What does financial freedom mean to you?

To many, financial freedom means just not having to work for a living. They dream of stepping off the treadmill of going to work everyday to pay the bills. Some may want to escape the stresses of the job itself, unpleasant working conditions, commuting, boredom, and so on. Others may just value more time to be with their families and pursue their own interests. For most people, it’s some combination of those. Let’s look into it on detail.

Freedom to choose your work:  Financial Freedom means choosing a job or career they want to work at. Many people are stuck in jobs they hate or force themselves to work with Hari Sadu’s . They think that they need to bear all the discomfort for that paycheck at the end of the month.

Freedom to live where you want:  Do you like where you live? In the jet age of today the place you call your home is more often determined by what you do for a living and where you work Often we hear about moving to a small town/hill station away from the traffic/commute/noise – far away from the madness of where we live.

Freedom to do what you want: The freedom to choose how I spend my time: wake when rested, play when playful, work when/if I want Money and time are inversely related. In most cases, one can be traded for the other.For example, you can spend your own time cleaning your house or watching vessels, or pay someone to do it for you, and free up the time for yourself. You can spend time researching on your own, or you can pay some money for someone else’s specialized knowledge in that same field. With that idea in mind, financial freedom may be defined broadly as reaching the point where you no longer have to trade your time for money in order to provide for what you want in life.

Freedom from worry: Most of all, financial freedom means freedom from worry. Financial freedom means no worry about paying everyday bills.

Let’s see what some of the known faces from different walks of life say about Financial Freedom. Financial Freedom for me is:
“…Having a disposable income that I can invest the way I want and not being dependent on anyone’s income. I am a firm believer in equity and prefer to invest in it, irrespective of financial turmoil, global uncertainingty and day to day volatility” DEEPAK PAREKH, CHAIRMAN HDFC.

“..the only real freedom. A woman with a mind of her own has zero value if she does not possess an income. When at 17, I informed my father that I didn’t need pocket money and that I would manage my own expenses, I felt 10 feet tall”. SHOBHAA DE,AUTHOR. She is a columnist and novelist, blogs at blogspot.

Daler-Mehndi

“…earning well by consistently aiming to work better because a lot of people work with me and are dependent on my earnings. This freedom is something towards which we constantly strive because desires are never ending.” DALER MEHNDI, SINGER. I 1995 his first album Bolo Ta Ra Ra, with tunes based on those given to him by his mother, sold half a million copies.  making him the best selling non-soundtrack album in Indian music history.

“…being prudent about the things I need. I attained financial autonomy when I was 20 by earning through modelling assignments while studying. My most expensive purchanse has been a house.” MINISSHA LAMBA ACTOR. A Bollywood actress who appeared in movies such as  Yahaan, Bachna Ae Haseeno,  and Well Done Abba.

“…creative liberty. I feel liberated when I don’t have to borrow money to sustain a movie, such as my latest one, That Girl in Yellow Boots. Such a liability is determinetanl to financial liberty. This is also the reason I bought a house only when I could afford it” Anurag Kashyap Film Director

“…helping others, Having lived half my life in a spartan manner, financial freedom came quite suddenyly, and it was too late to change my austere habits. But it helped me set u[ an NGO for under previliged kids. What better way to spend wealth? ANJOLIE ELA MENON,   one of India’s leading contemporary female artists.

”...being devoid of greed. I don’t overshoot my income to go for fancy things and have very limited needs. I don’t like to gamble with mt money and am a cautious investor. I like to put my money in safe investments.”, Dr Naresh Kumar Trehan, a renowned cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeon also Chairman and managing director Medanta medicity.

“…the independence to focus on what I want to do. One of the greatest risks I took career-wise, and I guess financially too, was leaving a comfortable IAS job to join Maruti at a lower salary”.  JAGDISH KHATTAR, AUTO EXPERT, former MD of Maruti Suzuki, who started CarNation.

“…always having the money to pay bills. It means planning ahead so that I have three months of capital to take care of the fixed costs in my business. As I began earning early in life, I splurged a lot, but I’ve freed myself of this extravagant habit. “ RINA DHAKA, FASHION DESIGNER

“…not relying on anyone and bein able to choose what one wants to do. I don’t want to change any of my financial habts because I’m not an extremist. I’m happy with my financial situation and investments and wouldn’t want to alter anything.” JESSE RANDHAWA ,MODEL. Jesse  is a successful model and has worked with many designers. She appeared in Femina Miss India 1994 contest along withSushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai and made it to finalists.

“…Being able to make my career decisions and do whatever I want because I have something to fall back on. I’m a balanced person and not very ambitious financially, so I prefer safe, long-term investments, such as fixed deposits and real estate” NOYONIKA CHATTERJEE Model who is dubbed as the Naomi Campbell of India

(These quotes are from print edition  of  ET Wealth Aug 15. Sadly missing in the online  version :-))

How to achieve Financial Freedom?

Start getting Financial literate.  We are not born with Money Sense. We would not allow a student to get in the driver’s seat of a car without requiring driver’s education, and yet we allow our citizens to enter the complex financial world without any financial education.

Saving prudently and investing wisely hold the key to monetary emancipation, is advice of CEO of Edelweiss Asset Management Ltd. To read this article on ET Wealth Click here For Some tips on Financial Freedom from a fellow blogger TFLguide.com, click here Tips.

Our post on how to achieve financial freedom coming soon.

What does financial freedom mean to you? Have you reached it yet? Do you have a plan to do so? Or do you think the notion of “financial freedom” is just a marketing ploy?