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Today’s Saturday Selection is a classic post from The White Coat Investor. In this post from about 9 months ago, the good doctor is speaking my language, although I was only good enough to come up with the Top 5 reasons to Achieve Financial Independence.
As per usual, this post originally appeared at the WCI network partner site The White Coat Investor. Here are the good Dr. Dahle’s 10 Reasons to Go For Early Financial Independence.
Today we’re going to talk about why you should become financially independent as soon as possible. What does financial independence mean? It means you can quit work today and never work again while sustaining a lifestyle that is reasonable to you.
A rule of thumb is that you need 25 times what you are actually spending socked away in investments to be FI. Spending $120K a year or $10K a month? Then you need $3 Million to be FI. How do you get there? You make a bunch of money, save a huge chunk of it, and invest it wisely.
Without further ado- ten reasons to become financially independent as soon as possible.
# 1 You can retire early
It’s called work for a reason- they have to pay someone to do it or nobody would. This is the main reason people go for early financial independence- they hate their job.
# 2 You can live somewhere that doesn’t allow you to earn a living
Oil workers can make great money…if they live in Texas. But what if you want to live in say Southern Utah? Then you’re either looking at a massive pay cut or no job at all. But if you’re financially independent, then you can live anywhere you want, or even any country you want, or travel all over the place if you want. You’re free of your job.
A lucky few are able to do this throughout their career (think professional bloggers). Docs are able to get a job in most areas of the country (although the more specialized you are, the larger a city you have to live in), but there are lots of fields where you have significant geographic limits on your jobs.
# 3 Your job is more enjoyable when you don’t have to do it
Many of us actually like what we do for pay. We spent a decade or more learning how to do it, we find it challenging and interesting, and we feel like we’re really making a difference in the lives of others. Want to know what you can do to enjoy it even more? Become financially independent. There’s nothing worse than going in to work knowing the money you’ll earn there has already been spent and there’s no escape.
# 4 EMR, HIPAA, meaningful use, preapprovals, managed care, EMTALA or whatever
Financial independence is “walking money” (i.e.you can walk away.) It doesn’t matter if it takes you six months to get another job. It doesn’t matter if you never get another job. You don’t have to take that!
# 5 Drop call, drop weekends, drop night shifts, or go part-time
Some of the worst parts about medicine come from its all-consuming 24/7/365 nature. People get sick at all hours of the day or night. However, that doesn’t mean YOU have to take care of them at those times. In many instances, it is possible to buy your way out of having to stay up all night or be available all the time. Financial independence gives you the means to work when you want to work.
# 6 Do Volunteer Work
There are many volunteer opportunities in medicine. Unfortunately, most of them require significant time and commitment. Doctors Without Borders, for instance, requires a 6 month commitment and provides a relatively tiny stipend ($1,913 a month currently.) You might not have to be financially independent to take on an opportunity like that, but you can’t be making boat payments.
# 7 Spend More Money
If you are financially independent, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have money coming out of your ears. What it does mean, however, is that anything you earn in addition to your nest egg can be blown on the silliest of things. Still like that job? Fine, buy a Porsche. Or a cruise around the world. Or a fancy McMansion. Or pay off your mom’s house. Or endow a scholarship. Whatever. There’s something fun about being able to spend every dollar you earn guilt-free.
# 8 Encore Career
Many of us dream of having an “encore career,” you know, the one that would have been stupid to do first because it pays like crap. Maybe you wanted to paint, or run a used bike coop, or in my case, drive big excavators. Now you have the opportunity to pursue any career you like without regard to the financial ramifications. You could even go back to college and get that art history degree your practical father talked you out of!
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# 9 No More Life and Disability Insurance Premiums
Sick of paying high premiums every month for insurance you’ll probably never use? Financial independence allows you to quit paying those premiums since you no longer need the insurance.
# 10 Make Hay While the Sun Shines
You may look back on this period of your life and realize that this was the golden era of medicine. In some specialties, pay decreases dramatically from time to time, and it could happen to you. If your income is halved in a few years due to factors beyond your control, you will be very glad that you saved like a madman now, whether it gets you to FI or not.
