What Does Financial Freedom Mean?

Fnancial freedom has lots of avatars and different meanings for different people. However, for a lot of people, it means retiring rich, whether they do it at an earlier stage or at the proper age of, say, 60 years or so. In a recent panel discussion on ‘Financial Freedom: Retiring Rich’, a part of the investor education and awareness initiative of Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund in association with Outlook Money, experts discussed the nuances of financial freedom. The panellists for the discussion were K.S. Rao, head of investor education and distribution development at Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company; Amit Trivedi, an author, speaker, blogger and trainer; Harsh Roongta, a personal finance and tax expert; and P.V. Subramanyam, a chartered accountant, trainer, educator and author. Here are some edited excerpts from the discussion: Rao said although financial...