We like our jobs. So why the heck are we pursuing Financial Independence?

“I consume countless blogs and podcasts that revolve around financial independence, or FI as we all know it. While we are actively pursuing FI I often find it hard to relate to the motivations I read so much about.”

You see it everywhere “ Escape the 9 to 5” or “Break free from the cubicle” and I totally understand the sentiment. At least I think that I do. The truth is that neither my husband nor myself have ever had a normal 9 to 5 job, neither one of us have ever worked in an office, and neither of us have ever had to worry about having enough vacation days. We were lucky enough (in our eyes at least) to have realized that path was not for us, and even more lucky that we did so at very young ages.

We came to that conclusion separately as we did not know each other when we made our career choices. Sometimes I think that deep down we were so drawn to one another because we knew we did not want to have any part of the “normal” 9-5.

I did not choose my career path strictly because of this and I CERTAINLY didn’t choose it with FI in mind. I had never even heard the term or dreamt of the possibility. I am an Emergency Room nurse and I have been since I was 21 years old. I followed in my aunts’ footsteps and never thought twice about it. In the beginning I thought “this isn’t for me”. I didn’t enjoy working on the floor, in the ICU, or even in the operating room. I didn’t fall in LOVE with nursing until my ER rotation. It’s such a flexible career even those that don’t like patient care can find their niche. I work 12 hour shifts and unless I work overtime I only work 3 days per week. I love what I do. I get to help people every single day on the worst day of their life and I take pride in my work. I’ve specialized in cardiac, neurology, pediatrics and trauma, but always emergency because it is my PASSION.

My husband is in a very similar position. He is a firefighter and paramedic. Obviously, you cannot do that job well unless helping people is your motivation. He also takes pride in what he does, gives 110% while he is on shift, and gets to let it all go when he walks through the door at home.

He, however, chose his career path in a much more calculated manner than I did. Like me, he did not know what FI was, but the man has always been frugal, to a fault at times. He has always placed enormous value on his time. He has always lived with roommates, with some of them even a little shady because rent was cheap. Heck, when I first moved in with him there were 6 of us living in one house. Not ideal, but it actually worked out well!

I found a tax return of his for a year that he made less than 10k. This is no joke. To be 100% honest it was around 7k… 7k… and still survived. He was in school at the time and worked PRN to pay for his living expenses. Living expenses? The man hopped from couch to couch, worked random side jobs for food, and got in close with his friends’ moms in order to get free dinner. He was creative at the least.

This is not to say he is not a hard worker, he just thinks time is more important than being at work and I have come to agree with him. So, when he chose his career path he looked for one that paid well, one that didn’t require 4 years of college (and the debt that goes with it), and one with a work schedule that fits his lifestyle. He always says that he has the best job in the world and would never want to do anything else.

“I honestly don’t know how either of us would replace the satisfaction and the adrenaline rush that come from working a successful code on a patient, running into a burning building, or being first on scene during a disaster.”  

So, if we are so passionate about helping people why are we pursuing FI?

Well let’s start by understanding that Financial Independence does not always mean retiring early, and it almost never means ceasing to do any type of work or bring any value to society and your community. FI is about freedom. Freedom to choose how you spend your time. Freedom to pursue your passions that may or may not be lucrative. Freedom to be nomadic.

I love my work but I do not always love my job. We may not have jobs where we have to be at work 5 days a week and then have to answer emails or write reports when we get home, but I can assure you we each have days or even weeks where we bring work home with us in our hearts and in our minds. Some things you are able to let go and some will always have a little glimmer in the back of your mind. We have also missed many many holidays together and many nights of not being able to put our daughter to bed together.

 I will probably work for many years in my profession even after we reach FI, at least in some capacity. Whether it just be very part time or maybe even a travel assignment each year, I’ll always be an ER nurse because it’s something that I love. But I have many other passions to pursue in this life as well. I love to travel with my family. I love to create things with my hands. I love to garden. I also love to write. Hello blog!

Most importantly though I really LOVE being able to do these thing with my daughter, with my husband, with our family. My husband heard Liz from Frugalwoods say on a podcast that her husband asked her “When are you the happiest?” He took her answer and made it become a reality. So he asked me, my answer: “When WE are outside”. See, we live in South Florida and while most people think that is paradise, my husband can’t stand the weather most of the year. It’s hot, humid and many outdoor activities like hiking are out of the question (also…we have no mountains. The tallest point in FL may very possibly be a trash pile). When we travel to the mountains the man will stand outside shirtless in the snow all day. Here in the heat it’s hard to get him outside for more than a couple hours. Therefore, OUR happiness lies in the mountains and we plan on making that our reality when we reach FI.

FI to us isn’t freedom from “the 9-5”, freedom from “the grind”, or freedom from jobs that we dread going to. FI is freedom to have choices and do what we love. It’s a feeling of security that no matter what happens we are financially secure and can provide for our daughter. It’s knowing that by living intentionally we have a freedom from stress that very few will ever experience. Financial Independence is creating OUR happiness.

It’s something so few will ever experience because so few know about it. Debt has become so common that we are raised to believe you will always have a car payment, you will always have a mortgage, and those student loans will never go away. But it’s time to make FI the new norm! If freedom from debt and financial independence is something that interests you, please check out our posts on how to get started, and REACH OUT TO THE FI COMMUNITY. There are incredible resources available to you. Use them!

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