Should Financial Independence Be a Target?

I have mentioned several times on this blog that for me financial independence was quite accidental. Although I had financially responsible parents who were great fiscal models, none of us had ever really contemplated understanding the numbers for early retirement. My introduction to the FIRE community changed everything. It also, however, created a somewhat skewed perspective. I never had the benefit of looking at financial freedom as a goal post somewhere off down the field. But is it a benefit? Should financial independence be a target?

For me, it was more a phenomenon that I have been inspecting through the rear view mirror. Try as I might, I will never have the experience of striving that so many of you out there in the community are going through right now. This creates a different perspective.

The Good

There is no question that aiming towards financial independence creates a series of habits and beliefs that can propel an individual forward. Even if you are not a fan of budgeting, frugality and savings become ingrained. There forms an awareness of the hedonic treadmill and a concentration on value. W2 wages are maximized and sacrifice is front loaded to allow for years of compounding of burgeoning wealth.

Should financial independence be a target? This question should not be answered without considering the vibrant community that has arisen surrounding this lifestyle. There is no greater team of support than awaits those who choose this pathway. Go to any CampFI (wink, wink, Sept 7th in Little Rock) and you will be embraced and cherished.

And lastly, we all need a Plan B. A lever to pull when employment lives get to be too hectic and loathsome. Financial independence allows for exiting the work place and the freedom to choose how and what type of work we agree to be involved in.

The Bad

Sometimes it is easy to forget that money is just an intermediary. It is a way for us store potential energy in the great trade of goods and services that makes up life. You create goods or perform services in exchange for money, and then you use that money to buy more goods and services from others. Money therefore is not a goal, it is a tool. Should financial independence be a target if money is not?

It is easy to delay gratification when a big audacious plan is in place. But we must not forget to live today as well as tomorrow. Foregoing joy and stepping on the stoic treadmill can also lead down the path to bitter asceticism as opposed to wealth.

Financial independence should be Plan B. An escape hatch when you no longer enjoy showing up to work everyday.

Life should be plan A.

The Ugly

I couldn’t finish this blog post without discussing the money mind meld. I know I have written about it many times before, but it bears repeating. Often financial independence becomes a goal to the exclusion of everything else. We stop working on our humanity and dreams and focus only on a series of spreadsheets. This may lead to a better financial persona, but not a fuller emotional human being.

Victims of the money mind meld find no joy when they reach financial independence. They find depression. When the veil is finally removed, there is a great reckoning. They have been blinded to everything but a solitary target and now are left with difficult questions.

Who am I?

What is my value in the world?

Where do I belong?

Final Thoughts

Should financial independence be a target? In my opinion it should be a minor one. We should build fiscally responsible lives and partake in this wonderful FI community. It is never bad to have a Plan B and a lever to pull when work environments get rough.

But it can’t be the goal. Although we may not always agree on definitions, living the best life probably involves searching out authenticity and purpose.

For most of us, becoming engrossed in financial independence can’t fully accomplish that.