2667: Do You Use Work As An Excuse Not To Reach Financial Independence? by Kevin of Financial Panther

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Finance Daily, Episode 2667. Do you use work as an excuse not to reach

[00:00:37] financial independence by Kevin of FinancialPanther.com? And I'm your host and personal finance

[00:00:43] enthusiast, Diania Merriam. Welcome back to Optimal Finance Daily, where every day I read and

[00:00:50] offer commentary on some of the best personal finance blogs on the web in about 10 minutes or less.

[00:00:54] So with that, let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:01:03] Do you use work as an excuse not to reach financial independence by Kevin of FinancialPanther.com?

[00:01:10] I sometimes get into conversations with friends of mine who wonder why I'm trying to save so much

[00:01:15] money. When I tell them that I'm doing it because I'd love to be able to retire early,

[00:01:20] I'm often met with the same response. I couldn't imagine myself not working, I'd get too bored.

[00:01:26] I'm sure those of you on the path to financial independence have heard that same remark as well.

[00:01:31] It's all well and good mind you. There's nothing wrong with working. If you like your job,

[00:01:35] by all means, you should keep doing it. Honestly, if I ever do reach financial independence,

[00:01:40] I'll probably keep working too. Perhaps not in a traditional 9-5 job, but I'd probably

[00:01:46] do something that I find fun. My problem isn't with people who say they enjoy working.

[00:01:51] It's that I find that people who tell me they like working often use that not as a plan,

[00:01:57] but rather as an excuse for why they're not saving very much.

[00:02:01] Enjoying work doesn't mean you shouldn't push yourself to save as much money as possible.

[00:02:05] It doesn't mean that you shouldn't test yourself to see how much you really need in order

[00:02:09] to live well and it doesn't mean that you shouldn't strive to reach financial independence.

[00:02:14] Even if you have no intention of retiring, you still need to save money.

[00:02:18] And in fact, the only true way to know if you enjoy working is to save aggressively

[00:02:24] to the point where you could retire early if you wanted to.

[00:02:27] If you need the income from your job, you can never really know if you're working right now

[00:02:32] because you really like it or if you're working because you need the job and don't have a choice.

[00:02:37] Using work as an excuse not to save.

[00:02:41] There's an intuitive logic at play here for people who say they don't want to retire.

[00:02:46] It goes something like this. I enjoy working so I don't plan to ever stop working.

[00:02:52] If I don't plan to retire, that'll always have income coming in.

[00:02:55] If I have income coming in, then I don't need to save all that much money.

[00:02:59] Accordingly, it's okay that I'm not saving a lot of money.

[00:03:03] The problem with this type of thinking is that it's not a plan.

[00:03:07] It's an after-the-fact excuse used to justify a week savings muscle.

[00:03:12] Think about these folks who say they never want to stop working

[00:03:15] and use it as a justification for why they don't save.

[00:03:19] If they're not saving their money, then they're probably spending it on stuff.

[00:03:23] What are they spending their money on?

[00:03:25] In my experience, it's usually on stuff they do outside of work.

[00:03:29] Things like buying a fancy house, driving a nice car, going out to eat at expensive restaurants,

[00:03:35] and maybe all sorts of other stuff that really aren't all that important when you think about it.

[00:03:40] These folks might like working, but do they actually like working?

[00:03:44] It's hard to tell. To me, it looks like they're working because they like having the

[00:03:48] income to spend on stuff for when they're not at work.

[00:03:52] If you're working in order to have money to buy stuff,

[00:03:55] it really raises questions in my head as to whether you really enjoy working

[00:03:59] or whether it's just being used as an excuse.

[00:04:02] It also makes me wonder why not save that money so that you can eventually spend all your time

[00:04:07] doing the things you like to do outside of work?

[00:04:11] Reach financial independence as soon as possible and give yourself choices.

[00:04:17] People who say they like their jobs should still aim to reach financial independence

[00:04:21] as soon as they can. Just think about the type of comfort someone can have knowing

[00:04:25] that they don't need any of their income from their job.

