We Are The Exception

We Are The Exception

We live in an echo chamber. You. Me. Anyone who is likely to peruse this page or understand what the acronym FI stands for. So much so, that it is easy to forget sometimes that we don’t live in the real world. In the real world people spend more than they save. In the real world people retire at normal ages. We are the exception. We don’t follow the rules.

That is not to say that we are better. Better is such a subjective term. But it is important to remember that we are different. This difference can create tension between spouses, family, and friends. Before spouting off about the benefits of financial freedom or entering a potentially volcanic argument, it would serve us well to remember how distinct our actions and belief sets are.

Cash is King

In the real world, the purpose of money is to be spent. The idea of saving is not completely foreign, but your average American citizen spends a lifetime accumulating stuff not cash. So if you think that your friends and neighbors are going to accept or even applaud audacious goals such as saving into the seven figures, you got another thing coming.

The financial independence community has grown by leaps and bounds, but we still are a tiny fraction of the population. We are the exception. To think that the greater community around us is going to understand our goals and dreams is probably overly optimistic.

Look at what the average retirement savings rate is for the population as a whole. I am not going to bore you with statistics, but we all know that it is abysmal. Can you imagine how laughable it is to the average saver to hear twenty somethings talking about putting a million dollars into investments.

It sounds like a pipe dream.

Both High and Low Risk

We are the exception when it comes to risk tolerance. But we are also somewhat schizophrenic. We embrace a rather conservative view on investments. There is no sexiness here. We like to buy and hold boring old index funds. We might even foray into relatively stable real estate holdings. By and large, we are not speculators. We are investors. We are conservative.

Except, when it comes to retirement. The whole retire early thing blows our risk tolerance trajectory out of the water. Whether we like to admit it or not, leaving the work place at a young age is fairly aggressive. Shunning an almost gauranteed paycheck to ride the waves of the market is quite a one eighty from our usual straight laced investing plan.

Our risk/reward profile is somewhat skewed based on the topic. We invest carefully but retire aggressively.

Captain of the Ship

There is one theme that pervades the financial independence community. We all want to be captain of our own ship. Most of us feel heavily the bonds of the workplace and are chomping at the bit to move on. This doesn’t mean necessarily retirement. But we want the ability to have more control over our time, and what work activities we choose to participate in.

We are control freaks, but in the very best way. We are the exception. The vast majority of people would rather relinquish control (and risk for the matter) into other’s hands. Why do you think the majority of the country is happy to be employees instead of business owners?

Because it is easier. Less risky. Requires less control, and probably much less work. It puts the responsibility and the culpability into someone else’s lap.

Final Thoughts

We are the exception. In the financial independence community we do things differently. We hold on to our cash. We are conservative when it comes to investments, and aggressive when it comes to retirement. And we certainly want to be captains of our own ships.

So it shouldn’t be a big surprise that people don’t understand us. In the real world human beings work a little differently.

It helps to remember this when you find yourself bumping your head repeatedly against the wall.