What To Do After Achieving Financial Independence?

I run calculations. I’ve been running calculations since the day after I graduated from college.

The calculations are usually how much my family spends in a year. This is absolutely necessary in order to determine how much income I need to generate annually to be able to meet my household expenses.

As any follower of my blog knows, I’ve been planning to be financially free since when I first started working full time. I used to say “I am working now so I don’t have to work later”.

A year ago, after running my numbers, I’ve come to the realization that I might be able to achieve financial independence (“FI”) in the near future.

I started to draw up my plan for getting to the finish line which includes putting my money into cash flow generating assets in order to get my annual passive income to match my annual household expenses.

My plan also considers a robust retirement account balance for me to be able to tap into when I reach 59 and 1/2 years in age. That is why I saved aggressively very early on in order to accumulate over $1 million in my retirement account in my 30’s.

I’ve even been able to manage to stock away a good chunk of change to put my kids through a private university when the time comes for them to leave the nest to pursue a higher education.

Over the past year, I’ve put a number of those actions I’ve drawn up in my plan into motion. I am now closer to financial independence than I have ever been.

There are probably less than a handful of items left that I need to execute on in order to cross the FI finish line.

Those action items involve buying a couple of rental properties and maximizing the rental income I currently generate from my existing portfolio of rental properties. If you’ve been following this blog, you know I am a big fan of real estate and believe rental properties should be the cornerstone of any investment portfolio.

Running The Numbers Recently

About a month ago, I ran the numbers again. I always like to see where I stand with achieving FI. The closer I’ve gotten to FI, the more frequently I’ve been running my FI numbers. I could sympathize with another fellow personal finance blogger, Xrayvsn.  He, too, had an obsession with achieving FI.

I couldn’t believe it. I finally got to the point where I have enough saved to get to financial independence. I ran the numbers again to double check and I was right the first time.

Then, I decided to show my wife the numbers. She usually likes to burst holes in my analysis but this time, she just nodded her head after I ran her through the numbers and then went about her day.

I have enough money now to get my passive cash flow stream to match my expenses. The actual cash flow isn’t there yet because I still have a bunch of capital I need to deploy into cash flowing assets.

That means I still need to take a few more steps but I do have enough money to get there now.

It feels good to be in this spot, in my late 30’s and be able to get to FI.

A Sense Of Unfinished Business

I know I’ve been working toward this day for almost 20 years. Hustle, hustle and more hustle.

Years of working 60 plus hours per week, and throw in side hustles during nights and weekends (yes, I do include real estate as a side hustle since investment of time and capital is needed for an income stream) have gotten me to this point.

Funny thing, there is really no big celebration.

It still feels like I need to continue to hustle. I might feel differently if I can get to the point of when my passive cash flow finally matches my expenses. But as I’ve mentioned earlier, I still need to put some of the remaining money to work and make a couple of more rental property purchases.

Maybe this sense of unfinished business is what’s stopping my jubilation from kicking in; although, I surmise I wouldn’t feel any differently even when I do purchase 2 more rental properties and get my cash flows to equal my expenses.

Great, When I Am Financially Independence, What Next?

One thing I’ve felt, but didn’t expect to feel when I got closer and closer to financial independence, is uncertainty. It might sound counter-intuitive but allow me to explain.

I started to ask myself what I want to do after achieving FI.

You see, I didn’t need to worry about this question “what do I want to do” in a long time.

I know what I needed to do and I went out and did it. I graduated from college and then pursued a job in finance. Otherwise, it would be a complete waste of a college educate to not go into a profession which allows me to earn good money.

I then worked hard to move up in my corporate job, all while making more money on the side juggling a number of different side hustles.

I needed to do all that because I wanted financial independence. That was my singular focus since graduating from college. I needed to work and continue to make money. Otherwise, I would not be able to achieve this goal.

It was a necessity for me to work. Not to mention, I also wanted to buy a house, and raise a family. There was no question that I needed to work.

What happens when I can cross my singular focus since college off the list? What happens if I no longer need to work to support my family or to make the monthly mortgage payments on my home?

I started asking the question “what next?” This question is leading to a lot of uncertainty in my life.

What Are My Choices For The Next Stage Of My Life After FI?

Eventually, I need to answer the question of what is next after FI? There are a few paths I can choose.

1) Continue To Work The Same Job And Build A Financial Buffer

I can continue to work my current corporate job.

Pros:

After having been at the corporate world for close to two decades and at the company for a good chunk of that time, I worked myself into a position where there is great time flexibility in my corporate job.

No one is micro-managing me. My boss doesn’t nag me about the time I get in, when I punch out for the day or how long of a lunch break I take.

In fact, my boss does a lot of traveling himself and is occasionally in the office.

The time flexibility allows me to participate in my kids’ lives including dropping the kids off at school, attending parent-teacher conferences, enjoying school music recitals, and showing up to parent day at the school.

It is also good to continue to add to my financial nut and build a financial safety cushion. FI can be reached in the near future because of the great run up in asset prices over the past decade.

