Financial Independence This 4th of July

As I scour the internet for the personal finance and banking articles I think will be of value to you, I run across holiday themed ones every holiday. I found several relating to “Financial Independence This 4th of July”, and, no, they are not articles with the same information from the same source, though that is what I originally thought.

After reading through them I decided to give you a summary of some of the articles and links to a few others. You can choose which one(s) to read in full.

Take Steps Toward Financial Independence This 4th of July is from Fox Business. Here are a few things they think you should consider doing now to become more financially free:

• Save money automatically
• Round up your mortgage payments
• Budget, Budget, Budget–see our article for how to do that
• Personalize your accounts
• Focus on the future

All of these are great advice and are things to consider, if you aren’t already doing them.

The next article, This 4th of July, Declare Your Financial Independence is from Credit.com. They focus on ways to “help your savings shine” and include:

• Compounding Interest
• 401(k) Match
• Diversification
• Passive Income

They also suggest checking your credit reports and credit scores regularly.

Another article is Ten Ways to Start Your Way Financial Independence This July 4 from Forbes. They remind you that “true freedom requires financial independence” (AGREED!) and offer 10 steps to get closer to it:

1. Spend less than you earn
2. Take your lunch to work
3. Cancel your gym membership
4. Sign-up for your workplace 401(k) retirement plan
5. Share
6. Move the thermostat
7. Join the local library
8. Pay cash
9. Set up a Roth IRA
10. Clean up your car

Again, all of it is great advice.

More articles I found, with little summary:

• A blog post on the Huffington Post titled Independence Day about being an entrepreneur and starting your own business.
• Make 4th of July Your Financial Independence Day from Get.com. Simple, practical advice.
• There will most likely be more articles posted in the next few days dealing with this subject. I found many from last year, so I think there will be more to come this year.

“Financial Independence” is a very popular topic on the 4th of July! I challenge you to choose at least one suggestion listed above and apply it to your finances. If you want to do more, that’s great! But choose at least one area you can improve on. What financial habit is limiting your freedom? It’s up to you to declare your own Financial Independence this 4th of July!

UPDATE: Just as I predicted, more articles were written. Here are some additional ones to look at:

• Forbes.com wrote one aimed at Millennials titled Financial Independence Day for Millennials. It is about economic pressures millennials face that are different than ones their parents faced.
• Finding Financial Independence for the Fourth by H&R Block
• 3 Ways to Start Achieving Financial Freedom This July by CheatSheet.com. Ideas such as reducing car expenses.
• And this is the last link I will add. From GoGirl Finance I give you 5 Ways to Achieve Financial Independence this July 4th. Good tips, including following your intuition.