Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. None of this is financial advice. I encourage you to do your own research.

I’m sitting on a white sand beach, the sun casting sparkles on the turquoise water, making it shimmer. I pick up my drink and take a sip, cool sweet coconut swirling around my tongue.

I set my drink down and pull out my phone. As I log into my investment portfolio, I sit up to shield the sun, making sure I’m not seeing things. But it’s there and it’s real. My portfolio has grown large enough that just a small percent could easily cover all my expenses for the past year, albeit humbly. I may not be rich like the people who own the yachts parked along the shore, but I have enough to live a comfortable life, on my terms. I am financially independent.

When you are financially independent, the concept made famous by Your Money or Your Life authors Vicky Robin and Joe Dominguez, and the F.I. in the F.I.R.E. movement (Financial Independent Retire Early), you have enough financial resources to cover your lifestyle without having to rely on paid labor (Robin & Dominguez, 2015). Achieving financial independence has less to do with lottery winnings, high incomes or inheritances and more to do with learning to budget and manage one’s money, investing in the often-volatile stock market and cultivating an affordable lifestyle that can be financed with a globally diversified portfolio built over many years.

While this concept may pique some people’s interest, not everyone wishes to pursue financial independence. It takes a certain kind of personal finance nerd to dedicate their blood, sweat and tears to building a portfolio large enough to fully fund their future lifestyle. Guilty as charged. Financial Freedom, on the other hand, is Financial Independence’s little sister. Financial Freedom is about saving and investing enough now so that your future self can have more options to live life on your terms. The portfolio you start building today may one day allow you to retire a decade earlier. Or perhaps take a year off work to travel. Or step away from a stressful job to care for a loved one. The good news is, whether you are interested in dipping your toe in the warm waters of financial freedom or going all the way and becoming fully financially independent, the steps are the same: Envision what you want your future to look like and how a healthy portfolio could support your dreams, learn how the stock market works, begin investing in low-cost index funds, learn to keep a budget, and stay the course – through bull market highs and bear market lows. You get to choose how much of your time, money and energy you put towards building a financially free or financially independent future.

Why am I telling you this, you ask. Shouldn’t I be ordering another pina colada and enjoying my newfound freedom? The truth is, the only reason I discovered the concept of financial independence in the first place, and had the courage and confidence to pursue it, is because of the Financial Independence (F.I.) community. This community is chock-full of authors, bloggers and podcasters from all walks of life who shared their own journeys, their frugal budgets through times of inflation, their fluctuating portfolios through bull and bear markets. When I needed guidance and motivation, I listened to their unique stories, challenges and triumphs. Stories of leaving the corporate world behind to start a successful business, write a best-seller from a beach in Thailand, or simply spend extra time with family. It is this online community that taught me how to become a do-it-yourself investor, how to prioritize my future financial health, and to see that I too might be able to one day live off my portfolio. Now that I’ve reached the finish line, I believe it is essential that I and other members of the F.I. community continue to share our stories and experiences, success and failures to help newcomers pursue financial freedom of their own. After all, our family, friends and neighbours are likely not pursuing financial freedom with the same intensity as the online F.I. community. When we are on the road less travelled, it can help to know there is a community out there cheering you on.

So this is my story. Why I chose to pursue financial freedom in the first place, how I got started, and the actionable steps that I took along the way, many of which are tried and true steps that others have taken before me.

Just 10 years ago I was a stressed-out 30-something living paycheck to paycheck in an expensive city, while my military husband was posted 2,000 km away. I quickly realized if I was ever going to leave the corporate world behind and live with him full time while still maintaining my independent streak, I would need to build a portfolio large enough to support myself. Now, I get to fall asleep every night next to my husband and wake up each morning without an alarm clock and the freedom to do whatever I want. With no work, commuting or financial stress and a big, beautiful world at my doorstep, I am officially living the life of my dreams.

And you can too.

How might financial freedom help you live the life your dreams? Would it allow you to switch careers, retire to that cottage on the lake, explore the open roads in an RV? Your reasons, priorities and journey will be different than mine, but the steps I took can be adapted and repeated. This is simply my own story of how I learned to take control of my finances, discovered peace in minimalism and built a portfolio that powers my life. In the following chapters I cover the steps I took to begin investing, from opening my own brokerage account to breaking up with my high-fee financial advisor. I recall the change I felt occur within me as I discovered minimalism over the years. And I describe the highs and lows associated with home ownership, from the emotional to the financially prudent, as some members of the F.I. community have shown that a paid off home can indeed be a component in a financially independent life. At the end of each chapter I summarize the steps I took, repeatable steps that you can take to build your own version of financial freedom. I hope you will find the stories in each chapter entertaining, but if my amateur writing fails to engage you or if you are on a time crunch, just skip to the end of each chapter to get the actionable steps that you can take to begin to build your financial future.

If you are just beginning your journey towards financial freedom, I hope my story will help you get started. If you’re half-way through, I hope I can motivate you to keep going. The finish line is in sight. Your reasons for pursuing financial freedom will be unique to you, but the end goal is the same. Financial freedom gives us all more options to live life on our terms.

Works Cited

Robin, V., & Dominguez, J. (2015). Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence (2nd ed.). Penguin Books.