The Beauty of FI

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

We all concentrate here on financial independence towards a goal of early retirement but the real value of FI hit me this week. I have a job where you can take a pay cut and get more time off, it has always been in the back of my mind that I could do this but never felt the need. In the past week my life has taken a dramatic turn.  I have a family member who is really sick and  I took a 30% pay cut so I could be there for her.  I have a 50% savings rate so in reality I'm still saving money but the peace of mind I feel is overwhelming. I don't think FI is always about ER or FU money, for me it is about being able to do what I need to do.

[FIRE me]

I hope your family member gets better.

FI is nice alright.

I just achieved what I consider minimal FI – I am funded to 141% of my current spending. But nothing on top of that for inflation, contingency, or ill heath. So one more year for me before I pull the plug.

Still, it is a great peace of mind feeling knowing that I could call in Monday and quit, never work another day in my life, all with out really hurting myself. 

[deborah]

To me, this is the single biggest advantage of being retired - I can be there for people.

My best friend died a year before I retired. She was given three to six months to live, and died within eight weeks. The juggling I had to do to be with her, and to still fulfill my work commitments was probably a major reason I retired. When my father had cancer several years ago, I could take the seven an a half hour road trip to their place every second week, stay a week and come back and still be sane (even though I did this for two years)! I really appreciated the fact that I was retired when that happened.

I'm really glad that you have another option - to reduce your working hours - to be there for your family member.

[arebelspy]

That's so great you positioned yourself financially to be able to do that. 

I hope your family member recovers!  :)

[Gray Matter]

I'm so glad you're able to do this, as these are the truly important things in life.  My mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few years ago and I was able to go on (unpaid) intermittent leave, and I can't imagine how much more stress it would have added if I'd had to worry about money as well.

Keeping you in my thoughts!

[G-dog]

This is one of those times when prioritizing is easy, and you did the hard work earlier when prioritizing long term goals over short term wants can be so much harder. So happy you can spend time with your family - and we are all hoping for the best for you all.

[GreenSheep]

I'm sorry to hear your family member is sick, but I'm so happy for you that you can take stress-free time to be there. (I have actually thought about that for myself and my not-quite-aging-but-will-be-soon-parents, and you're right... is IS a big perk of having saved wisely.) And everyone else's responses are just further proof of what a great group of people this is. :-)

[patrickza]

All the best in looking after your family. Part of the beauty of FI I see is that I'm going to be able to spend more time with my son while he grows up. You don't really get that much when the kids are adults and working, so I'd like to FIRE soon enough that he still wants to hang out and play together.

[TheDeclutterer]

FI is different things to different people and therewithin lies the beauty of it. Congrats and hope to hear good news on your sick family member.

[nereo]

We all concentrate here on financial independence towards a goal of early retirement but the real value of FI hit me this week. I have a job where you can take a pay cut and get more time off, it has always been in the back of my mind that I could do this but never felt the need. In the past week my life has taken a dramatic turn.  I have a family member who is really sick and  I took a 30% pay cut so I could be there for her.  I have a 50% savings rate so in reality I'm still saving money but the peace of mind I feel is overwhelming. I don't think FI is always about ER or FU money, for me it is about being able to do what I need to do.

Only sorta the same, but when I worked in California we were under mandatory furlough.  Our director optimistically pointed out that we all had a 20% pay cut, but a 50% increase in free time.  For those who spent every dollar they made it was very painful, but since we already had a savings rate above 20% it was just a time of increased freedom and decreased financial contributions for us.

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

Thanks for all your support.  I knew this forum was the one place people would get it. I watched my family stressing about who was going to be providing care and it was so simple for me to do this. My family has always thought that I was cheap because I tried do make do instead of buying bright and shiny. I think they were pretty amazed when they realized I could just do this without a second thought.