That article on Financial Independence in Countryside has me intrigued and challenged. This is something I've always felt I should be acheiving, but honestly didn't know exactly how to do it.

I think I'll order that book, "Your money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. Also I'll have to sit down and figure out exactly where our money goes. We've actually got a good start. We own our own house. We own everything we possess. No debt. But we still can't seem to save any money. We seem to live just within our means.

Has anyone else acheived Financial Independance, or are you on your way? What sort of things have you done to get there? How did you do it? It's one thing to know you want to do it, but quite another to draw up a practical plan in order to get moving.

I'm 40 and kicking myself for all the years I could have and should have been saving, knowing full well that where money is concerned, time is on your side if you're saving it. Give me some hope that I can still make positive gains and that my goal is still within my reach.

-- Nancy in Maine (paintme61@yahoo.com), November 17, 2001

Answers

I am compiling a five year business plan for my personal goals that is plotting out diversifications that I can incorporate ranging from Countryside learned / initiated skills to conservative/medium investing. If large corporations can diversify operations to establish a firmer financial footing, why not an individual? The formula is quite simple: Look at it as you would a "penny poker" game. If you play with $2 worth of pennies as a professional gambler would with $20000, you will win because you have overcome looking at it as a little game. Personal finance is just as much the same. While wealthy people can make millions and keep empires firm and solvent, individuals can make a weekly paycheck and keep the mortgage paid by following the same conservative sound financial stategies. Of course you must overcome the lack of some tax shelters, however there are resources available to assist you there, you only have to find the ones that fit your situation. Another thing many individuals have difficulty embracing is the attitude that not all of your nestegg or profits is yours. I learned from the gentleman that originally established the company I worked for that "you never touch your seed money. Reconize only the profits as capital". He kept the company strong for 40 years. When he retired, the new CEO allowed debt to encroach on the seed money to the point the company was taken over within three years.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 17, 2001.

A good place to learn is www.vanguard.com you can take a series of i will say classes. It is free and very good. Also Vanguard is a no load company with very low charges for their services and very nice to work with. First of all learn about investing instead of lettig a broker do it foe you. There is only one person that cares how much you earn an I think you know who that is. Be sure to look at the Roth IRA. Also on Sat and Sun evenings at 4:00 central time there is a radio show for 3 hours with Bob Brinker. You will learn a lot from him.

-- Mel Kelly (melkelly@webtv.net), November 17, 2001.

No, but we are totally debt free, but there are still utilities, insurance if you want it, taxes, food, or feed/seed, gasoline, medical expenses. We have 2 children still at home. Saving takes extreme disipline! Make a budget and stick to it, put the rest in savings. My dh worked for the 1st 8 mos of this year in the oilfield, which was booming, due to stress from being overworked we decided he needed to quit, he's in no hurry to find a job because we saved a lot of what he made, we set a certain figure for what it took for us to make it monthly (a liberal amt) and anything he made over that amt, we put in savings, now we're using some of that to live off of, while he catches up on a lot of farm work around here. We're finding we can live on even less than we were living on while he was working. He's decided he likes this work 1/2 the year and take the rest of the year off and after the 1st of the year he's thinking of searching for such work, maybe Alaska oilfields. We have the land to start a farming thing to sustain us, but it takes a lot of time, and yes $ to get started, and he's very uncomfortable with not having a regular paycheck. So we'll see.

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), November 17, 2001.

Well our goal is to be debt free bu the time we're 40. At this rate we will get there - our only debt is our mortgage which will be paid off by the time we're 40 - mainly because we got a 15 year mortgage.

However, I don't think we will ever be financially independent as such untill hubby reaches the standard retirement age. He has diabetes and has to hold a job for no other reason than to maintain health insurance. Even when the mortgage is paid off there will still be the usual bills - electric, phone, gas, car repairs etc....

We're not there yet but I feel as if we're doing fairly well in the whole scheme of things.

-- Anita In NC (aholton@mindspring.com), November 17, 2001.

I am holding my breathe that nothing happens (MAJOR that is)between now and my planned freedom date May 31st,2002. On that date will be the last of over $700 worth of monthly payments. With that and what I have done already to date I will have elimated a total of $1,300 worth of monthly payments in 2 years time.

