place to be.
Hi Joseph,
Yes, it’s amazing the different answers you get from different age groups. I’m sure my idea of financial freedom was much different in my 20’s and 30’s. But now as we near retirement, we just want to be free enough to live life comfortably and spoil our grandchildren haha. I hope you achieve your freedom much earlier. If you’re a member of Wealthy Affiliate, you’re definitely on your way.
Blessings,
Suzanne