What happens if the stock market or real estate market gives some of the tremendous gains back over the next few years?

Therefore, it definitely provides additionally ease of mind knowing I have a job which pays well.

Additionally, I can increase my lifestyle spending as well with this income coming in.

Cons:

While the hours are flexibility, I still have to work an 8 hour day 40 hours a week, at the minimum.

There is also very little flexibility in where I work. I head into the office on most days.

I’ve been working the same job for a number of years now. The level of excitement and challenge just isn’t there anymore.

It also feels to me that there is little room to grow and I’ve hit a corporate ceiling.

2) Continue To Work The Same Job But Ask For Less Hours Or A Telecommuting Option

I can also opt to continue to work the same job but ask for less hours at work by cutting the number of days and working from home.

Pros:

I am at a comfortable spot in my job. I can continue to perform at a high level but don’t need to spend 40+ hours in the office.

The ability to work from home is a nice plus as it saves me commuting time.

I still can continue to earn a salary, albeit, a lower amount the shorter work week.

Cons:

Working fewer days might be hard to pull off at work. I believe the expectation is for me to work 5 days a week given that I manage people.

My boss might frown upon reducing my hours or allowing me the ability to work from home.

I will receive lower pay than working full time.

3) Continue To Work For My Current Company But Try A Different Role

I can try to see if I can move into another department or a different role within my firm.

Pros:

I can continue to stay at my company. After working for many years at my current employer, I feel I’ve built up good political capital. I also enjoy the people I work with at the company.

I can try out something new which can challenge me, keep me excited, and can provide for additional professional growth of seeing another part of the organization.

Cons:

I might have to dedicate more time in a new role. First, I need to impress a new boss, which would mean I probably have to kiss my flexible hours goodbye.

Additionally, I already have a lot of challenges in my life from raising my kids to dealing with my rental properties to managing this blog. Do I really need to add a whole new layer of challenges at work by tackling a new role in a new department?

4) Join A New Company To Make An Upward Move

When I am financially free, I should be able to take more risk. I can choose to look for a job with another company that can afford me the opportunity to move up and continue to climb the corporate ladder.

Pros:

There is career advancement. Along with the career advancement comes additional pay. Obviously, it would be nice to make more money.

Also, by being at a new company, everything will seem newer and fresher to me. It can present a new challenge for me which I currently don’t have in my present company.

Cons:

Some of the cons here are similar to the ones mentioned for moving into a new department or role in my current company.

I can basically kiss my flexible hours goodbye. I will need to learn about a new company, its people, processes and approaches.

What happens if I don’t really enjoy the people or culture of this new company? While I can get a good feel during the interview process, realty might actually be different than the short period spent going through the interview process.

5) Start My Own Company

I’ve always wanted to start my own company. Being financially independent should allow me the freedom to build something from the ground up.

Pros:

Building something from the ground up is very exciting.

I can keep a lot more of what I bring to the table by owning the equity.

I should have more control over my time and the location of the work.

Cons:

I won’t be receiving a steady cash flow stream when compared to working a corporate job, especially at the start up stage of the business.

What happens if I am a crappy businessman? I not only can lose my invested capital in the business, I can also lose time and potential earnings when compared to keeping the corporate drone route.

A lot of time will also be invested in getting the business off the ground. With no clock to punch out at the end of the day given I own the business, I might actually overwork myself here.

6) Quit, Retire And Sip Mai Tais At The Beach

I can just quit my job, and then choose to relax and call it a professional life. When money is no longer a motivation to work, I can just focus on what is really important to me and be a stay at home dad.

Sipping Mai Tais at the beach will come a lot later when the kids are grown and out of the house. Then I can really relax and hang at the beach all day long.

Pros:

I can devote time to being with my kids and other things important to me outside of my career.

It will give me a chance to unwind from the stress of having to balance a professional corporate job with everything else going on in my life. I can practice meditation and hit the gym. This might result in me having a better mind set and in better shape.

Cons:

Money will only flow one way, which is out.

Additionally, there is a slew of reasons why retiring at my age doesn’t make sense. I’ve written a post as to why I don’t believe in retiring too early and going with a work LITE (location independence, time enjoyment) model is the better approach.

In conclusion, I don’t know which route I will eventually choose. Sometimes, the path might choose me.

To the audience: If you are FI, which path did you choose and why? If you are not FI, which path do you think you would choose for yourself after hitting FI? Do you have any recommendation on how to make this decision earlier?

Related Posts:

Don’t FIRE, Join The Work LITE Movement Instead

Don’t FIRE Too Early And The Best Time To FIRE

SoM @ SportofMoney.com

Many people work hard to better their physical and mental health. What about their financial health?

I started this blog back in 2019 to help people better their financial health as well.

My financial journey began with tens of thousands in student loan debt. Over the span of 20 years, I am close to achieving financial independence.

I truly believe anyone can get to strong financial health. Hopefully, this blog can help you on your financial journey to greater wealth and financial independence.

You can read more about me here.

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