If you have been looking in the personal finance section of  your local library or bookstore, you probably noticed the buzz word used in most books is “financial freedom”. You can find all kinds of book that tell you to pay off your debt quickly, manage your budget like a expert or how to earn extra money. But the ultimate goal of all those personal finance books is the same: “how to achieve financial freedom”. We once sought out absolution for our past sins to earn our place in paradise. Now, the newest deity is sitting on the throne of financial freedom.

All right, I am exaggerating a bit but seriously financial independence has been one of the most popular personal finance topics for many financial gurus. Regardless if you are a fan of Dave Ramsey, Robert Kyosaki or Suze Orman, you are first and foremost a fan of financial freedom.

Why do we want financial freedom so badly?

My take would be that we are looking for financial independence because this is the ultimate definition of freedom in our capitalist society. If you have enough money to pay off your debt, ensure a decent lifestyle and you don’t have to worry about how you will earn your money next week, next month, next year; then you are free to do just about whatever you want.

I look at some of my clients who are retired with a huge pension plan and this is exactly where they live; financial freedom. They are 55-60, working part time on contract at generous rates, receiving their big pension on a monthly basis and doing whatever they like most of the time.

Well this kind of financial freedom won’t happen to you and me!

Big fat pension plan? Government social security? Come on people, stop dreaming and start thinking about your own retirement plan. Major companies are cutting down on their generous pension plans since they are very expensive (just look at how GM is deep in it  because of their employee benefits). Financial freedom was once assured by the government, then by employers, but from now on, financial freedom will have to come from each individual.

How do you reach financial freedom then?

The sooner you open your eyes, the faster you will achieve financial freedom.

_{»crosslinked«}

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

• Weekly Round-Up: Summer Olympics Edition Photo Credit: striatic The 2008 Summer Olympics have started and it already has been full of headlines. China commands early lead on Olympic medal table American murdered in Beijing as Olympics kick off Phelps sets Olympic mark in Beijing debut U.S.-China rivalry just beginning I'm a fan of gymnastics......
• Free Money Tools for Young Adults Good Morning Green Panda Friends.  If your personal finances are less than perfect then we are here to help you with some easy steps to organize your finances.  Very often we discuss the goals we are working towards and the steps we need to take to achieve our goals. ......

• Strong Personal Finance Articles from this Week (Palm Pre Edition) I was lucky enough to be able to buy a Palm Pre this Saturday. Well, it turns out I didn't have to be that lucky. There were 54 people in line at 8AM when Sprint opened. They had 55 phones. Someone came by at 8:05 and grabbed the last reservation......
• Personal Finance Links (How To Fix a Yard Sale Edition) Earlier this month, I said that I was exploring two new business ideas. I'd like to announce the first today. Earlier this week, I've started posting, How To Fix. I stumbled on the availability of the HowToFix.org while just doing some typical searches for cool domains. I was pretty surprised......