What are the common misconceptions about financial freedom and how can you overcome them?

livemint.com:

If you are a regular on LinkedIn, the term FIRE will be very familiar. The acronym, when dismantled, stands forFinancial Independence, Retire Early. There are numerous stories of how people have hacked this status of FIRE in their lives and in turn the lessons learnt, which through such posts, get passed on to others.

Mostly, the promoters of financial freedom get it right; they talk about financial freedom being your ability to control your choices in life, your ability to control your time and your ability to generate income without fussing around with a 9 to 5 job and so on.

But, is it just that, your ability to have control?

Before we dwell on what financial freedom is, let’s try to establish what it’s not.

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It’s definitely not about having some predefined sum of money. Life and life’s choices are fluid. Money is transactional but wealth is a state of mind. It’s true that one can never have enough money, but there comes a point in life where you can consciously have enough wealth. Hence, you may find it tiresome to chase that elusive sum of money thinking that you are moving closer to financial freedom.

It is also not about freeing up your time in an absolute sense. You may be financially free and still go into an office, for a job or whatever work you are interested in. Many people feel that when they are financially free, they can give up working. Once financially free, you might realise that doing the right kind of work is a lot more fulfilling than doing nothing.

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Of course, there is that partial level of financial freedom, a mezzanine floor perhaps,