using one of these calculations<\/a><\/strong> to see how much money you\u2019ll need. You should also do some researching and run multiple scenarios to see what it\u2019s really going to take to support you in early retirement.<\/p>\nPay Off Your Debt<\/h3>\n
Debt, especially high interest debt, is a huge barrier when it comes to financial independence. Other than building an emergency fund if you don\u2019t already have one, your first step should be paying off all consumer and high interest debt.<\/p>\n
Start Investing<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s going to be really hard to reach financial independence without investing. There are tons of different options when it comes to investing so you if hate the idea of the stock market you\u2019re not out of luck. Things like real estate or investing in your own business can also provide great rates of return.<\/p>\n
Look at different investment vehicles that will coincide with your personality and goals.<\/p>\n
Pay Off Your Mortgage<\/h3>\n
Housing tends to be one of the largest parts of any budget. By paying off your mortgage you\u2019ll drastically lower the income you need to support yourself and your family.<\/p>\n
Lower Your Budget<\/h3>\n
If you want to save more money you\u2019ll have to either lower your spending or increase your income. To really get ahead you can take a double pronged approach.<\/p>\n
Take a look at your budget and make cuts where necessary. Do keep your budget reasonable though.<\/p>\n
Increase Your Income<\/h3>\n
If you want to speed up that financial independence date you need to increase your income. If you\u2019re working with a low income it\u2019s going to be hard to hit financial independence no matter how much you cut your budget.<\/p>\n
Set a Timeline<\/h3>\n
Setting a timeline will help you determine exactly how much money you need to save each month. The timeline can also motivate you to keep going when times get tough.<\/p>\n
While financial independence is definitely a worthy goal it\u2019s not going to be easy to accomplish. Make a plan, follow it and when you fall of track jump back on!<\/p>\n
Are you working toward financial independence?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stories of how twenty, thirty, and forty somethings have saved a million dollars and are now living it up in early retirement seem to be plentiful these days. It\u2019s amazing that with hard work and self-discipline you can create an unconventional life path if that\u2019s what you choose to do. While I\u2019m definitely NOT on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[463,547,395],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cultofmoney.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}