Aren't we all? ;)

Are you tired of being "trapped" in "rat race", working day in and day out to earn a paycheck that just covers your immediate and short-term expenses?

Do you feel like you just aren't making any positive progress in this way towards your true financial independence?

Do you, therefore, believe that there *must* be a better way? And are you ready to take advantage of this better way when you see it?

In these articles, I will share with you what we believe is this "better way" and provide you with a roadmap that you may customize to your situation and needs and use for yourself to achieve your true financial independence as soon as possible! :)

In a "nut shell", here is what we believe to be simple roadmap, listed in order of importance, to your financial independence:

1) Build and grow a truly passive income stream!

2) Generate additional revenue with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products (and/or others' services)

3) Use money you earn from working, e.g. your "day job" and/or business(es), to further fuel your investments in and accelerate returns on these investment from #1 and #2 above.

In this article, I will address Step #1, which is one that we feel is critical success factor and most important "piece in puzzle" to achieving and sustaining your true financial independence as soon as possible! :)

We believe that "key" to true financial independence is to have a steady, and preferably growing, source of truly "passive income".

So ... What is a "passive income"?

A truly passive income is any source of income wherein you continue to make money without having to expend any further time or effort to maintain source or level of this income.

You may probably already see that when you have a truly passive income that generates sufficient funds to cover your necessary monthly expenses then you are truly financially independent, since this means that you no longer have to perform any further work to earn money you need to live on, right?! :)

So ... How do you get to a passive income that covers your expenses?

Well, like Robert T. Kiyosaki, author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" books, T. Harv Ecker, author of "The Millionaire Mind", and so many other "guru's" will tell you, key to a truly passive income is making Your Money Work hard for You! Rather than you working hard for your money! Right?

So ... How do you get your money working hard for you?

Well, firstly, you have to have some money that you can put to work for yourself, right?

And unless you are lucky enough to win lottery or happen to inherit (or find ;)) a large sum of money, then chances are that you will have to start with what you can afford out of what you currently have saved and/or from your earnings and grow it from there, right?

Then, there are many, many ways in which you may earn a passive income, from stocks and bonds, CD's, mutual funds, money market accounts, real estate, commodities, investing in businesses, etc. etc., right?

And each of these has their Pro's and their Con's relative to all of rest.

Which of these is best for you and your particular needs and situation is somewhat beyond scope of this article, and may be addressed in more detail in a future article, but herein *point* we wish to have you take away with you is ...

Pick whichever passive income generation methods are best for you, start growing your passive income stream(s) and start getting your money working for you Today! Right?

Please see resource box below for more information regarding passive income generation method(s) which we prefer, use for ourselves, and therefore recommend.

Your mortgage is probably biggest loan you will ever take out, so it is important to get a mortgage with an interest rate that suits you. This will depend on various factors like type of mortgage selected, your personal circumstances and your plans for future.

Get independent financial advice before you choose a mortgage. It's an area where you'll probably find expert financial advice helpful.

Capped rate

This is another special limited term arrangement where, although your payments can go up and down, they are guaranteed not to rise above a certain level. So you will benefit from interest rate falls during capped rate period. When arrangement finishes, you will then pay lender's standard variable rate.

Discounted rate

Once again interest rate will vary, but you will pay a rate less than lender's standard variable rate. As you might expect, such beneficial treatment can't last forever and after a limited period of time, you will pay lender's standard variable rate.