By: MJ Gonzales | Executive Chronicles
Financial freedom is a common term and goal for everyone who wants to retire comfortably. The journey going there is long and bumpy; so you have to stay committed and do smart steps to achieve it. If financial freedom is something to look forward 15 to 20 years from now, financial independence should be everybody’s goal in two to five years.
According to Money Crasher’s report, Financial Independence is not only about how to make your folks happy because you’re not relying on them and you’re paying your own bills. It’s the financial capacity to handle you expenses and let you do some bold moves that satisfy you. The formula to achieve financial independence is quiet similar to building your emergency fund, but in larger scale and it has two parts.
“The first part calculates your FI Number – the total amount of money required to give you a sufficient income for life:
FI Number = Yearly Spending / Safe Withdrawal Rate
The second part of the formula uses your FI Number to figure out how many years it will take you to reach FI:
Years to FI = (FI Number – Amount Already Saved) / Yearly Saving”
With this two-part formula, it clearly shows that budgeting your monthly expenses and times of your withdrawal are vital. But of course, what makes financial independence doable still depends on the right actions. In an interview of ABS-CBN News with Wilson Lee Flores, the real estate entrepreneur and college professor shared some tips that not only for wealth building, but also for well-being. He recommended that people should avoid comparing themselves to others to avoid overspending and choose a partner or espouse who’s not tend to be spendthrift.
“Kailangan pag-usapan ng mag-asawa ang financial discipline [Couples need to talk about financial discipline],” Flores added.
On the other hand, he also advised to find an accountant to minimize your taxes, buy insurance from a reliable agent, and seek financial advice from experts to gradually become financial independent.
