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What is Financial Freedom?
Nowadays, FIRE - Financial Independence & Retire Early are becoming a widespread movement among young people, especially Generation Z (Gen Z).
As a Gen Z member who has pursued FIRE for 4 years, I will summarize and share the basic ideas of financial freedom and the essentials we need to prepare if we want to embark on this journey.
Below are the 3 big questions I will answer in this article:
Now, let's dig in!
What is Financial Freedom?
Let's reflect on what would happen if money was no longer a concern for us?
How would you feel if every morning when you wake up, you didn't have to worry about getting to work on time, paying the monthly bills, or even preparing for your post-retirement life?
What do you think about living a life that you truly dream of?
Everyone has their own dreams. Some people want to start their own business. Some want to research inventions that can change humanity. Some want to shop to their heart's content. Others want to travel the world...
No matter what your dream is, how would you feel if every morning when you wake up, you knew that you had enough money not only to cover your basic needs for the rest of your life, but also to comfortably live your dreams?
The truth is, we will still work until we die. But it will no longer be the 8-hour-a-day jobs where we endure complaints from bosses and coworkers just to earn a few dollars to cover basic living needs. Instead, it will be the work we do with passion, enthusiasm, and love. We will work because we want to, not because we have to.
That is financial freedom!
Why Should We Achieve Financial Freedom?
Simply because financial freedom is the gateway to many other freedoms.
Everyone in life has their own issues. Take a moment to think about this question:
How many of your biggest problems could be solved with money?
There's a harsh truth for majority:
Most of our biggest problems... can be solved with money.
If you have enough money, you can quit the jobs you dislike.
If you have enough money, you can use the best healthcare services for yourself and your loved ones.
If you have enough money, you can live anywhere you want (of course, legalities are involved, but the main reason we are tied to where we live is because of the jobs that sustain us).
And if I have enough money, maybe I won't have everything. But it will make it easier for me to chasing my dreams.
That's why I'm so eager to achieve financial freedom. And I also encourage everyone to reach this milestone!
How to Achieve Financial Freedom Quickly?
First, you need to know that the journey to financial freedom is a long one. So, there are two key factors you must develop if you want to conquer this journey:
Personal finance management skills
Perseverance
If you participate in a game (the financial freedom journey) without knowing its rules (personal finance management skills), you might win a few rounds thanks to luck, but 99% of the time, you will lose the long-term campaign. So, master the rules, accept some small defeats, and persist in planning to win the entire long-term campaign.
You can refer to my post about setting up a personal finance system and my post on perseverance.
Second, if you want to achieve financial freedom quickly, you must invest time and effort in learning investment knowledge and skills. There's no free lunch. If you want to speed up your financial freedom journey, you have to trade off (but the rewards for this trade are well worth it).
Here are some of my posts on my investment strategies that you can refer to:
However, remember that all my investment strategies are derived from books and personal experiences. So, they may not work for you (and I will not be responsible if you encounter any issues by copying my methods).
Finally, the ultimate goal of achieving financial freedom is to give us a happier life. Therefore, learn to be grateful and satisfied with what you already have.
The amount of money needed to reach financial freedom is calculated based on your daily expenses. If you are someone who always wants everything and is never satisfied with what you have, then no amount of money can help you achieve financial freedom. On the contrary, if you clearly define what makes your life happy, you will know where the stopping point is on your financial freedom journey, and it will be an achievable goal.
The more grateful and satisfied you are with what you already have, the closer the milestone of financial freedom will be.
Bottom lines
In this article, I have answered the three big questions:
I hope that with what I have shared, you now have a clearer idea of the journey we're about to take. If you want to continue on the path to finding this freedom, check out my post on setting up a personal finance system.
Thank you for reading my post!
Kim,