Financial Independence (FI) is a major life goal for most people. It frees us to do anything we want in life without the consequence of running out of money.
Money drives almost everything around us. With it, the possibilities are endless. Without it, they’re very limited.
Most of us live our lives somewhere in between. Money comes in, and it goes out. There is usually enough to keep life going. But never enough to stop worrying about it. Financial independence seems very far away.
Financial independence solves money problems. But it’s also a tool to enable dreams to come true. It has more to do with the life you want to live than it has to do with money itself.
Why is financial independence important to you?
Here are my reasons.
Why financial independence is important to me
The reasons I pursued FI fall into 4 categories.
1 Time
The greatest thing about FI for me is having complete control of my time.
Time is our most precious resource in life. We can’t buy unlimited time, even if we have unlimited money—though some billionaires are trying to solve that problem. What we can buy is the use of our remaining time!
I liked my engineering career, but it controlled 50 hours of my time each week. My customers, bosses, and coworkers set my calendar.
There were many days where I felt that I wasn’t spending enough time with my family, and felt guilty that my daughter was one of the last to be picked up from daycare.
There were other days where the weather was perfect and I wished I could spend the day hiking or go for a mid-morning run. Instead, I was welcomed to work with an “emergency” phone call and spent the day in meetings and behind a computer.
Sure, as a writer, I still work on a computer for hours a day. But my work day ends as soon as I pick my daughter up from school. I don’t work any days that my daughter or wife are off. And I can prioritize a powder day on the mountain, a hike in the woods, or a paddle on the lake when I know that’s what I need.
This month has been a great example of controlling my time.
First, I said “yes” to a men’s retreat at the top of a mountain in Colorado even though I was already heading to Hawaii the following week for a wedding.
Then, my daughter was off school for an entire week when a one-day holiday was followed by snow days and sickness.
If not for financial independence, I couldn’t have gone on both trips. Two weeks in a row, only weeks after the Christmas break, would have been out of the question. And I would have sat my daughter in front of a TV on the sick days and snow days because of the lack of time off.
Financial independence lets you do things that aren’t possible when someone else controls your time. But you still have to choose time over money!
2 Work
The things I work on aren’t driven by money anymore. They’re all about how I want to use my time.
That means I get to work on Pathway to FI, even though I’m giving up millions in earnings from my engineering career. I get to help people with their finances and lives this way, and that’s deeply rewarding.
I work on what I want. But I also work when I want.
When there’s something more important for me to take care of—like a sick daughter—I can always be there. And I don’t have to take PTO, cancel meetings, get someone to backfill for me, or play rock-paper-scissors with my wife for whose turn it is. I just do it!
3 Fun
Life isn’t all about balancing time and money. And as I’ve already suggested, it isn’t about working all day long. Life is meant to be enjoyed! Why else do we have so many great activities, places to see, and things to do in this world?
I don’t know about you, but I want to fully experience life. I have plenty of things to accomplish and work that needs to be done. But I have an equal number of things to experience outside of the daily grind.
Fun looks different for everyone. What does it look like for you?
Fun with my family looks like great food, music, games, camping, skiing, and playing in the snow.
Fun with my wife looks like travel, dinner, movies, walks, and simply being together in a beautiful place.
Fun for me is hiking, paddling, running, biking, and exploring nature any way I can.
Financial independence gives me the ability to have more fun and try new things. Before I was financially independent, I had as much fun as I could. But I had less time for it. And I lived farther from the mountains, where so many of my favorite activities take place.
Financial independence allowed me to move to a place where I have the most fun!
4 Peace of mind
So far, I’ve explained that financial independence is important to me because of the lifestyle it provides. But another huge reason that I love being financially independent is what it does for me mentally.
I was a Type A achiever and competitor in my engineering days. It drove me to get a Master’s degree and a black belt. It made me a leader of large engineering teams and projects. And it pushed me to build a small real estate business on the side. But it also wore me down, burnt me out, and put me through cycles of depression.
I put a lot of attention into sleep, exercise, and nutrition to combat the stress in my life. But financial independence was the ultimate solution for me. Because of FI, I gave myself permission to change my life to something more sustainable. It wasn’t just a lifestyle change; it was a complete change of mentality on how I approached life.
I’m now a “recovering” Type A, trying to bring out more of my Type B and C traits. Read this article for more on personality types.
Financial independence gives me peace. I have less worry in life because I know that my family’s financial needs are covered for the rest of our lives. I know that we have enough money to get through ups and downs in the economy and any disaster that life could throw at us. So I don’t have to be concerned about making money anymore.
I can take life at a slower pace now. I don’t have to constantly be moving from one accomplishment to the next in order to feel successful. Instead, I can point to financial independence as proof that I’ve already won and everything is a bonus from here on. I’m enjoying more of the simple things in life: a smile from my daughter, a walk in the sunshine, a hot cup of coffee on a cold winter day.
On a daily basis, I live with more peace and less anxiety that I’m not doing enough. Never getting enough done.
I’m still working on projects and accomplishing things in life. But I have a better balance of work and rest now. So it feels like I can get everything done. That brings me peace.
If your personality is more relaxed than mine, and if you aren’t working in a fast-paced corporate world, then you might not relate to this at all. That’s okay! We’re all different, experience life differently, and have different reasons why financial independence is important to us. These are mine.
Summary
Your reasons for financial independence may be similar to mine. Or they may be vastly different. Whatever our reasons, we share a goal to have enough money to cover our living expenses for the rest of our lives.
I’m guessing most people have these desires in common:
- Control over how you spend your time
- Ability to work on what you want, when you want
- Ability to have many fun experiences throughout life
- Peace of mind from knowing you have all the money you will need in life
Do these describe why financial independence is important to you? What would you add to the list?
Knowing your ‘why’ for FI is great for motivating you to work hard and achieve financial independence. Financial independence rarely comes on accident.
Now that your ‘why’ is clear and you’re motivated to make it happen, you need the knowledge of how to achieve it. That’s what PathwayToFI.com is all about! Educating you on how to become financially independent.
So make sure to get all of the resources Pathway to FI has to offer by signing up for FREE at the bottom of the page. You can also join the Pathway to FI community at one of the social media channels linked at the top and bottom of this page.
And check out one of these articles next to continue on your path to financial independence!
