Financial freedom means different things to different people. To some, it means living a life of luxury in which you never have to work another day in your life again. To others, financial freedom may simply mean happiness and being able to live your life the way you want to.
The truth is, these two versions of financial freedom are very different from one another. One is driving for more materialistic possession and the other is driving for lifestyle.
I describe these as eagles and chickens. Both are beautiful.
Eagles are those who want to spread their wings and soar for success. Chickens are those who find happiness in the everyday and strive for comfort.
To understand my concept of eagles and chickens, I often compare them to capitalism and socialism. While eagles are focused on ‘production for profit’, much like the ideas behind capitalism, chickens are more for ‘free association’ as are socialists.
Above all, the true key to becoming financially free is understanding how you view business and what your relationship with money means.
Are you viewing your business as a way to grow financially secure, or is family what’s more important to you? You might be happy as a chicken earning enough incoming to live comfortably. Or you might aim for the skies like an eagle wanting to create more profit.
Understanding what financial freedom stands for to you is the first step in the emotional, mental and spiritual journey to achieving it.
It’s often centred around your ‘why’ – the reason behind what you want to achieve. You might want to be financially free to support your children. Or, you might want to be financially free to be able to enjoy three extravagant holidays a year in your retirement.
To help you discover what financial freedom means to you, here’s what it might stand for for different groups of people.
Financial freedom form a millennial point of view
Take Millennials for example. They’re typically defined as those born between 1980-2000. They’re the most educated generation and they have more debt than any previous generation.
What does it mean for them when they reach their goal of achieving financial freedom? What is their definition of personal success or self-worth when it comes to money? Some may ask themselves what will happen if I never achieve financial freedom? How much money do I need before I’m financially free and what factors contribute to this goal such as material wealth, health and happiness?
The millennial generation may not see that there’s a difference between being financially liberated and financially responsible.
They’ve seen the generation above them work extremely hard for their money. As adults, they’ve been through a pandemic, recession, wars, political corruption, environmental crises, the rise in awareness of animal welfare. This creates a very split generation.
For some millennials, they feel happier to make enough money to get by and live a worry-free life than enter a competitive business mindset. However, for others millennials, they feel motivated by world issues to start a business and make more money than their parents, or to make a difference in the world.
Equally, neither are wrong. Whatever form of happiness resonates with them is the right path.
Achieving financial freedom 9-5
An employee (chicken) may be more likely to achieve their version financial freedom than a business owner (eagle) because they don’t have the same expenses. But, this doesn’t mean that they don’t have other expenses. They can still save money through effective budgeting and limiting spending on non-essential items.
They should also look for jobs with a higher salary and try their hand at side hustles like freelancing or starting a small business on the side. These tasks can help them reach financial freedom much faster. It may mean dedicating extra hours to work in your own time, but if it’s something they have a passion for, it won’t feel like work.
Employers can help their staff achieve this level of financial freedom – and therefore, increased happiness and productivity at work – by empathising with their staff, encouraging them, and respecting their work-life balance. The salaried worker then feels appreciated, supported, and secure in their job role, and may learn new things from their side hustle that they can integrate into their career. This in turn helps to enable the employer to successfully scale up in business.
Entrepreneurs and financial freedom
What does financial freedom mean? That’s a question many entrepreneurs struggle to answer. It can be difficult to understand and even harder to achieve. When you’re an entrepreneur, you have to be willing to take risks. Entrepreneurs are often eagles.
There are some who believe that taking those risks is what it means to achieve financial freedom. For others, achieving financial freedom has nothing to do with risk-taking and everything to do with the business success they’ve achieved.
Some will be more concerned with capital appreciation than current income. These people are typically looking at long-term investments or securities that have a high probability of increasing in value over time. And there are still others who don’t worry about their finances as much because they view financial freedom as what they feel when they’re working on something they love.
If you ask five different entrepreneurs what financial freedom means to them, chances are that each one will come up with five different answers! The bottom line: no two people define it the same way. You need to figure out how you want to live your life and what your definition of financial freedom is so that you know how hard or easy it’ll be for you to get there.
Retirement and freedom as a financial goal
Achieving financial freedom to you could be a matter of saving enough so that you can stop working. These people are mostly eagles. They’ve usually spent their whole life thinking about their ‘why’ in their career – why they do what they do. And have dedicated a lot of time to gaining financial freedom in retirement through career and business planning and strategy.
Reaching this goal is one of the most important things for them and can make all the difference when it comes to feeling like you’ve achieved your ultimate life goals.
Once you’ve reached this level of financial security, there’s no limit to what you can do with your time. You’re free to spend your days however you’d like, whether that’s traveling or volunteering or simply enjoying time at home with family and friends.
In conclusion
Financial freedom is a goal for many people and it means different things depending on who you ask. It could be as simple as being able to buy a new iPhone every few years, or something more complex like having enough money saved up so you never have to work again.
No matter what financial freedom means for you – whether you’re a chicken or an eagle – understanding why will see you on the path to achieving it.