Comments on: Why Financial Independence?

By: The Shark Investor

The Shark Investor — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:25:34 +0000

Nice post and great story. As for the financial independence, I am with Jim – the ability to say “no” to work and duties is what I seek. The ability to do whatever I want with my time – as the time is something we can’t produce.

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:23:29 +0000

Nice post. The best thing about financial independence is you have the ability to say “no.” As your post revealed, time is the most precious gift. I want to spend my short time on earth doing things I want to do, not “working for the man!”

By: b52

b52 — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:05:53 +0000

For me, it isn’t about financial independence so much as it’s about surviving climate change. Seriously, when the levees, break and we have to move, the only things we’ll have with us are what we’ve put away in our cataclysm survival kits. The rest of it, as your blog name puts it so well, is crap. If we won’t need it then, why do we think we need it now?

Downsize this: http://blog52.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/10-downsize-this-baby/

By: Patty

Patty — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 18:50:23 +0000

Very, very touching.

By: The Frugalista Files

The Frugalista Files — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:51:48 +0000

This is a great post. I am becoming more savvy financially because I want to have security. I want to have options in life that having a stable account allows. Debt is overrated.

By: Already Retired

Already Retired — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:06:43 +0000

Financial independence was never a goal for me. As it turns out, I achieved financial independence but never really planned for it. My parents endured the Great Depression and WWII. As a result, they were extremely risk intolerant. Some of that rubbed off on me. In my youth, money was always scarce. When I latched onto a dollar, I held on tight. I simply could not afford to waste or fumble away that dollar I struggled so hard to earn. Waste not, want not. So saving came to me naturally. About the time I entered college, I received the following advice: One, don’t buy anything you don’t want. Two, don’t buy anything you don’t need. Three, don’t buy anything that doesn’t work. I took this advice to heart, and thus freed up more dollars to save. When IRAs were introduced in the early 80′s, I was able to contribute the maximum — I did it mainly to get the tax deduction — and further build my nest egg. I was never aggressive; up until about 1990 I was content with compound interest. About this time, I began to learn more about investments. I retired from the Air Force (with a generous pension) and landed a job with a company with a 401k. The company match alone was too good to pass up. I began investing in mutual funds thru my 401k. By living within our means, my wife and I managed to pay off our mortgage in 13 years. With the mortgage out of the way and health insurance thru my wife’s civil service, I was able to retire two years ago. I rolled-over both my company pension and 401k into an IRA brokerage account which I manage myself. My wife was downsized years earlier and never went back to work. Today, we live comfortably. It just sort of happened. But looking back, I recognize the keys to my financial independence: my wife and I both worked without a break; my military pension provided an extra income stream; my college education provided for both my military career and second career; my frugality provided for my college education; and, my frugality was provided for by my parents’ example and experience.

I know folks who are addicted to spending. They just have to have the latest everything. And I know some who look forward to dying in debt. Different strokes…

By: Future Millionaire

Future Millionaire — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:28:38 +0000

Thanks for sharing your story about your grandfather.

Personally, my motivation to to achieve financial independence is that much like you I don’t have to worry about finances, especially later in life. I don’t want to have to stress about where to find the money when an unexpected expense arises or I want to make a splurge. I also want financial independence so that I’m not a slave – I’m not a slave to my day job (gotta work to pay bills), I’m not a slave to my house (gotta stay home because don’t have the money to visit family and friends), and I’m not a slave to regrets (I wanted to have this experience but couldn’t because I bought crap that I’ll never use).