FinancialEdge: Declare Your Own Financial Independence Day

As the Fourth of July should remind us all, independence is something worth fighting for. Independence means the ability to make your own decisions and live the way you choose to live. When it comes to financial independence, though, many people believe it is only a dream. Here's how to declare your own financial independence day. (To learn more, check out Two Roads: Debt Or Financial Independence?)

What Does "Independent" Mean?
There is no absolute definition for financial independence. The most common sense of the term is that someone has enough wealth to live as they wish for the rest of their life without having to work. This is a foggy definition, though - isn't picking a stock "work"? What about people who own a business and are not involved in day-to-day activities, but still step in for major decisions?

Here's a different definition - financial independence should mean the ability to live more or less as one wants to, within reasonable limits. It may not mean the absolute freedom to never work another day again, but it may mean the ability to quit a bad job, go back to school or start a new business without major sacrifice. Likewise, financial independence should mean the ability to deal with life's ups and downs without scrimping, sacrificing or going into debt.

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