wolf wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:52 pm
Yes, if I define FI with a WR below 3%, then I could declare myself FI. I would prefer the term „runaway mode“ in my situation, though, because I am deliberately coasting to FI. For me FI means achieving an actual passive income that exceeds my actual expenses plus health care plus margin of safety plus a budget for extra hobbies/projects. With that definition of FI, I am not there yet.
@fingeek: what does FI means to you?
Ah, so if we had to shoe-horn it into a definition it would probably be fat-FIRE (but wolf's fat-FIRE version, which would still be very tight and efficiently run
).
FI means to me "Be able to leave work if I wanted to" and further "Prove to myself that if I left work, we could still survive ~comfortably", and further still "No longer be financially tied to work". I think I'm there or thereabouts - The test year off has given me a ton of confidence in progressing my mindset. I now feel like I *could* leave work if I wanted to.. I would have a small £-gap to bridge, but I'm confident I can do that by doing side gigs/contracting or part-time baristaFI type jobs.
wolf wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:52 pm
... First and foremost, money is not the end game. It is just a means to an end (for me)...
... And I generate that income with work I really enjoy. But my mindset shifts slightly, as you maybe noticed...
... Instead I started focusing on other things in life, e.g. BARM, ULAL.
I call it web of goals and processes because for me there are two operational modes in place and each of them has its own aspects (advantages/disadvantages). First approach would be goal-oriented. And second approach is process-oriented. For me personally a system is larger than that web of goals and processes. I like to make goals (milestones, deadlines, etc.) because it feels good to achieve them. And I like to build processes (habits, routines, etc.) because it provides some identity.
@fingeek: And regarding your „web of systems/processes“, how do structure it? What does it consist? What are the elements, etc?
This is a really good point, and my mindset has only really shifted in the last 1-3yrs (slowly) away from money. I've been focusing on building my peer group and getting out more, as this is showing to increase my people-capital resources and biz opportunities that are coming from it. Overall it's helping me become more resilient which I guess is what I'm optimising for now (Are we all?). I find that if I don't have goals, I'm pretty weak and unmotivated, and with that and the processes I definitely agree it's what provides some of my identity too. I feel like the financial aspect of my web is fairly mature, but my other resource-gathering aspects are average to non-existent. In many areas, I don't know what I don't know and so I'm a way away from building an overall mature web... All part of the fun I guess!
wolf wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:52 pm
@fingeek: How many hours do you want to work part-time? Can you work from home? I would recommend job crafting for that, because as an introvert it feels great to work some days silently in a quiet environment.
Yeah, I am also quite curious how that withdrawal rate based cash flow system will influence my mindset. I‘ll let you know.
I do work from home, and I have job crafted quite a bit so that I'm not micromanaged. I don't know yet what (or why) I'm looking for in part-time. My highest value is still freedom and I think that's why I'm still optimising in the way I am. Part-time with a good wage seems like the next best logical step I guess.