Friday, July 04, 2014

Financial Independence Day

Today is the day-- a cold and wet and dreary July 4th, when I should be celebrating the birth of our nation by sunning myself and eating hot dogs but am instead huddled indoors catching up on my finances. And because today is the day I decided to pay attention to 6 months' worth of investment transactions, today is the day I became a millionaire. In truth, it probably happened on a different day, but today is the day I first saw it in my net worth report in Quicken:

So I am celebrating financial independence today. Of course, by "financial independence" I don't mean I never have to work again, or that I can stop saving money, or even stop worrying about money. One million dollars is an arbitrary number, but there is something symbolic about it. To me, it symbolizes having succeeded in one of my financial goals, and it means that I'm on the right track. I have about 20 years to go before I hit retirement age, so if I'm lucky enough to keep myself in a good job, keep my expenses in line, stay healthy, and not have any major catastrophes in my personal finances or in the stock market and economy as a whole, I should be able to be financially independent for the rest of my life, in terms of not needing to be a burden on anyone else in my old age.

It looks like the sky is starting to lighten up a bit, so maybe it's finally time to turn off the laptop and start celebrating July 4th in a more typical way! Happy Independence Day, everyone!

8 comments:

T'Pol said...

Congratulations Madame X! That is a terrific place to be. Wish you the best of Luck!

Celshader said...

Congrats! Wishing you continued success in your life. :^)

frugal zeitgeist said...

Congratulations! It's a great feeling.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. We enjoy your blog and hope you write more frequently, as you have in the past. Your content and writing ability is far superior to most other personal financial blogs.

Unknown said...

But I would suggest my fellows to contact
Pacific Private Money Loans
for once.. These guys are very helpful.. They will give you the loan without any Up Front Fee!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. I am a similar age and about 6 months away from this goal. Similar to the comment earlier, I too enjoy your insights, and continue to check in.

Karilee said...

Congratulations, and happy Financial Independence Day!

Don't forget that one option is to retire early.

You have enough already to support yourself in a comfortable lifestyle, so if you ever find you're not loving what you do - rethink it. There's certainly no law that you have to work 20 more years to "retirement age".

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I've followed this blog many years and often wondered when you would finally reach your goal. This is a small victory for all us readers and fans who have followed you. Thanks for sharing your world with us!

D