Have You Reached the Three Freedoms to Financial Independence?

Are you familiar with the financial independence movement (FI)? To me, financial independence meant to be financially responsible for all aspects of my life. This includes generating enough income to live independently without relying on contributions from others such as a spouse, a parent, payments from alimony, or even if born into wealth. My theory is you never know when that money would all be gone so it is better to rely on one’s self.

My first taste of this life came when I got my first job out of college. I had a student loan and a car loan and lived within my means at $1200/month. Life was GOOD!

A few years later, I attended graduate school, got married and had children. It took me ten years to find a job in my career, which was part-time. My husband’s job was at constant risk of budget cuts and lay-offs yet we managed to live frugally and eliminate debt, including a mortgage after 17 years of marriage. The only problem: I was not earning enough to support myself (or a family) if anything should happen.

Then something did happen. I divorced. And I was unemployed. During the recession. Unthanks to ageism and the economy, there were no jobs to be had.

Yet I didn’t care—too much. This was my chance to become truly independent and to fulfill my version of financial independence.

Which isn’t easy.

Entrepreneurship is not a get rich quick strategy. My first year as a creative entrepreneur (copywriter) earned me $685; a far cry from supporting myself. Additionally, I received a divorce settlement, and lived with roommates to make ends meet. While this arrangement contradicted my FI goal, I made sure my work and activity contributed to my vision of financial independence.

Through my practices, I discovered FI communities striving or thriving within their own vision of financial independence. This led to my recent participation as a guest panelist on the What’s Up Next Podcast, discussing Divorce and Financial Independence. Here’s the link to the show.

Additionally, participants in the FI movement have variations of the definition. Here are a few derived from friends within the financial bloggers community (FINCON):

Becoming financially independent from parents and becoming financially independent from work. –Vicki Cook at Womenwhomoney.com

FIRE stands for “financial independence, retire early”, and it’s kind of like a trust fund that you create for yourself. Financial Independence means you have enough money that you could stop working, and never run out of money, regardless of how old you live to be. –Sarah Hamelman Jones at Diamondsndenimblog.com

Financial independence means you no longer need to trade life energy for money. You’re free to spend your time as you want. –Doug Nordman, theMilitaryGuide.com

Financial Independence: the ability to work on what you want, when you want, where you want with who you want. –Nick Poussin, thePennyNinja.com.

Regardless of one’s definition of financial independence, FI can be summarized as three freedoms:

• Freedom from debt
• Freedom from reliance on others
• Freedom from work

In order to acquire these freedoms we must put in time, energy, and strategy. If your goals is to be debt free, what habits must you adopt in order to make that happen? Frugal living, smart spending, rethinking lifestyle, and paying off credit cards sooner rather than later are all effective measures to reach this goal.

If you choose to be independent of an employer, what does that look like for you? Will you need to make investments that provide a passive income? Or is it contributing fully to a 401k, an IRA, or other investments?

To be free from reliance on others, this may include moving out, finding roommates, taking on a side gig, and living a more frugal lifestyle.

Words of advice: define your version of FI and create a strategy for financial success. Start small and start now then keep the process moving forward.

I don’t have the answers but I have experienced financial struggles with all three freedoms. The toughest has been freedom from reliance on others. While I am extremely grateful for support, my goal is to know I can fully support myself.

The best part of FI: every step made toward financial independence has given me great satisfaction, confidence, and the knowledge that I will succeed.

You can too!

Which of the financial freedoms do you struggle with?

Kristen Edens

photo credit: Skitterphoto from pexels