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), November 17, 2001.

Yes, through living well below my means and being that blind pig which found an acorn in the stock market.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 17, 2001.

Check out www.simpleliving.net. The entire site is terrific. Click on discussion boards and head for "Your Money or Your Life" for encouragement. Also, your library might have a copy of the cassette and workbook of "Transforming Your Life" of which the YMOYL book was based. I, myself, prefer the book and read it often for inspiration.

-- Sandy Davis (smd2@netzero.net), November 17, 2001.

I would guess that my husband and I have achieved our defination of financial independence although DH still works full time. He does that because he really enjoys his job and can't imagine retiring anytime soon.

Our house is paid off, we have no outstanding bills and are in a position to buy whatever we want to. I believe our success stems from always paying ourselves first and realizing the difference between a need and a want. We live very frugally and enjoy this standard of living. We have money in the bank and in conservative mutual funds, plus a 401K and a Roth IRA for me plus college funds for both grandchildren.

I have read "Your Money or Your Life" and got a lot of good information from it although our goals differ from the authors'.

I believe goals - both long term and short term - are extremely important and it helps to actually write them down.

Wishing you enough.

-- Trevilians (aka Dianne in Mass) (Trevilians@mediaone.net), November 17, 2001.

I'm 20 years old and I plan to be financially independant by the time I'm 30 at least! My dad bought a course on trading commodities and we've been(slowly) working on it. It's not as scary as a lot of people think and it takes a relatively small amount of money to get into it(as compared to starting your own business). I also like the fact that you can trade from anywhere in the world and it only takes about half an hour a day-IF YOU WANT TO! :> I'm going to need all the money I can get as it seems to be harder and harder to make money farming.:( And I have big dreams about my future log house and acreage(not sure where yet). You can read about this course at www.kenrobertscompany.com. It's an interesting read if nothing else.:>

God bless.

-- Rebekah in Canada (rebekah_swinden@hotmail.com), November 17, 2001.

Nancy, If you are 40 and debt free you are doing great!!! I think so many of us think that financial independence means not having to work for someone else by having your own business or living off the farm income. We look at it a little different. We have no debt and we raise almost everything we eat and our critters eat. We have learned to live without electricity if we need to, or any utilities beyond our own wood heat, but we chose to keep our electricity because it is a fairly good buy for what it does and the freedom it gives us.

We now have just one job, my husband works a small off the farm job that gives us money for utilities and health insurance. We save all that we can so if he were to lose his job we could really go a long time on our savings. When we had our own business we were working way more hours than we do now and enjoying it way less. So, you see, everyone is different about what they call independence.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 17, 2001.

Yes, like Ken I live below or within my means. I retired at fifty, ten years ago, and have been traveling 6 to 8 months every year. Small towns and out of the way places here in the US and one or two trips overseas every year. Actually growing my own food became less attractive and my means increased. I have the land but am waiting until I grow up a little more. :>)

Trevilians had excellent advice, ALWAYS NO MATTER WHAT PAY YOURSELF FIRST. Live within a budget and the very top item is "pay yourself x $".

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), November 17, 2001.

The first reply about Vanguard is great! The online, (short), courses will get you started. Then get Jane Bryant Quinn's book, Making The Most of Your Money (free at the library of course), never have a car payment, have good health insurance (besides staying healthy), and always pay off credit cards before incurring charges.

These 5 things will start you in the right direction.

-- Cynthia Iberg (coriander@pa.net), November 17, 2001.

Financially independence for me is a long way off. My wife and I already payed off a very modest home, have all our vehicles paid for, and are beginning to get as independent from the 'food chains' as possible (i.e., learning to grow our own). We started our lives as having no debt and mean it; I don't even own a credit card! My wife pays hers off EVERY month.

The saying "Do you own your own life, or does it own you?" is very true; many of my friends, who claim to own a lot, complain about how hard they work to "keep" it too.

We started our family about three years ago and have another on the way; this situation will make or break us, I think. Living within your means is the key. Also having money for those situations which require instantaneous cash flow also helps a lot.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), November 19, 2001.

