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Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to wait until payday to write a check for your bills? What if you could just pay for stuff and not have to worry if the money was there? What if you no longer enjoyed your job and you could just quit and not have to worry about how you're going to eat? Financial independence is something that we've all dreamed of, but very few of us ever attain this lofty goal. Instead we continue to live paycheck to paycheck hoping that our money problems will just go away. It's hard work to get there, but the reward is greater than you could imagine. Take this five step challenge and make yourself financially independent.

1. Make a Commitment The first thing you have to do is commit to yourself to the goal. You know that becoming financially independent is going dramatically decrease your stress about money problems, allow you to spend more time with your family, and allow you to do a lot of things that you never could be fore. You have to be able to commit to yourself that you will do what it takes to get there, and not just throw up your hands and quit when it gets hard. Commit to yourself that you will do what it takes to achieve financial independence.

2. Do the Research Having a goal is not enough; you have to determine what you need to do to get there. If you want to be financially independent, you how you're going to make extra money, how much you plan on investing, and how much you need to become financially independent. This is just as important the actual work. If you make a bunch of money and invest it poorly, your efforts will go to waste. If you quit before the race is over because you think you have enough money, you'll be back at square one.

So how can we figure these things out? The definition of financial independence is when your money makes more money than you do. If you make $50,000 a year, you need investments which make you at least that much. If the stock market averages an 8% rate of return after inflation, you would have to have $625,000 in mutual funds before you were financially independent. That's a lot of money, but don't worry, it's not an insurmountable feat. You have the power of time and compound interest on your side.

Coming up with extra ways to earn money and save money are up to you. You know what your skills are and are able to figure out where your excess spending is better than anyone else. You have to look deep within your finances and be able to cut the fat and find ways to bring home more money

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