I'm All For FI (But Not Necessarily the RE)

The Financial Independence, Retire Early movement (FIRE) is more popular than ever, and after several years of hemming and hawing I’ve decided to embrace the title as financial independence is something that I aspire to as well – but I’m not as interested in early retirement.

For one thing, I’m not sure early retirement is in the cards for my household.

I’m on the verge of turning 38 years old. My wife is a little less than two years older, but I’ll skillfully avoid discussing the birthday she’s going to celebrate next year. We were both late bloomers who started our careers in our 30s, choosing to work joe-jobs (albeit, well-paying joe jobs for the most part) in our 20s and live the hedonistic lifestyles that all young people should probably try to live for at least a few years before they suck it up and get serious about what they’re doing. Trust me, the amount of debaucherous fun we had seems like a very fair trade off.

Whereas most people considering the FIRE movement have 35-40 years of career ahead of them if they want it, Cheryl and I have a truncated amount of work life in which to make things happen, and we’re both fairly ambitious – we want to make things happen in our careers.

But I’m also not sure we would ever really want to retire in the traditional sense.

In the traditional sense, retirement meant leaving your work after x amount of time dedicated to a career, receiving some sort of gold watch or other parting gift, and living on a pension, 401(k) or 403(b) while playing golf and getting obnoxiously drunk in some Sun Belt community where people wear way too much white and pastel-colored clothing and weave around the streets in golf carts.

NO THANK YOU to that. Of course, the retire early folks are spending their time pursuing side hustles, or engaging in philanthropy, or traveling the world – and their stories are truly inspiring – but that’s not what retirement usually means for people. Retirement usually involves accepting a finite lifestyle with finite resources. As long as I’m working, though, I avoid placing those limitations upon household.

As it turns out, both Cheryl and I really like what we do. I’m a financial journalist writing for a trade publication oriented towards financial advisors. I’ve always been a “both sides of the brain” kind of person, so I love the ability to combine my love of writing and language, the hard mathematics of money and markets, and the behavioral and emotional implications of financial planning. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be writing a blog about it.

In fact, I can’t imagine accepting a job or pursuing a career that I would want to retire from as early as I possibly can.

Cheryl is a graphic, web and instructional designer, and a damn good one. She also generally likes what she does because it combines her natural talent as a visual artist (we first met in arts school: me, a cellist/writer, her a multimedia visual artist).

While I think Cheryl would want to take some time away from work if and when (hoping on when) children come into the picture, she’s not the kind of person who would want to be idle for very long. A formal job would likely eventually be replaced by a side hustle that would eventually grow into a full-blown gig. My wife is a lot more entrepreneurial than I am, and thank god for that.

The point being, separating entirely from my work is not all that appealing to me, and it doesn’t seem to be all that appealing to my wife.

So why do I love the FIRE movement?

Because the elements that we engage in to lead to financial independence: frugality, boosting income, investing, saving and careful planning, are the exact same elements that the financial planning industry is trying to get its clients to embrace – and we’re doing it voluntarily because it’s good for us. We’re like children who always eat their vegetables because we know that they’ll help us grow up strong and healthy.

Because financial independence is the new retirement. Rather than run harder to get to some end point where I can say "screw work," I want the ability to dictate when, where, how, and how long I work, for whom, for how much money, and what exactly I'm going to do. That's a powerful draw - and that is what financial independence means to me.

Because financial independence is incredibly important in a world that has changed to the point where careers usually last 11 years or less, where jobs evaporate when the economy slows down, and where professions are being disrupted and destroyed by the evolution of technology.

Because Cheryl and I work in small businesses.

Because the social safety net programs enabled by the wealth and institutional power of stable, democratic governments are not really entitlements and there’s no guarantee they will exist in the future – and because these programs should be safety nets for the poor, elderly and disabled, not “get out of work free” cards for people who are still skilled and able to plan.

Because I still believe in personal responsibility and accountability.

Because Cheryl and I have goals beyond our careers regarding family, travel and leisure, and financial independence secures those goals for the long-haul.

I might not retire early – or ever retire – but I will do everything I can to ensure that I am able to live a financially independent lifestyle. Thank you for following me on my journey.

How about you? Do you FIRE? Do you intend to retire early?