It’s Thursday lunchtime and FIcology Boy, errrr Man (he’s in his twenties now), messages me: “Hey Dad, I’m starting this new project, did you want to show me that AI agent framework you built so I can use it?” Thursday pivots on a dime to an afternoon of video calls, screen sharing, and development collaboration. I get emotional (I’m literally tearing up writing this) thinking how fortunate I am to get to spend that time with my son – to mentor, encourage, be with, and watch him grow in his new craft. I seriously have to be one of the luckiest people alive.
If I hadn’t already FIRE-d (reached financial independence and retired early – see 022 | What is FI / FIRE and the Different Types of FIRE?), this opportunity would never have materialized. I’d have been chained to someone else’s schedule, giving the best parts of me to something/someone other than the people that matter most to me.
Note: I made the call to FIRE last October – more on how I got there in 017 | The Decision to FIRE.
The wealth that financial independence has brought me is time freedom, not more stuff. Time freedom is not just having more hours, it’s having full say over them.
Mindset and Happiness
This may not apply to everyone, but for me, optimism, contentment, and happiness are not the default. I tend to be the opposite of all those. I talked about this some in 009 | Community: Life or Death / Boom or Bust. That means I have to actively monitor my mindset and work on it regularly. Reaching FI allowed me to leave the source of a lot of my stress, anxiety, and fear. But, it enabled something bigger than that.
It’s freed up time to do the mindset work I need and to pursue things that bring me happiness. By “happiness”, I mean real, lasting happiness from inside, not the fleeting dopamine hit you get from buying something. Don’t get me wrong – I still like stuff. But I now know in my heart, it doesn’t bring lasting happiness. In fact, it often brings exactly the opposite over the long run.
Some of the things I can now do, or do more of, to stay happy include:
- Coffee with friends where we share life and encouragement
- Getting a minimum of 8 hours of sleep each night
- Exercising more
- Reading self-help books and applying principles I learn
- Taking vacation time with Mrs. FI
- Writing these blog posts
- Helping and encouraging others
Freedom to Create and Explore
Career and earnings give purpose and joy to many people. And I know people that legitimately love what they do for a living; I was one of them. But my career shifted from doing what I loved (software development) to managing teams of people doing what I loved. Those are two very different things. I now had to answer to people above me for the actions of people below me, many of whom didn’t love what they were doing. Before reaching FI, the time demands of that job and the need for the income it provided prevented me from exploring anything different.
While I consider myself retired, it’s a leaner retirement than I’d like. But, I now have the time and energy to try out new things at my own pace. Those things may, occasionally, make some money – like 021 | Putting the FIRE in Fireworks – which helps loosen our budget a little. If one of those things leads to steady income on my terms AND I love it, then I’d be fine having some level of career again. If not, that’s fine too as long as I’m enjoying the journey.
Some of the things I’m currently creating and exploring include:
- Creating this site
- Writing curriculum for a Bible study
- Learning AI and AI-driven software development
- Helping friends with their businesses and/or projects
- Tinkering with new business ideas
- Pursuing hobbies with income potential
- Building software – the FI calculator, for example
- Spending time with happy, successful people
Lowered Expenses – A Surprise Bonus
Like I mentioned above, my retirement is leaner than I’d like. What I’ve stumbled across is that I can cut our required expenses by doing things myself that I would previously have paid someone else to do. Or, I can keep up maintenance better, prolonging the life of things we own. I can also do things to help others, like FIcology Boy and Girl, cut expenses.
Here are some of the things I’ve been able to do to lower expenses:
- Automobile maintenance
- Brake fluid flush: $150 at shop, $16 myself
- Coolant flush: $350 shop, $104 myself
- Oil & filter changes: $100-$120 shop, $30-$45 myself
- Cooking meals at home – dining out has gotten very expensive
- Bargain shopping – mostly groceries, but other items can be found at reduced prices if you have the time to shop
- Kitchen table & chairs – FIcology Boy will be getting his first apartment next month. I stumbled across a free kitchen table & chairs set that I’ll spend < $50 cleaning up for him and he’ll have a nice solid set for years
- Soliciting the propane company to sell us the underground leased tank – this cost $500 upfront, but will save us $1,000-$2,000 per year in propane cost. This paid for itself on the first tank refill!
A few things I’ve always done myself (included here to give the reader more ideas):
- Pest treatments – just need a cheap pump sprayer, chemicals, and protective clothing
- Outdoor deck & stair treatment – power washer, tarps, stain, and throwaway brushes
- Auto detailing & protection – I do this for myself, Mrs. FI, and FIcology Boy & Girl, and an occasional friend.
- Lawn maintenance – we’ve never paid a mowing service; it’s just not that hard
- Light plumbing – toilet rebuilds, garbage disposal replacement, faucet replacement, etc.
Wrap Up
I’m still finding my way in this new phase of life and there are still challenges. Financial independence doesn’t exempt you from life’s harder parts. “No one gets a pass”, as one of my coffee buddies likes to say. But I can tell you with 100% certainty – my happiness and quality of life are tenfold better now and there’s no price I can put on that. And none of that came from buying more. It came from having more say over my hours.
As always, thank you for reading. Check out the FIRE calculator while you’re here. And if you like this, please share with a friend and follow us on Facebook.
If you had some newly freed up hours, what would you fill them with? Let me know in the comments.
See you next time, FI friends!