Continue Celebrating Freedom All Year Long

July 06, 2015

I have fond memories of Independence Day weekend dating back to my early childhood days. Our traditional family vacation spot was always the Emerald Coast on the Florida panhandle right in the heart of what some affectionately refer to as the “Redneck Riviera.” I’ve always felt the gravitational forces pulling me towards the coast and as a result, the “married with children” version of my immediately family also likes to head to the coast to celebrate our nation’s birthday.

This year, we embarked on our annual coastal journey with a short trip down the road to Kiawah Island and enjoyed riding bikes, walking on the beach, kayaking, playing in the pool, watching the firework shows, and eating together as a family. We had a great time together as a family and I hope that every reader of this blog found some joy over the weekend celebrating our nation’s birthday. The weekend culminated with the United States winning the Women’s World Cup so I’d say it was a fun time with lots to celebrate. Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s National Team!

Throughout the weekend, my flag-waving crew had the privilege of experiencing my patriotic playlist on Spotify and even resisted my offer to read the Declaration of Independence aloud for everyone. I say this in jest because I know that this important document with such historical significance is not the typical reading material for children on holiday vacations. But without the vision of our founding fathers and the many who have defended our nation since those early years, we would not be able to live according to the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

If you have read to this point, you are probably wondering what the heck this has to do with managing personal finances. My answer is…everything. This is more than just a patriotic message of gratitude and pride to be an American. In order to improve our financial standing and use money as a tool for good in our lives, we need to appreciate the freedoms that we have. Without our freedoms, which are protected by the Constitution, the pursuit of financial freedom would be a useless endeavor.

I am proud to be an American in this land of the free and home of the brave. In honor of America’s 239th birthday this past weekend, why not go beyond taking time to understand the story of freedom in America? Take time to understand how your money story fits into the big picture of the American Dream and declare your own personal “Financial” Independence Day.

A couple of years ago, my colleague Greg Ward wrote a piece about this topic of financial independence and he highlighted some important steps toward reaching financial freedom. You can view the blog post here. As Greg points out, true financial freedom relies on some fundamental behaviors as listed below:

  • Establish an emergency fund
  • Pay off high-interest debt
  • Save more for retirement
  • Manage your income taxes
  • Invest in and out of the U.S.A.
  • Have adequate insurance
  • Have an estate plan

Financial planners spend a great deal of time talking about these basic concepts yet it can be a struggle to knock all of these items off the checklist and achieve a true sense of financial freedom. So as the family vacations come to an end and the aftermath of those neighborhood barbecues become a distant memory, be sure to focus on two words – freedom and independence. Of course, these words are synonyms and it is up to you to choose how you define what the terms financial independence or financial freedom mean to you. My hope is that more people will start to explore the true meaning of financial independence in their lives and as part of the process, realize that it’s not always just about the money. In next week’s blog post, we will take a deeper look at the concept of financial freedom.