Is Financial Independence Selfish?
Is Financial Independence Selfish?
Reaching financial independence is no small feat. One has to turn inward and explore personal habits, goals, and re balance value systems. These are rather introspective topics. Indeed, they require quite a bit of self focus. This, I believe, is good. If we don’t continuously re evaluate our beliefs and actions then how are we going to grow? On the other hand, such thinking leads to another important question. Is financial independence selfish?
Are we spending too much time on ourselves? Some may argue that such pursuits are full of conceit and eqoism.
Are they right?
Pay Yourself First
We use this term often in the personal finance community to discuss how we prioritize saving and investing. But I wonder if it has further meaning. I am often reminded of the oxygen mask in the airplane scenario. You must place your mask on yourself before helping your children.
Why? Because you are no good if you pass out before you help anyone.
Could the same be said for financial independence? Is financial independence selfish? Maybe in the beginning.
When we first set out to take control of our financial lives it behooves us to set up systems and start the process of compounding as soon as possible. Once in place, however, a world of opportunity awaits.
Social Mission and Purpose
I have said before that financial independence is irrelevant. It is a lever that we can pull when our W2 is no longer bringing meaning into our lives. The magic of having financial freedom is letting go of economic concerns in order to pursue passion and meaning.
For many of us, our post W2 existence becomes a platform to explore social mission. This can take many forms.
Education is a major one. Many bloggers and podcasters do their work not to enhance the bottom line but to forward an educational agenda. When it comes to personal finance, many wish to teach and coach those around them reach their goals.
Volunteerism is another. Once no longer bound to the 9 to 5, many use the skills they learned in their profession to volunteer. They bring hard definable skills to non profits and other organizations that may not be able to afford such expertise.
Is financial independence selfish? It doesn’t have to be.
See The World
Freed from a daily schedule, and with the financial means, many choose to travel the world. Although the joy and exploration are often the impetus, one can’t help but also realize that there is suffering that reaches far outside the boarders of one’s country.
International missionary work, medical or otherwise, is another arena in which financially independent people thrive. Not only do they have the time but the resources to pursue such activities.
And there is an added bonus. You have a good excuse to see the world. not just the glamorous places but the ones that desperately need help. I can think of few better ways to search for meaning once money no longer takes up so much mental space.
Final Thoughts
Is financial independence selfish? I guess it could be. There is no question that on its surface it is a very me centered activity. Yet, if you dive down a little deeper, it becomes obvious that it doesn’t have to be.
Becoming financially independent means freeing yourself from the bonds of money and indebtedness. This opens your life up to pursuing meaning and purpose wherever you may find it.
For many, this includes social mission. Educating, volunteering, mission work, and donating are just a few of the obvious ways.
So you’r rich. How are you going to make a difference?
Interesting and complicated topic.
You appear to be asking whether the ‘pursuit’of FI is selfish. As you point out, the status of FI is neutral, one might be selfish for pursuing such status, or may act in a selfish way once FI but FI as a concept itself does not logically appear to be selfish (unlike concepts such as greed out gluttony).
If I pay devil’s advocate for a minute, would it matter if the pursuit of FI were a selfish activity? The answer implied by your post is that it would matter and that being selfish is a bad or negative thing. Your normative moral standards therefore (quite rightly in my opinon) reject the mantra that ‘greed is good’. But what if your normative moral standards indicated otherwise?
HH
An interesting question. I think most of us in the FI community eventually are looking for freedom so we can find greater meaning in connection in life. This the opposite of selfish.
I think it is obvious, it is selfish to accumulate wealth to the point you are no longer in need of any outside income. But it isn’t any more selfish than wearing your seatbelt, exercising or brushing your teeth. It is all about you but that isn’t really self centered, you have to be functional to carry out any mission in life and being functional includes being financially functional. I think it is selfish but can be either a good or bad selfish depending on how you use the freedom it gives you. In your case it certainly is the good kind because you are giving to others by helping them pursue fiscal responsibility and avoid the harsh outcomes that accompany poor money practices.
