I’m 45 and I’ve more or less accepted that short of an unexpected and massive windfall, I will never be able to retire, much less experience “financial freedom.”
I’m 43 and literally had this exact conversation today. I work full time for a major financial institution. This shouldn’t be how things work.
Agree yet you work for the enemy.
Clearly the answer is work harder and get a 3rd job. Eventually you’ll be a millionaire!
Probably the half that make $31k or less.
Looking for a job is insanely depressing when you get to see just how many jobs-white collar, blue collar, fast food, whatever- all pay absolutely disgusting wages one person can’t live of off…
There is $222 in the wallet in the link preview. Just found that interesting.
That’s how society is, brother, literally 1% controls the world in their favor and keeps the wealth, impoverishing the 99%.
It’s been 10,000 plus years. Let’s change it, brother.
49.3% say it refers to meeting financial obligations and having some money left over each month. About 54.2% define it as living debt-free, and 46.2% believe it means never having to worry about money.
I’m going to ignore that pesky 100% thing for the moment. Apparently we can’t even agree on what “Financial Freedom” means. Defining the metric you’re polling seems pretty critical if you want a consistent or useful answer. “Over half” is still burying the lede, though - less than one in ten fall into their personal version of that 150% noted above. Aside from the “American families are financially fucked” though, I’m not sure there’s any hard data to extract from this.
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“Peter don’t ya call me cause I just can’t go; I owe my soul to the company store.”
Don’t also forget that we’re talking about what people say about their own financial position - which may be different from what their financial position actually is. Self-reporting is never accurate, because people report what they feel or are aware of, which is different from objective facts, to a greater or lesser degree.
Between letting individuals define the terms of the question they’re going to answer, and then self-reporting, this “study” goes beyond useless and into detrimental.
I agree, the definition is a real problem. While still interesting the survey is pretty screwed.
I thought financial freedom was being independently wealthy. Idle rich. Apparently I was wrong, it means working class but with some “bonus” money. Maybe still struggling but struggling less than most working stiffs.
How free can you be if you still have to work full time?
There is a point in income where you have the choice, the choice to move, the choice to switch jobs, the choice to leave your partner, etc.
That is freedom. A lot of Americans are just stuck exactly where they are.
Really? Do they? That’s very interesting. Tell me, is the over half more like 99%?
Wtf? Of course not. The workforce would be devastated if half of Americans had achieved financial freedom.
I’d have thought more. With a big gaping chasm in between.
What is YOUR definition of financial freedom?
I’d define it working on whatever you want for a living.
I don’t necessarily mean surfing and getting drunk every day, but just being able to make a living off something that you actually want to do.
I make enough to make ends meet and pay off my mortgage and then some, but I’m not financially secure enough to just quit from one day to the next or start a company myself to make the things that I think the world needs or that I find interesting.
I believe that there’s a huge potential if people weren’t bound to always have a job that pays the bills. Most people are limited to carrying out the ideas of a few people who have the means to live their dreams.
Universal basic income could solve this and realise that potential. And it only requires taxing of the richest or automation of the government services. If we did a little of each, we could actually have this.
Sobering post
If you just saved 5% of your pay in a 401k from the time you were 22 and invest in the stock market for 40 years and never get sick, quit your job to raise a family or care for loved ones, then you might become a millionaire. Not that a million would be enough to retire on after 40 years of inflation.
Also, this plan depends on the world economy continuing to grow at the same rate as it did in the past, never mind that this growth is toxic to the planet. But, hey you might see some financial freedom at that point.
Just stick with it.
