Why I Decided to Ditch the F.I.R.E. Movement

My story

For most of us, work dominates our lives. I was no exception to this when I was a college student. Even before that, I remember that I would always plan out my life based on my work, where I was going to live, what my day-to-day was going to look like, and also what kind of lifestyle I could afford. So I figured that if I worked really hard, saved up enough, and invested that money, I could afford to retire early and free up my time to do whatever I wanted. In fact, that's precisely what I did.

My husband and I bought two beat-up properties and worked on these houses for about three years nonstop. Both of us worked 40-plus hours in our day jobs. Then we would come home and work on these properties at night, during our free time, the weekends, and holidays. Because we were doing all the work ourselves, we really had to stick to a timeline and budget.

Looking back with regret

Looking back now, I am so proud of us and so proud of what we were able to achieve. I'm really grateful that the opportunity came to us, but to be honest, it was a lot. I felt like I had to give up a lot of what was happening in my life at that moment in order to achieve it. I just wish I had learned to balance it better and take some time off if I needed to.

Take the paid time off to go see my parents more often and attend a few more birthday parties. Because now, I realize that time in my life is something I can never get back. And that made me question whether what I'm giving up now is worth what I will gain later. This is just my story, but I also hear this story from my dad's coworkers, even my own family members, and my clients, who are now all retired; they were in such a rush to retire that they had to work extra shifts and sometimes sacrifice their weekends and holidays.

What retirement is really like

Now that they're retired, they don't really know what else to do with their time. For many, it seems like so much of their time revolved around work that they never really took the time to travel or change jobs, develop friendships, or explore other aspects of life. Now all they know is how to work because that's exactly how they've been conditioned for so long. For many people, work defines who they are.

I guess this is why so many people decide to go back to work. Some are due to the fact that they don't have enough finances, which is an entirely other topic. However, for many, because of what they call the retirement blues, they're bored or lonely. They don't know how to find joy in anything else. So might as well make some more money, right? I feel like this really could have been avoided from the beginning if work wasn't such a dominant factor in all of our lives.

Managing finances now

When my husband and I first talked about retiring early or at least being financially independent, we learned much about better managing our finances. We were able to organize our lives in a way that would better serve us in the long run, which really changed our lives. I'm really grateful that we did that early on, but when we actually reached the point of financial independence, I realized that what I wanted wasn't really freedom from work. What I actually needed was a balance in my life. Retirement isn't the answer, and that shouldn't be the point when we start to live our lives. We can live it now, and we can do it as we work.

Managing your free time

Through my financial independence journey, I learned that it's not about completely freeing up our time but what we do with our free time that counts. Now I see work as something that is just one small part of my day, not something that is the center of my life. I want to always live way below our means so that I can continue to work the jobs that I find meaning in, even if it doesn't pay as well or if society doesn't see the job as glamorous. I plan to make the time to pursue my passions, learn cool things, take rest if needed, spend time with people I love, and just live my life to the fullest each day. These are the things that I don't want to miss out on in order to get to the finish line. Without these moments, having all the time in the world would be pointless.

How do you feel about the FIRE movement? Let me know in the comments what you think about what work means to you and how you find balance in your own lives. I would love to hear it.