We often hear financial independence described as financial freedom. But freedom from what? You might think that’s too obvious to bother addressing, but I think it is much more complex than it sounds.
Take the last week of my life, for instance. Last Wednesday my wife and I got up early and trailered our fishing boat to a local lake about fifty miles from our home and caught a bunch of nice big bass. My wife and I had a fun time with the fishing and enjoyed a tasty fish fry the next day. And that recreation was made possible by our financial freedom. But I think I need to explain why that is the case.
First, I have a fishing boat. In my case a bass fishing boat I bought when I retired seven years ago. It’s on the low end of those types of boats, smaller and slower than many of my friends’ rigs, but perfect for the small area lakes and rivers I love to fish. I paid right at seventeen thousand dollars for the brand new boat, motor and trailer, in cash. No payments, no worries. I could do that because that cost was a very small part of my net worth, and an expense I could write a check for any day of the week. That’s an example of financial freedom. I also had to put ten gallons of gas in the boat and another fifteen gallons in my 2011 Toyota 4Runner to tow it. OK, I admit it, my boat is worth more than my car. That’s twenty-five gallons at three dollars per gallon or seventy-five dollars worth of fuel. And that isn’t something I have to think about either, seventy-five dollars is just not a material cost in my world.
I was fishing with soft plastic lures that don’t survive very long when the fish are biting and they cost about ten dollars for a small bag. I have to have a fishing license, some rods and reels and the boat requires annual maintenance. I just replaced the propeller and that cost over three hundred dollars alone. It’s an expensive hobby any way you look at it. But I never have to consider the impact of those costs on my budget. Because after saving and investing my entire adult life my wife and I have more than enough to support our fishing hobby. In fact, I went fishing the next day too, and I’ll likely go tomorrow!
Friday and Saturday, I played tennis with my buddy, Randall. We played at 1 PM at the Country Club. I could play Friday, just like I fished Wednesday and Thursday, because I don’t have to go to work. Not having to work forty or fifty hours a week feels like financial freedom to me. And all the tennis hobby entails, the price of the tennis racquets, athletic apparel, tennis balls and Club fees do not amount to a figure that creates any friction in my life. After tennis I played pickleball with seven friends. That’s not expensive but we played when most people were trapped at work, so that’s freedom too.
Sunday, after church I drove one hundred miles to the big city and played a team tennis match. We lost, as usual, but we did win a set and nearly pulled off an upset against a much better team. We had a great time competing. My new partner is a very cool guy. I spent that night in a nice hotel and the next morning drove a similar distance further up the road to the wilderness property my wife and I purchased last year. We did that with one hundred sixty thousand dollars in cash, because we could. We are spending about that much more for the cabin that is currently under construction. No mortgage, just paying cash as usual. That trip was over four hundred miles of driving. Add in the hotel cost, meals and snacks and those two days cost me about three hundred dollars, not counting wear and tear on the vehicle. But we can do that without worry because we have enough. While three hundred dollars is not a significant expense at this stage of our lives the three hundred fifty thousand for the vacation place is quite significant. But twenty five acres of land and a two bedroom two bathroom cabin are also assets that should, at the very least, hold their value. So that’s almost an investment, as opposed to something like our boat. Being able to do something like that, building a vacation place, that’s possible only because we are financially free to do it.
Today is Tuesday and I’m typing this from home, because, I’m not working. I am playing tennis after lunch and then my wife and I are taking an elderly friend out for dinner tonight, our treat. Tomorrow, I’m taking another friend fishing. I have to admit, I’m living my dream life. In the interest of full disclosure, I left out the parts of the week that involved volunteer work because those don’t cost anything but time. But we both have a lot of that in our weeks as well. But only that which we enjoy and have selected for ourselves.
So, what is financial freedom? It’s the freedom to live the way you want to live. To work or not work, to pursue volunteerism, to play when you want to play and to catch a fish or two. Money is not going to make anyone happy, but it definitely gives already happy people the freedom to live rich lives. And that’s what financial freedom means to me.
What about you? What does the concept of financial freedom mean to you?
If you are there what do your weeks look like?
If you aren’t there but are on your way, what does that dream look like to you?