There is a fundamental flaw in this logic of financial independence.

The economy cannot survive long term with a majority of participants in a situation where they do not have to work or produce anything to have money. Making money from money is the goal of many. Anybody with a sane mind would rather push money around and make a profit than to swing a hammer or build a vehicle or flip burgers for a paycheck. The problem is that if everyone (an extreme for illustration) were what I will call "money changers" than the economy would come to a halt in quick order. Those who are able to benefit from changing money are only able to do so as a result of those who are actually producing a value. An investor can only succeed if those with their sleeves rolled up actually DO something.

Real estate - Assuming prices are going up, one could buy low and sell high and make a good profit. Enough of these deals might lead to financial independence. The cost to this is that the real estate market will come crashing down in the end (as it had done) and the money will be siphoned right back out of thing - this is because there was nothing there to begin with. A house is a house is a house regardless of what deeds are thrown around and how many zeros are on the thing. It is a perception of value pushed by an onslaught of folks looking to make something from nothing, artificially inflating prices as demand went up. Now that the real estate market has crashed, we are back where we started to much earlier price levels. How is the society better of from this?

Look at Paris Hilton (perhaps a bad example, but it works). She is no different than a bum on the side of the street in terms of value to society as a member of that society. She can spend her inherited money - but who earned it? What value was given back to society for that money - likely from her parent's involvement with the hotel. She's a leach. Some might argue that if she is paying for a service than she is giving value. But this logic has more holes than swiss cheese. There is no value in money. Whether you hold a one $1 or a $100 dollar bill, both are just pieces of linen cloth with some fancy engraving on them. The value is ONLY what you can potentially receive in the end by exchanging that bill for something. Would anybody pay Paris Hilton with said linen for something of value, besides more green hued videos?

Those who merely turn money into more money aren't much different in the scheme of the economy. Once wealth is achieved in this capacity, the result is an individual who consumes much more than they produce, a net loss on the society.

I am not scorning on investments. Business needs money, investors are required to do this. If one can make money through wise investing, then kudos to them. But the reality of the situation remains. This is one of the fundamental reasons that our capitalist market always swings up and down, up and down, up and down, etc.

Currently, we are at the end a huge upswing in perceived values. Its got to go bust and self correct once in a while - and so we have the current economic situation.