Choosing to be Financially Free

Welcome to the initial post in the Financially Free blog series. My primary goal in this series is to share several big picture lessons I have learned from a couple decades of investing. The motivation behind these posts is chiefly to make sense of hundreds of books, blogs, and other materials that largely contradict each other, are riddled with errors and bad advice, and often are biased by a sales motivation of the author. I share my favorite materials in the posts that follow.

Another goal in this series is to provide readers with a high level, philosophic approach to achieving financial freedom, if they so choose, without miring readers in confusing math. I also propose a system that is as simple as I could create, while complex enough to handle most situations.

Please note that this series is written for readers with at least average investing experience, who are cash-flow positive in their lifestyle, and are interested more in the big picture rather than specific tactical suggestions. For example, this series does not recommend an “extreme frugal” lifestyle as a strategy of obtaining wealth. There are several books and blogs already devoted to that subject. I say enjoy your lattes — as long as you have considered the opportunity cost.

Steps to being Financially Free

Financially Free 1: Overview

Financially Free 2: What is Financial Freedom?

Financially Free 3: Opportunity Cost — The Number One Driver of Wealth

Financially Free 4: Passive Income Defined

Financially Free 5: Start with the End in Mind — Lifestyle Spending

Financially Free 6: Maximizing Lifestyle Spending

Financially Free 7: Savings Goals

Financially Free 8: Where Freedom Starts — The Wealth Account

Financially Free 9: Safety Net

Financially Free 10: Family Bank

Financially Free 11: Debt

Financially Free 12: Growth Investments

Financially Free 13: Active Income

Financially Free 14: Cash Flow Investments

Financially Free 16: Using Leverage to Accelerate Returns

Financially Free 17: 4% Rule — Wealth Distribution Phase

Financially Free 17: Sequence of Return Risks and the Cash Cushion

Financially Free 18: Putting it All Together

Financially Free 19: Why Deposit Paychecks in the Wealth Account?

Financially Free 20: The “Side Hustle”

Financially Free 21: You are Your Number One Asset

Financially Free 22: Your Business is Your Number One Investment

Financially Free 23: Active Income Freedom

Financially Free 24: What Happens When the Economy Crashes Again?

Financially Free 25: Sacrifice is the Key to Wealth

Financially Free 26: Freedom or Contentment?

Financially Free 27: Living the Good Life

Important Caveats

I am not a CPA, tax lawyer, registered investment advisor, or any other type of financial professional. The thoughts in these posts are mine and are shared solely for discussion purposes. Do not rely on these thoughts for any kind of advice. See a financial professional before making any decisions.

I hope these thoughts have been helpful — or at least challenged your views on the concepts of money, wealth, freedom, and contentment.

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In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer as well as IP mediation services. For more on the latest developments in IP law, see Ideate blog and IP Questions Answered blog.