I usually think of selfish as an a priori bad thing but you make a good point.
Is saving rather than consuming selfish? Is producing more at work, creating a business, doing side hustles, are these activities not creating more abundance in the world? My experience is that all of the people I’ve met in this FI community are amazing and awesome people. I believe that the attitude that drives people to work hard, save, invest, build and find creative hacks — all of these things are resulting in a more abundant world for those touched by our productivity.
If our reasons are self-centered, but the outcome it better for all, is it wrong?
Apparently nothing. i agree with your sentiments.
A portfolio is a product. Nothing more, nothing less. The question of selfishness is like asking “is my Tesla selfish”? No grasshopper, it’s a car. It serves a purpose. Nothing more, nothing less. These products are chosen based on your needs and desired goals and incur no guilt in their ownership. Neither do they bestow any particular privilege or prestige. Trying to link these to some need for volunteering or some vocation with “social purpose” as reparation for being successful is silly.
Actually financial independence is the least selfish thing you can do because it means you have created a means, by purchasing a product with your labor, to take care of yourself in perpetuity without burden to anyone else. It shows both foresight and responsibility toward society. If someone feels jealous of your good planning and responsibility in the face of their poor planning and irresponsibility they are the one being selfish.
I think the key is self centered vs selfish. FI, in its beginnings, has to be self centered. But I agree, in the end it is selfless. You become less of a burden to society.
Financial narcissism is a spectrum much like any other. On the healthy side of the fence lies Gasem’s well formulated comment above. Deliberately building a safe financial house for yourself enables one to excercise the superpower of abundant giving without need to take. The other side of the fence is complete financial irresponsibility that producrs dependent selfish scarcity takers that are the Mr. Hyde’s of Financial narcissism. There is a large grey area between these two camps where the private and public financial battles endlessly wage.
I think abundant giving is one of the bounties of this path. Many, we know, are giving back this way.
I’m with Gasem. Financial independence is NOT selfish. Financial DEPENDENCE is. If you’re financially dependent on the government, tax payers, family, or other people to help finance your lifestyle… then many could argue that being financially dependent is selfish, especially it’s due to poor lifestyle choices. I understand that some things are beyond our control, but most lifestyle choices that impact our financial well-being are very much in our control.
Very true. We can choose to be selfish or not.
This is a fascinating article and thread. I have found I need to be aware of how I even ask a question like this in order to end up in a land of answers that make any sense or offer deeper meaning. The question itself has a lot of power in steering the direction of our thoughts.
Are we even asking the right question by using the word “selfish” when we are talking about people pursuing something they desire? I like the idea of using “self-focused” in order to get us closer to the right question. If the intention isn’t to harm anyone else but to simply obtain a goal, imagine how many other things could be considered selfish. Was I selfish to go to college instead of work at my dad’s business? Is it selfish for me to eat each day when there are people who don’t have any food? Is it selfish for me to exist and consume at all?
Most of my deep thinking about selfishness (and self-lessness) was provoked by the decision to have a child or not. I deeply considered how much need exists in the world and struggled with the idea of using my energy to create more need and then have to meet those needs. I decided it was a selfish act, and I did it anyway. I also decided to evaluate the human construct of self-lessness through the eyes of evolution. All of this thought provided a lot of insight for me about the human condition, balancing our needs with others, and trying not to get lost in my defenses. I suppose if I were threatened by the idea of FI, there might be some part of my brain wanting to term it as “selfish.” I would instead “stimulate” the economy with my hard-earned dollars and be a “good” citizen. In essence, I would see what I wanted to see without ever acknowledging what was really going on inside (that I felt threatened).
Anyhow, great discussion! I hope we have all grown by taking time to process the nuances of this.
Thanks for your comments. It is a complicated topic. I think we need to look at intention. What is your intention in becoming FI. For most, it is to live more full, connected, and purposeful life. This usually leads to kindness and charity as opposed to miserliness.