A Foundation For Prosperity

Written by Robert Koraca on Mar 27, 2009 1:06 pm

Read More: Discipline | Personal Development

What does the term financial security mean to you? It’s an important consideration because how you define it has a lot to do with how you achieve it. Financial security means many different things to many different people. For some, financial security might mean never having to work again. Others, who perhaps enjoy their jobs and the fulfillment they obtain from working, might see financial security as having enough money put away to ensure a comfortable and happy retirement. Another flavor of financial security might be to reclaim one’s life from the stresses of workaday living—finding happiness through absolute freedom from commitments, work or otherwise. And finally, there are those who might consider financial security as having sufficient assets to not only provide for oneself and one’s family, but to help others in need as well.

Most people would agree however that financial security is a big factor in the happiness that one experiences on a day-to-day basis. It’s also an important distinction to realize that financial security is relative, and so is happiness. For a person who relishes living off the land and who is quite content in a lean-to in the woods, financial security is boiled down to the basics—having enough food, water, and shelter to survive comfortably and happily.

But for most people, certainly those who toil their days away making a living, the financial security that breeds bountiful happiness is undoubtedly a form of financial independence. And financial independence could almost universally be described as not having to depend on anyone else for a living.

The happiness that we all seek in our pursuit of financial security starts with a solid financial foundation. In order to build and achieve financial independence in the future, one needs to build upon solid financial investments today. Thinking, planning or dreaming about an abundant future—a future that includes both financial security and financial independence—is not enough.

You need the personal discipline to address your true status today, and then take action to correct it tomorrow. The old saying that money doesn’t grow on trees is obviously quite true. Get your financial plan in place. Bring enough money into your life to invest as well as to live off of. Understand the art and science of investing, and do it wisely. Financial independence is achievable—as long as you have a foundation for prosperity in place.