When I talk about financial independence and wanting to retire early, many people look at me as if I’d sprouted a second head right in front of them.
“I love my job!” they say. “I don’t want to retire!”
Great! Wonderful! You’re being paid to do what you love – that makes you one of the Lucky Ones!
Take a moment and consider what it’s like for those of us who aren’t so blessed as to love our livelihoods, those of us who dream of a day when we can do what we want with all of our precious, precious time. Most of us work because we have to, not because we love what we do. And a good number of workers don’t actively hate their jobs. They simply don’t love them and would rather be paid to do something that they enjoyed.
And if you’re wondering why we don’t just find jobs that we love and do those instead, please gently hit yourself in the head with a hammer. Take it on good authority that we have tried to find jobs that we love as much as you love yours. There just aren’t as many of those ideal positions going around so not all of us are going to get one.
Instead, I’m going to ask you Lucky Ones to put yourselves in the shoes of the rest of us. That way, you might gain some insight into why some of us are working so hard to achieve financial independence and, possibly, early retirement.
Lucky Ones, ask yourselves the following: What if you didn’t love your job? And what if the job you love today turns into one that you don’t love tomorrow?
What if any of the following things happen?
- The boss you love retires…and the new boss isn’t to your liking.
- Your best work buddies move away.
- You have to take on duties that make you stressed and irritable.
- You’re passed over for a promotion that you know you earned.
- Others are laid off, which means your workload goes up.
- Harassment, sexual or otherwise, creeps into your daily workday.
There are many, many things that can happen in one hot minute to turn a job-you-love into a job-you-hate. Spend an hour or two at Ask-A-Manager to see what I mean. If half of the people writing to Alison had built up enough money to leave their jobs when they wished, then she’d have so much less to write about!
Or maybe your job never causes you to shed a tear, yet you lose it anyway. For example, your company is bought by another one, or there’s some kind of re-organization. For whatever reason, your job is eliminated. It happens to a lot of people. Those who don’t have a financial cushion are the ones who will be stressed and desperate to find something else. People who’ve been working towards financial independence have the luxury of taking some time to figure out what the next steps are going to be.
What if you had enough money to walk away from your job when it stops making you happy? Or what if you had a great, big cushion of money to land on if you were kicked to the curb due to downsizing or ageism?
That’s the beauty and power of financial independence. When your job stops being one that brings you joy, being financially independent gives you the choice to walk away.
I want to be explicitly clear – you don’t have to retire early just because you’re financially independent. Money = choices. Having money doesn’t remove your choice to keep working. It simply gives you the choice to do something else when your current position stops bringing you happiness.
So make hay while the sun shines! Get in touch with your inner squirrel and start gathering that sweet, sweet cash for the day when you’ve simply had enough. You won’t regret having the options that only money can buy when the time comes.
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Weekly Tip: Pick one day a week to be the day that you don’t spend any money. Most of us spend a little something every single day. Did you know that it only takes $27.40 per day to spend $10,000 in one year? Challenge yourself to keep your money in your pocket atleast one day out of every 7.