If you had asked me what “financially independent” meant 30 years ago, I would have had the answer … 
“Enough money in my bank account to do anything I want, whenever I want.”
And in my opinion, I achieved it! Or at least, so I thought. Realistically, I didn’t know much about anything in those days, and as such, my wants weren’t all that significant or frequent.
These days I’m 61 years old, I have almost everything I could wish for, and I’m on the verge of retirement.
Would my response be the same?
I’m not so sure. When we’re young, it doesn’t matter that we use vague terms like “anything” and “whenever”. We expect to live a long life, so there’s always time to sort out the details. But as we get older, we become more and more concerned about those details.
Why?
Well, because those details matter. They bring a certain reality to our world. Unfortunately, that reality is often more difficult or costly than we expected.
Let me give you an example. My retirement plan includes:
- Buy an RV and live in it full-time.
- Drive around North America in my RV seeing the sights.
- Flat-tow a Jeep for errands, and perhaps a do little camping/off-roading.
- Ride my mountain bike in locations across North America.
- Blog about the various adventures mentioned above including photos and videos.
- Obtain enough computer horsepower to edit the photo/video shenanigans described above.
Now, looking over my list, you quickly realize that most of these things cost money. And in some cases, significant money. I already own the RV, mountain bike, computer equipment, and photo/video equipment. So, I’m good there.
But what about the rest?
RV’s require maintenance, fuel, propane, water, parking spaces, and such. Jeeps aren’t cheap. They also need fuel and maintenance. Mountain bikes break and demand repairs. Photo/video equipment and computer equipment require constant upgrades, blah, blah, blah. You get the idea.
Certainly, my retirement savings will help. I’ve had my nest egg in place for years. But I’m now thinking that it may not be enough. As prices continue to rise, and my interests expand, it makes sense to cultivate a supplementary source(s) of income.
Interestingly, there are many to choose from; various writing endeavors, online gambling, or even the get-rich-quick scheme of the day. Regardless of what it happens to be, it should provide the following:
- First, the ability to generate a significant income stream. What you consider “significant” will depend on your particular wants and needs. I suggest at least a regular, full-time income.
- Second, it doesn’t require you to work a lot of hours. I would limit the effort to no more than two hours a day. Remember, the idea here is to retire, in other words, work less.
- Third, it involves simple tools. This could be anything. However, tools like a laptop and an Internet connection immediately come to mind.
- And finally, it can be done from anywhere in the world. This is particularly important in my case as I want to travel.
So, what did I choose? CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT
This is a guest post written by David Gloag, If you wish to be considered then please contact me.