No! But I've reached the ridge-top, and it's within sight, even if it's past the bluffs on the other side of the valley. I got gutted by "the marriage breakup", and making big payments in lieu of child maintenance for kids she didn't maintain, and then all the legal costs for access to the kids she could deny me access to, but didn't have any longer herself.

However, I'm relatively recently out of debt; and all the savings for "Christmas Club" will be a welcome surprise, since I've already bought all the Christmas presents anyway. It is absolutely staggering how much difference it makes to your life when you are no longer faced with monthly repayments, interest eating your earnings, and so forth. It is also enthralling how often you find yourself free to slip another thousand dollars into another Interest Bearing Deposit (I think you may call them Certificates of Deposit), while still keeping a cash reserve as high as the best you ever dreamed of while plastic cards or personal loans or overdraughts were eating your lunch.

I won't stay debt free, because I will (once again) buy property. However, property is the only debt, God willing, I will ever undertake again; and with the experience I now have I know that I will be able to pay off such a debt in years (maybe approaching a decade, but probably more like five years, since I won't be paying rent) rather than two or three decades. That's the next big goal - debt free and rent free.

Now, it depends on your definition of financial independence. At that stage, I'll still be dependent on external payments coming in. When I retire, I'll need my superannuation and I'll need my pension. However, I've paid for those, and I'm entitled to get them back. If the entire nation and its financial institutions go belly-up, I'll still be close to financial independence, as I'll be independent in terms of day-to-day expenses. However, I will need clothes, medical care, and rates and taxes. I'm sure they'll want to charge me for the sidewalks, the water and sewerage, the electricity and phone services which I hardly use; and the Net access which I use all the time. The longer I work between mortgage-burning and retirement, the more absolute independence I'll see (although if your savings are in a bank, how independent are you REALLY?) Really, the only independence is food in the pantry, livestock in the paddocks, water in the tank, and a spare set of underwear in the bottom drawer. And several tonnes of toilet paper in the back shed. Or a bidet, but those use a LOT of water.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), November 20, 2001.

Nancy : Not yet but it's out there. We have reduced our debt load from $3900 monthly to $1500. If nothing major happens we'll be debt free in 12 years. From there independence will be easier.

Rebekah in Canada: I too bought that course. Ken Roberts has been around a long time. How are you and you Dad doing? Have you been "paper buying & Selling" or have you started doing it for real? I must be slow cause I still have a few problems with the curve.

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), November 21, 2001.

DH and I are on our way. The hardest part is putting that plan first and foremost, before all the things we think we need.

Actually my dad helped a great deal. After college I came home, got a job and lived with them for a few years. Dad's rule "If you live in my house YOU WILL participate in your companies retirement program and YOU WILL have another kind of investment". For me that was a mutual fund. Much better than charging you kids rent.

By the time I got married I was serious about saving and investing for the future. When DH and I started out we did not have rent or mortgage, housing was part of job. So we called all the apartment and condo rental places in our are, took the average of those rents, added an estimate for utilities and that's what we invested. As we got raises in pay we increased our investments. Also, I was working full time and felt my salary was more disposable income so I invested 18% in the company plan. Over the years we have adjusted abit, but pretty much stick to our plan. If we get a tax return, we keep out part for a vacation or something special we've wanted then roll the rest back into our investments.

It's all about disapline and thinking about purchases before you make them. Case in point Nancy - do need to buy the book or can you get it from the library? Which is cheaper.

A few other books I found interesting: The Millionaire Next Door and the Millionaire Mind, both by the same author. I can't remember his name and my books are packed away, we are painting.

-- jennifer (schwabauer@aol.com), November 21, 2001.

Also try to read the Robert Kyosaki books (Rich Dad, Poor Dad series) for a different spin on good debt and bad debt. One thing that he stresses is that we really don't ever own our property, even if we do pay it off--as in just try not paying your property taxes and see what happens.

His ideas are not for everyone, but there are always two sides to debt. Just look at what savings are paying these days--practically zilch--so saving is not always the answer, at least not right now.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), November 21, 2001.