Imagine Freedom

What would you do if you didn’t have to work?

I’m sure even reading that question brought up all kinds of questions and objections and grumblings for you, but take a breath and just come with me on a thought experiment.

What time would you wake up?  What time would you go to bed?  Would your exercise routine change?  Would you spend more time with friends and/or family?  Would you work on your hobbies or develop new hobbies?  Would you learn something new?  Would you volunteer or start a side business for fun?  Would you take more time to rest?  Would you travel more?

Once you’ve taken a minute to start dreaming about what this life could look like for you, you are ready for this truth bomb. 

It’s possible.

Typically we think of retirement as an age…an old age… where we can finally stop working and spend our time doing what we want.  There’s at least one problem with this model.  Think back to that ideal life you just created for yourself.  How much of that will you still be able to do when you are in your 60s or 70s?  Will you be up for world travel?  Will you be as active and motivated as you are now?  Maybe!  But when I talk to people who have retired traditionally, it is more common that they are happy and content being at home and resting, all the plans they had for retirement don’t seem as appealing to them anymore so they fell by the wayside.  

Here’s the thing.  Retirement isn’t an age.  In actuality, we can “retire” as soon as we no longer need a traditional job to support our living expenses.  Work becomes optional and we can begin exercising more choice around how we spend our time.  There are many ways to get here that involve creating additional income streams and smart, simple investing.  How do you know when you’ve reached this point?  The most simple calculation is to multiply your annual living expenses by 25.  This number will tell you how much you would need, assuming that money was properly invested, to live on those investments without ever running out of money.  To get here, follow the simple advice of “live on less than you earn and invest the rest.”  

Having a goal in mind, like that dream life you just imagined, makes it really easy to get serious about this process.  For me, it became a priority to cut unnecessary spending, negotiate everything, and shovel as much as I possibly can into my investment accounts.  I know that my dream life includes more travel and more time focused on working with environmental causes.  And wow does this goal light a fire under me!  

When I work with people who don’t know that this is an option, they are much more likely to ignore or postpone getting their financial lives together.  People tell me that their debt is just a fact of life or investing sounds too intimidating or scary.  When we start working together on goals and possibilities, I see that same fire light up in them!  There is so much momentum created when we know where we are aiming.  I want you to know that your ideal life is possible for you too, and probably much sooner than you think!

A client recently told me that she believes she has to be working all the time because having too much free time makes her feel anxious.  A lot of people share this sentiment, the idea of free time often makes us want to crawl out of our skin.  While this is understandable, I do not believe that the solution is to figure out how to stay as busy as possible.  It might take practice to start sitting in that discomfort to figure out what is really going on.  Are there underlying issues that need to be addressed?  Do you need to find more fulfilling ways to spend your time?  Does your worldview need to expand?  We’ve all heard the saying that your profession won’t be engraved on your tombstone, and it’s true.  You can love your job but it will never love you back.  Let’s start doing the tough work that needs to be done to start moving in the direction of freedom.  It’s worth it!