The Tech Money Podcast

The Tech Money Podcast


67. What is Financial Independence?

February 15, 2023

It’s widely believed that work is something that is supposed to happen between the hours of 9 to 5, 40 hours per week, 5 days per week, 50 weeks per year, for 40 years, until age 65 or later. Then, and only then, are you allowed to think about and prioritize the people and things that matter to you the most. Or at least that’s how it seems. But in reality, you should also be spending your younger years enjoying time together with friends and family, exploring and traveling, and dedicating your time to the causes that you care about - not just when you're older.

In order to enjoy that level of time freedom, it will require you to reach some semblance of financial independence earlier in life. But these days, when people hear the term financial independence, their minds automatically envision the super-rich tech entrepreneur who founded a company from their dorm room and the next day, sold it for billions of dollars. Or they think of the extreme case of winning a multi-million-dollar lottery prize or some other sort of life altering windfall. But this doesn’t have to be the case.

In this episode, Malcolm Ethridge shares his thoughts on financial independence; what it is, what it’s not, and what it will take to reach it in this lifetime. As a millennial on his own financial independence journey, Malcolm [take this from the back jacket text]

Malcolm Ethridge Discusses: 

  • What financial independence is and is not
  • How to determine your own “enough” point and what do do when you get there
  • The importance of developing passive streams of income 
  • Why it is not necessary to take a vow of poverty to reach financial independence

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