Money Wellness

Published 28 Jul 2025

2 min read

What does financial independence mean to you?

Financial independence means different things to different people.

What does financial independence mean to you?
James Glynn - Money Wellness

Written by: James Glynn

Senior financial content writer

Published: 28 July 2025

After all, we all have our own goals, circumstances and priorities.

In general, it means financial independence means having enough personal wealth and passive income to cover your living expenses without needing to actively work for money.

But for many of us, it means something quite specific.

According to Scottish Widows research, the most common measures of financial independence are:

  • being debt-free - 56%
  • having sufficient emergency savings - 51%
  • comfortably meeting daily expenses - 43%

But one in four working age adults in the UK don’t feel financially independent.

And a quarter - 5.7 million people - don’t think they’ll ever be financially independent.

What challenges do people face?

The Scottish Widows study also looked at some of the reasons why people feel financial independence is out of reach.

Figures showed that:

  • nearly two-fifths (37%) don’t feel confident they could cover unexpected financial emergencies
  • one in three (33%) say they don’t have any disposable income at the end of each month
  • more than a third (35%) don’t feel they’re able to save enough for retirement

Help is available

If you’re struggling to manage your money, then get in touch.
 
We’re here to listen to you without judgement, understand you and improve your financial wellbeing, whether that’s through:

We also have plenty of useful online resources, such as tips on how to create a budget and building a rainy-day fund.

James Glynn - Money Wellness

Written by: James Glynn

Senior financial content writer

James has spent almost 20 years writing news articles, guides and features, with a strong focus on the legal and financial services sectors.

Published: 28 July 2025

The information in this post was correct at the time of publishing. Please check when it was written, as information can go out of date over time.

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James Glynn - Money Wellness

Written by: James Glynn

Senior financial content writer

Published: 28 July 2025

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