The Financial Independence Days of Our Lives

Updated: June 9, 2023

The Philippines is celebrating its Independence Day.

And when you’ve lived decades after the end of colonial occupation, it’s normal that you take this day for granted. And see it as just one of those holidays where you don’t have to go to work.

However, closer to our hearts are what I call financial independence days.

Here are five days of freedom that you should achieve and celebrate.

1. The Freedom To Keep Money

What happens when you give money to a child? The parents usually get to keep it.

Our first financial independence day comes when our parents begin to trust us with keeping the money that our godparents and relatives give us.

Celebrate that moment when you finally get to practice the value of saving.

2. The Freedom To Spend Money

As a child, while we are given the freedom to keep the money we get – our parents would often tell us what we should do with it.

The second financial independence day of our life comes when our parents give us the power to decide where we want to spend that money.

Celebrate that moment when you made your very first financial decision.

3. The Freedom To Earn Money

The earliest money lesson that we learn is that money should be earned – that we get it in exchange for work that we do.

The third financial independence comes at different times in everyone’s lives. Some, as a teenager, working for money to save up for an item his parents won’t buy for him. Some as a fresh graduate, getting their first paycheck.

Regardless of when it came for you, I urge you to celebrate the day when you have learned the value of hard work and the potential that you have within yourself to make money.

4. The Freedom From The Slavery of Debt

Attaining the freedom to earn money for ourselves and to spend it on whatever we want often comes at a price – getting ourselves enslaved with debt.

The fourth financial independence that all of us should achieve is not to get out of debt – but actually, be able to rise above it and make ourselves its master.

Debt provides us with leverage, which can help us earn more money – but it is only possible if we have learned to live life without it.

Celebrate the day when you are no longer beholden to debt. Because it is the time that you learn how to be a master of your finances.

5. The Freedom To Spend Your Time on What Matters Most

Probably one of the hardest things to achieve – is the time freedom from active income. Most of us are at this stage, and it’s a battle easily won with smart personal finance habits on your side.

The fifth financial independence is not about money but about your passion. It is having the freedom to do what you love and spend it with the people that matter most in your life.

It is the most difficult type of freedom to win, but it is also the sweetest victory you’ll ever achieve in your life. So make it your mission to win your everyday battles because the prize for winning this war is priceless.

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Filipinos.

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Photo credit: jjpacres