By definition, financial independence is having enough passive income so that you no longer have to work for the money to sustain your lifestyle.
You may have heard of the FIRE movement that is sweeping through the personal finance community; it stands for "financial independence, retire early." When someone finds out that I have a goal of early retirement, the most common response is: "But won't you get bored if you're retired at 40? I'd be bored if I didn't go to work."
I imagine the people who ask me that question have visions of the retirees that they know in their life: 75 years old, watching TV or reading the newspaper, waiting for grandson to call in order to tell him to call more.
That's not the vision I have for my early retirement.
My "Why of FI"
Time: A Non-Renewable Resource
I'm working towards financial independence is to reclaim my time. All too often, people say, "I would do that if I had the time." I'm going to make the time for myself to do the things I love with the people that I love. Time is a finite and non-renewable resource, and the more of it I can reclaim to truly decide for myself what to do with it, the better.
Freedom to Work
Early retirement isn't about quitting work. It's about being able to choose when you want to work and what you want to do. I like to referee sports. I don't do that now because I want my weekends to be free for hiking and snowboarding since my weekdays are taken up by my full-time job. I enjoy my financial coaching business, and even that is tough to do part-time while teaching full-time. Once financially independent, the amount of money I make from financial coaching won't matter, and I'll be able to take on as many or as few clients as I want. If I want to continue teaching, I could probably find a job for 0.2 or 0.4 (part-time) where I would teach one or two classes for a fraction of the pay. I will have the freedom to choose the right amount of work that makes me happy because the salary will no longer be the main driver of those decisions.
Family
A huge part of reclaiming my time is to spend it with family. My wife and I plan to have two children, and I plan to be there for our children throughout their lives instead of being at work. We will be able to fully commit to each other and the family. We will be there to drop the kids off and pick them up from school, chaperone their field trips, coach their sports teams, and help them with homework. We'll have the time to make family meals that we can enjoy together and be able to take family vacations. I sometimes hear parents say that they feel like work is getting in the way of experiencing their son or daughter's childhood. I'm taking proactive steps to ensure that I'll be there.
Hobbies
I have a lot of hobbies that bring value to my life. I love to read, play sports, go for hikes and camping trips, play the piano and guitar, and write for this blog. I like to learn new things, and there are always new things to learn; that will never run out. The coronavirus pandemic has allowed me more time to embrace these hobbies without the daily stress of a full-time job and commute, and I am now even more convinced that I will not be bored.
Travel
One of the toughest parts of traveling is finding the time to do it. Without being locked down to a full-time job, the opportunities for travel are vastly improved. It even means we can travel during the off-season and have smaller crowds and cheaper travel. It also means that we could do extended vacations if there is no commitment to be back for work.
So why FI? As the word "independence" suggests, the answer is freedom. I'm buying the freedom to take my own path through this life: whatever it may be. If you would like to learn more about how you could follow this path, I offer FIRE Coaching through the Pocketbook Professor Financial Coaching Services. Feel free to ask questions and learn more!
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