Financial independence is when you have enough money to sustain your desired lifestyle and have the time to do as you like. For example, you can take a holiday for 6 months without having to worry about not having income.
Let me give you an example. A doctor may earn high income but he trade it with his time. If he stops working, he will not have income.
Alternatively, he owns a clinic (or a chain of clinics) which he hire other doctors to run. In this case, he does not need to work at his clinic and still have income - also known as passive income.
Of course, to achieve that, he would have thought harder and put in the effort to build up his business.
Note that financial independence might not be necessary be that you drive a ferrari and live in a big house - unless that's your desired lifestyle.
You can also be financial independent if you live in a HDB flat, drive a normal car (or don't drive a car), have income to sustain your simple lifestyle, and you can choose to work for fun
People like Bill Gates and Donald Trump, they work because they want to, not because they need to.
