Financial Independence With The Happy Hour Ladies
Today is the last Friday of the month and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. During the month of July, the United States typically celebrates Independence Day and I always think about financial independence during this time. There is nothing more liberating than to have choices, especially in the world we’re living in, and financial independence is the key to this. It comes in a variety of formats based on who you’re talking to, so I’m talking to my friends about their FI plans, their thoughts around saving vs. spending and how you can find the right mix for you no matter what stage of life you’re thinking about. What are we drinking?
Melanie from The Mental Health and Wealth Show - Plain water with lime juice
Kassandra from kassandradasent.com - Lemon & Ginger Tea
Joy Certified Level 2 Trainer at the Gym - Rose Spritzer
Shannon - Gin & Tonic
Podcast Notes
This is the last Happy Hour episode of the summer because August is a month of planned replays, so Shannon and the podcast team can take a break. Related to taking time off, today’s conversation is all about financial independence and the FI/RE movement. (FI/RE = Financial Independence Retire Early)
Kassandra recently announced that she has officially reached her financial independence goal. She refers to this as semi-retirement, coast FI, or work optional. She started out on this journey later in life and was in debt, but has now reached a culmination of her goal setting and hard work.
Joy is into the FI/RE movement overall, though she points out that it can be overhyped in personal finance media, and can attract anxious folks who are feeling burnt out. Financial independence can be more simple than people think. You don’t have to make all of the right choices from the beginning to achieve financial independence.
Reaching FI is a multi-step process. It’s important to set the foundation of financial security before jumping into larger future goals. There’s a mindset shift once you start taking the steps on a financial health journey and see the numbers change.
Melanie mentions the book, Die with Zero: Getting All You Can From Your Money by Bill Perkins. While on her health journey thinking about what she wants life to look like, this book provided interesting insights. She wants to plan for the future, but ensure she is enjoying her money now and is finding the balance between the two. Melanie, like Kassandra also started investing later and was paying off debt at the beginning of her journey.
Before turning 30, Shannon thought she’d never retire because she loves her work. She learned about financial independence at a Merrill training session and something clicked for her. Since then, she started The Financial Gym and her FI timeline is uncertain.
Joy genuinely loves the work she does and feels fulfilled at her job. It allows her to live the life she wants and there are interesting challenges every day. She feels like she’s stepped out of the career hamster wheel and is happy where she is.
Shannon, Joy, and Melanie talk about how they’re not exactly sure what their FI goal number is, as there are so many variables. They have a ballpark idea and are planning for the future, but other goals are the main priority right now.
You can use an online calculator, like this one from MagnifyMoney to find your Financial Independence number.
You never know what’s going to happen. Sometimes people will inherit money unexpectedly and be able to reach financial independence much sooner than they thought, even suddenly.
Financial Independence looks different for everyone. We’re all here to do something on this planet, and financial independence is about doing that without the pressure of working to survive.
The Stock Market: A huge aspect of achieving financial independence is investing. If you’ve been investing and planning to stop working recently, the large shifts in the market can feel extra stressful.
The market is cyclical. This was a lesson everyone lived through in 2008/2009, what goes down always comes back up.
Even though it can feel intimidating or scary to invest in the market now, it's important to continue to stay the course or even get started if you haven’t yet!
Final Thoughts:
Financial independence can happen at any age, any stage. It’s never too late to get started.
Don’t let the markets stress you out and continue to invest if you can!
If you have PTO, use it. If you’re self-employed, create a fund for PTO. Carving out the time to rest and dream will allow you to be your best self.
Remember to focus on your health and wellness. Nothing is promised to us, so enjoy your money now, while also preparing for the future.
If you want to work with a Financial Trainer to help create your path to financial independence, schedule a free warm-up call today.
Listen to Investing for the Zombie Apocalypse
Listen to Kassandra’s appearances on MAYM earlier on in her journey:
Takeaway: My biggest takeaway is that financial independence is a goal we all should have, even just setting yourself on the road to accomplish this will give you more flexibility and choice in life and there’s nothing greater than knowing that money doesn’t have to get in the way of you having choices in life.
If you have any topics you would like me to cover on this podcast, or if you’d like to get in the financially naked hot seat, I encourage you to email me at Shannon@fingyms.com, or join the private Martinis and Your Money Facebook group, and let me know what you want to hear.
We have a lot of exciting things happening at Financial Gym in 2022, but the most exciting has to be our Certified Financial Trainer Licensing program. If you are a personal finance nerd with a passion for helping others, this is the course for you. It’s based on my 10 years plus of helping people get financially healthy and led by my amazing team at The Financial Gym. We’re about to start raising the pricing, so if you’ve ever thought about doing something like this, don't waste any more time, head over to financialgym.com and under our services, you’ll find more on the Certification Program.