Financial freedom is not early retirement

 

Work towards financial freedom. But don't equate financial freedom with the idea of retirement

Many of us will have had a thought at some point in our life about hitting the jackpot and then retiring comfortably.  This is often something people dream of.  We dream of being finally free from financial stress and constantly worried about our future income. But does financial freedom necessarily need to end in retirement? 

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One of the big mistakes we make in out thought process is to see retirement as the end goal of financial independence. Without doubt, financial independence allows you to retire from the day job. But importantly, the end goal of financial freedom is to gain time. The time to do stuff that one dreams of. Financial freedom allows us to choose what to do and when without the stress of working towards an earned income. We no longer need to exchange our time for a salary.  Our time can be spent doing things we love. And that could well include our current job that we love to do. 

Retirement on the other hand can be a very risky decision if taken at the wrong time. Retirement reduces our physical activity. Retirement reduces our mental activity. And often retirement reduces our social activity. These changes can lead to deterioration of our physical and mental health.  I have seen many people go downhill after retirement and this is often due to take of regular activity to keep the mind and body stimulated. Hence retirement is an important decision to take at the right time.

Hence achieving financial independence early and equating that with retirement can be a risky situation.  Work actively towards financial freedom. That doesn't need to end in retirement