Financial Freedom means having zero tie-ins to anything financial. It includes your income, debt and expenses, lifestyle. It is of little matter how people perceive the meaning differently. Rather, it is more crucial to understand how to act based on your financial situation.
Loan Free
Being debt-free should not be confused with being financially well off. If you are only debt free, you still have to work in order to pay for your basic expenses and taxes. In order to achieve financial freedom, the first thing we have to ask ourselves is what does it take to be debt free?
Income & Expenses
Assume you purchased a car without any loans required, it does not imply you are financially debt free.
There are other factors to take account of like servicing & other maintenance costs, fuel costs, repairs etc. Moreover, this is just a car. Think of other factors also. Your expenses must be well managed to achieve this goal.
If expense is greater than income, you are far from being free from anything.
Financial Assets
Financial assets are financial tools that will generate annual cash flow for you. These assets can be pension, shares, bonds and mutual funds. You can get dividends from shares, receive regular payments from your bonds or mutual funds.
For retired individuals, they can enjoy the benefits of EPF, PPF, PMVVY(Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana)
Conclusion
It’s easy to sell a story of being financially free. You may have heard several discussion or lectures on the importance of generating ‘passive income’ and ‘self generating money’ tools.
Feel good stories sell the best and people buy into this.
Investments and savings are good, but as with most things in life, they come with risks like inflation.
In great books, being financially free does not equate to wealth accumulation but rather your lifestyle.
Live within your means, plan for the future and consider the role of inflation while calculating financial freedom. We might be of help.
Artharthi 