Written by Alex Seleznev, MBA, CFP®, CFA | July 2, 2025
Happy July 4th! To me, this day is more than just fireworks and barbecues. It’s a reminder of how far our country has come in less than 250 years. We’ve faced plenty of challenges along the way and it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate all that we’ve achieved.
For our firm, July 4th means something special. Since Capital Squared is a fully independent firm, we can focus completely on what really matters: Helping you succeed financially.
Without any corporate distractions or agendas, our goal is to help guide you on your journey toward financial independence.
Speaking of financial independence, have you ever thought about how it’s different from just reaching traditional retirement goals? I’ve been reflecting on this topic recently and wanted to share a few thoughts in this week’s lighter newsletter. Both terms are often used interchangeably. But is that really true?
A person who is “retired” may not necessarily be “financially independent.” On the other hand, someone who is “financially independent” can usually move into retirement relatively easily if they chose to do so.
So let’s dig a bit deeper.
Of course, many of you are already familiar with the idea of retirement planning. The traditional goal is to stop working once you’ve built up enough assets and income. One of the most general rules of thumb is that you should aim to replace 60% to 80% of your current income in retirement. Your personal target can certainly be different and impacted by your individual circumstances.
The next step is to run projections to figure out when you’ll be able to reasonably expect to hit those income goals. As a financial planner who specializes in retirement planning, I try to be careful with the word “retirement”. This is because a lot of people just don’t relate to it or simply afraid of thinking about it. I know that might sound surprising, but it’s true!
One of the biggest issues with the traditional approach is that many people end up retiring just to escape. They’re not necessarily excited about the next chapter. They just want to get away from the daily grind which in some cases has become routine and unfulfilling. But that’s not really a recipe for success. The honeymoon phase of that kind of “escape” usually lasts just a few years, or even less, before people start looking for something meaningful again.
This is rather different from the idea of financial independence. The tools used in this approach might look similar to traditional retirement planning. You would still need to run some numbers and make sure you're on track. But instead of focusing on just the numbers, the goal is to think about your whole lifestyle once you’ve reached a certain level of income.
For example, would you keep working your current job if you didn’t need the paycheck?
Maybe you would retire right away and focus on pickleball, golf, travel or spending more time with your family (all great things by the way!). Or maybe you would use your life experience to give back, support a cause, work part-time, do pro bono work or even start your own business. You would actually continue working but with a different purpose.
Once you're financially independent, the possibilities are endless. Or more accurately, your options are only limited by your imagination and willingness to try new things. To me, achieving financial independence is a much more powerful idea. It gets people thinking about what really matters to them. Very often, they realize that hitting X dollars by age Y isn’t what they truly want. They want meaningful engagement, to make an impact and to spend more time with the people they really care about.
As we celebrate our nation’s independence, I hope this newsletter gets you thinking about what true financial independence could mean for you. It can be incredibly powerful once you go beyond the numbers!