It's Time To Stop Thinking About Retirement

I'm not a financial advisor, but I've been a lurker here for a few years and I can't help but think that the words "retirement" and "financial independence" get thrown around a lot without any real meaning.<br><br>The older you get, the more you realize that we're not really thinking about retirement. We're thinking about what life might be like if we won the lottery and could afford to do whatever we wanted. We're thinking about how we want to leave our jobs and retire to live on a beach, or take up some hobby, or do anything we want without worrying about the cost.<br><br>In reality, we're saving for financial independence. We're working to put ourselves in a position where we are financially free to make our own decisions, free from the constraints of a salary and a job.<br><br>When you put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad, does it? In fact, it sounds a lot like the opposite of retirement. It sounds like freedom.<br><br>In my humble opinion, I believe that we should stop thinking about retirement and start thinking about financial independence. The two are closely linked, but one is a destination and the other is a journey.<br><br>I've found that when we focus on retirement, we tend to focus on the end goal. We set a date, a number, or a milestone that we want to reach, and then we work towards it. But when we focus on financial independence, we tend to focus on the journey. We focus on building wealth, creating income streams, and living below our means. We focus on creating a life that we love, not just a life that we can afford.<br><br>So, the next time you hear someone talking about retirement, I encourage you to ask them what they mean. Are they talking about financial independence, or are they talking about retirement? Because if they're talking about financial independence, then we should be focusing on building wealth, not just saving money.<br><br>And if they're talking about retirement, then we should be focusing on creating a life that we love, not just a life that we can afford.<br><br>Either way, I believe that we should stop thinking about retirement and start thinking about financial independence. It's a subtle difference, but it's an important one. Because when we focus on financial independence, we tend to focus on building wealth, not just saving money. And when we focus on building wealth, we tend to focus on creating a life that we love, not just a life that we can afford.