The Independence Number
The exact amount that means you answer to no one.
There is a number — specific to you, specific to your life, specific to where you live and what you need — that means financial independence. Not wealth. Not luxury. Just the amount of money that means you don't need anyone else's permission, income, or goodwill to live your life.
Most women have never calculated it. They've felt the absence of it — the sick feeling of depending on someone else's salary, the panic of not knowing whether they could survive alone, the quiet shame of having no money that's truly theirs. But they've never sat down and worked out: what would it actually take?
This page helps you find that number. Not to overwhelm you — because the number might be large and the gap between where you are and where it lives might feel like a canyon. But because you can't walk toward something you can't see. And once you have the number, you can break it down, build toward it, and stop carrying the vague dread of not knowing.
The number isn't the goal.
The freedom it represents is.
Three Versions of Your Number
Your independence number isn't one figure — it lives on a spectrum, just like the freedom scale from the last page. There are three versions, and knowing all three gives you a map instead of a cliff edge.
This is the bare bones. The amount that covers your essentials and nothing else — housing, food, utilities, transport, debt minimums, childcare. No holidays, no eating out, no subscriptions. Just the floor beneath your feet.
You already know most of this from your Financial Snapshot. Add up your non-negotiable monthly costs:
This number matters because it's your bottom line. If everything else fell away — every luxury, every comfort — this is what you'd need to keep yourself and your children safe. Knowing it removes the worst of the uncertainty: could I survive on my own? Yes. This is what it costs.
This is the number most women are really looking for. It covers everything in the survival number plus the things that make life worth living — the occasional meal out, the children's activities, a holiday once a year, some savings going in each month, room to breathe.
Take your survival number and add:
This is the income that would let you say: I'm okay. Not rich, not flashy, but genuinely okay. You can pay for the school trip without worry. You can say yes to dinner with a friend. You can save, slowly but steadily. For most women rebuilding, this is the real target — the number where the anxiety finally loosens its grip.
This is the stretch goal. It covers your comfortable life plus the ability to invest in your future, build wealth over time, and create the kind of financial cushion that means you never depend on anyone again. It's the number where money stops being something you manage and starts being something that works for you.
Take your comfortable number and add:
This number isn't urgent. It's aspirational. But writing it down matters, because it tells your brain where you're headed. And the gap between your comfortable number and your thriving number is almost always closeable — it's usually the difference one promotion, one side income, or one business makes.
What to Do With These Numbers
Look at your current income (from your Financial Snapshot) and compare it to your three numbers. Where do you currently sit? Are you below your survival number, between survival and comfortable, or already at comfortable and reaching toward thriving?
The gap between where you are and your comfortable number — that's your primary financial target. Not because the thriving number doesn't matter, but because closing this gap is what changes your daily experience of life.
Most financial advice focuses on spending less. And that matters — you've done that work already in this room. But there is a floor to cutting expenses. You can't budget your way out of an income problem.
If your current income is below your comfortable number, the most powerful thing you can do isn't cut another subscription. It's ask: how do I earn more?
Your independence number isn't just about now. It's about the woman you'll be at 60, at 70, at 80. The UK State Pension is currently around £960 a month at the full rate — which for most women won't cover even the survival number. The gap has to come from somewhere: a workplace pension, a private pension, investments, or property.
You don't need to solve this today. But you need to know it today. Because every pound you put toward your pension now is worth dramatically more than the same pound put in ten years from now. Time is the most powerful financial tool you have — and you're using it right now by being in this room.
You can check exactly how much State Pension you're on track to receive — and how many qualifying years you have — at gov.uk/check-state-pension. It takes five minutes and requires a Government Gateway login. If you've had years out of employment (raising children, for example), you may have gaps. In many cases, you can buy extra years — and it's often one of the best financial returns available anywhere. Ask Alma about this.
Why This Number Matters More Than You Think
For women who have been financially dependent on a partner — especially women coming through divorce or separation — the independence number is more than a financial calculation. It's an emotional reckoning.
Because when you see the number, you also see the gap between it and where you are. And that gap can feel like confirmation of everything you've feared: I can't do this on my own. I'm too far behind. I'll never get there.
But here's what happens when women actually calculate their numbers — and I've seen this again and again — the gap is almost always smaller than the fear. The fear is infinite. The gap is finite. It has edges. It can be measured, and anything that can be measured can be closed. Not overnight. Not in a single dramatic leap. But in steady, deliberate steps — the kind you've been practising throughout this room.
Of the three numbers you calculated, the one to carry with you is your comfortable number. Write it down. That's your North Star for every financial decision in the next year. When you're offered a job — does it get you closer? When you're considering a side income — would it bridge the gap? When you're tempted to give up on the budget — does it serve the number?
The comfortable number turns vague financial anxiety into something you can work with. And that — turning fog into a path — is what this entire room has been building toward.
You just have to know it exists,
and walk toward it
one decision at a time.