[00:04:28] When there's no reliance on the paycheck, you can just work because you want to work.

[00:04:33] I think the feeling I get from my side hustles is a good example of what financial independence

[00:04:38] must feel like. Another good reason to pick up a side hustle.

[00:04:42] Part of the reason I enjoy my side hustles is because I don't need any of the income from it.

[00:04:47] The money helps me for sure. I save all of it and it'll definitely help me reach

[00:04:52] financial independence sooner, but I don't need the money. My savings rate would still be fine

[00:04:57] without it. Instead, it's clear that I do my various side hustles because I enjoy them.

[00:05:03] I don't need to air be and be a room in my house nor do I need to watch dogs or dig through trash

[00:05:08] or bike around town delivering food to people. I do it because I want to do it

[00:05:13] and if I ever thought they weren't fun anymore, I just stop doing it.

[00:05:17] Most people who tell themselves they don't save because they like working aren't in a position

[00:05:22] to just walk away if they wanted to. Financial independence is the only way to know if you really like

[00:05:28] working. The only real way to know, if you like working, is to get to the point where the income

[00:05:33] from your work is meaningless. This is why even if you never plan to quit working,

[00:05:39] you should still be pushing yourself to reach financial independence as soon as possible.

[00:05:43] Anytime you're working for a paycheck by necessity, you're working because of the income,

[00:05:48] not because of the work. You might enjoy the work, sure, but if you need the income,

[00:05:53] it'll always cloud your view on how much you really enjoy it.

[00:05:57] We'll tell ourselves we enjoy anything if we have no choice in the matter.

[00:06:01] I don't doubt that some people really enjoy what they do,

[00:06:05] but if you're not saving and are telling yourself that it's because you like working,

[00:06:09] I think you should think about that somewhere.

[00:06:12] Enjoying work and reaching financial independence aren't mutually exclusive. You can still do both

[00:06:18] whenever I hear someone tell me that they aren't saving as aggressively as I am because they enjoy

[00:06:22] working. I always wonder why that's deemed as an acceptable excuse. Working should help you

[00:06:28] reach financial independence as soon as you can. It shouldn't be used as a crutch to justify

[00:06:34] why you're avoiding saving. You just listen to the post titled, Do you use work as an excuse not

[00:06:44] to reach financial independence? By Kevin, a financialpanther.com and I'll be right back with my

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[00:08:33] As a counterpoint to today's article, when I hear people say that they want to retire early

[00:08:38] because they don't want to work, I often think they're setting themselves up for disappointment.

[00:08:43] They might be better served by finding more satisfying work, not by retiring early.

[00:08:49] I don't think early retirement is about not working anyway.

[00:08:52] I think it's about separating your finances from your work.

[00:08:56] Imagine getting to work as little or as much as you want, when and where you want,

[00:09:02] creating what you want to see in the world with who you want to work with

[00:09:06] and your compensation, having no impact on your decisions around that work.

[00:09:11] That to me is the dream.

[00:09:14] Not doing anything that looks like work sounds appealing when you're burnt out,

[00:09:19] but it's incredibly boring and unfulfilling when you're living it.

[00:09:23] I think most of us just want to work less or have full autonomy over our work.

[00:09:28] And I agree with Kevin's point in this post, if you're dependent on your work for your livelihood,

[00:09:34] you have limited options.

[00:09:36] I'm not sure that anyone consciously chooses to limit their options,

[00:09:41] but it's amazing what we choose to believe to make ourselves feel better.

[00:09:45] When someone tells me that they never want to retire,

[00:09:48] I point out that sometimes our health doesn't allow us that choice.

[00:09:53] Many people get to the age where they physically are no longer able to work,

[00:09:57] and in that case, it'd be nice to have some retirement savings.

[00:10:02] And that's another edition of Optimal Finance Daily.

[00:10:05] Thank you for listening, have a great rest of your day,

[00:10:08] and I'll be back tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.