What do you think? Are you trying to become financially independent as early as possible? Why or why not? What benefit do you think it will give you? Comment below!
21 thoughts on “10 Reasons to Go For Early Financial Independence”
Driving a big backhoe sounds like a fun way to spend my time. I’ve just recently found your website, and it has certainly sparked my interest to pay more attention to my path to retirement.
I’d also add that you don’t have to worry as much! It was so, so hard to pay off our debts, but now that we’re mostly done, a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders. It’s a big adjustment at first, but wow, it’s so worth it.
Stress melts away… the day I paid the last of my mortgage and could call myself debt-free was a wonderful day.
Cheers!
-PoF
We definitely plan on living somewhere else when we retire. It might be another country or it might be on a lake somewhere or in an extremely rural area where we can afford a lot of land. It’ll be nice to have options!
The best part about being early retired and location independent is you can be wherever you want. It’s nice to have a home base, but even that is optional.
Cheers!
-PoF
The post rings true as always. Part of me is thinking to go part time now, even before I am financially independent instead of pushing for 10 years and then lay off the throttle. Time is precious. Time with children is even more precious. Why delay that time. A few caveats include paying off my school loan and my partner buy in. Once those are done then it will be time to relax and go part time.
I’m counting down the weeks to the beginning of my part-time schedule. Fortunately, I’ve been so busy that the time’s been flying by!
Best,
-PoF
Ugh! Posts like these just make me want FIRE more!
I love the idea of an encore career. Jumping around to different jobs that interest me is one of my big motivators
When money is of little concern, it’s much easier to chase your passions and explore something less lucrative but more satisfying. I have no idea what my future holds, but I enjoy knowing it won’t always involve sleepless nights and stressful days.
Cheers!
-PoF
Great list! I think of FI as the common denominator to many great paths to take in life. Want to retire early to something else you enjoy in life? Want to work less? Want to have a license to spend more? FI gives you a means to pursue at least one of these life changing moves.
I feel fortunate to have a job that I like that can afford me early FI. If I had a lower earning job such that my path to FI would cause me to make painful sacrifices in my 30s and 40s to live better in my 50s and 60s, I wonder if I would tolerate debt a bit more with the “you only live once” philosophy.
I like how ChooseFI calls FI “The Ultimate Life Hack.”
Sounds about right.
Cheers!
-PoF
#3 is my favorite. I love being able to do things because I WANT to do them, not because I HAVE to do them to pay for my lifestyle. To me that’s what F.I.R.E. is all about.
Indeed, it is.
These are 10 great reasons! I like #1-3. I would love the option of working because I want to do something I’m passionate about without worrying about the paycheck. I think it’s great if we could find a job that we love and that pays us. But it’s not exactly true for a lot of people.
It’s tough to disconnect how you feel about your job from how you feel about your paycheck sometimes. When you can make that mental disconnect, you better understand whether you like / love your job or simply enjoy making money.
Cheers!
-PoF
Really enjoyed this list! I really liked 5 and 7. My FI goal is to simply spend more time doing the things I enjoy more often. I don’t want to retire early and do nothing, I think I’d be bored.
And I feel like 7 is a reward for the hard work you put in during your working years. Like I said above, not sure I’ll retire with no income coming in. So, why not reward myself and my family?
Yup, I don’t think many early retirees look forward to “doing nothing” like the protaganist in Office Space. It’s about exploring your interests and making paid work optional.
Best of luck on your journey!
-PoF
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It’s hard to churn through all the websites out there to find gems like this article, so thank you for re-posting. How powerful is the last sentence in #3?
“There’s nothing worse than going in to work knowing the money you’ll earn there has already been spent and there’s no escape.”
If that doesn’t frighten the b’jesus out of you and motivate you to get your finances in order, I don’t know what will.
Thanks again, PoF!
You got it, Church. Glad you found your way here!
Best,
-PoF
Awesome list, I really like #2 and #6! I live in an area where many people feel like they cannot live due to the somewhat limited job market, but it is an incredible area! And I never feel like I have enough time to volunteer due to my “9-to-5”. Thank you for putting this together.
All the credit goes to WCI, but I agree — great list!