The Final Stage Of Financial Independence
The Final Stage Of Financial Independence
I have made no secret of the fact that my last few weeks have not gone to plan. With my work situation pivoting drastically, and changes with The What’s Up Next Podcast, it almost seems laughable how smug I was when talking about my life post financial independence.
Don’t get me wrong. The world is not falling apart around me. Everything that matters is just fine. But it would be untruthful to say that I am happy with all these unexpected changes. And it makes me wonder how much control we actually have over what befalls us.
Maybe I have had it wrong all along. Maybe the final stage of financial independence is neither financial peace, control, nor even a suit of armor.
Maybe it is acceptance.
Vulnerability
We are vulnerable. Financially independent or not. Make no mistake, I am not talking about the good vulnerability here. We are one bad decision, one string of poor luck, or a crap diagnosis away from the abyss.
I should know this. You would think working in hospice this long would teach me something. But I have been guilty in separating what is so obvious in healthcare with what may not be with financial independence.
This diatribe is not meant to be overtly pessimistic. In fact, I feel my optimism rising. The truth, however, remains.
Suit of Armor
I believe that equating financial independence with being a suit of armor is unintentionally misleading.
No matter how hard you try, you can only protect yourself so much. You can protect your time by accruing money, but you still may fall prey to a vulnerable parent, a high needs child, or your own medical illness.
The best laid plans prove fodder to the foibles of human existence. We are but lowly leaves bobbing up and down mercilessly on a vast and ineffectual ocean.
You struggle against a current that can change drastically without warning and take you somewhere else completely.
Acceptance
Maybe we should stop working so hard to protect ourselves. Maybe our suit of armor is quite porous. No one is able to foresee the future. Why do we stress out so much about protecting ourselves from self created future demons?
Financial independence is so amazing because it allows us choices. Here and now. Whether it will continue in the future is unknowable.
The final stage of financial independence is accepting that there is no suit of armor. Financial or otherwise.
That life will throw you both the perfect strikes down the middle as well as a curve balls. Some, you will hit out of the park. Others, will bean you in the head. And yet others will fly right past as your bat slices ineffectively through the air.
You can try to protect yourself all you want, but the pitches won’t stop coming.
And for me, after all that has happened as of late, I feel quite at peace with this notion.
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms;
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin’d,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper’d pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav’d, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
WS
“You can try to protect yourself all you want, but the pitches won’t stop coming.”
Love that line, I’m facing quite a few curveballs now, and maybe one knuckleball for good measure. This is a great post, one of your best. Simple idea, but expressed well.
I agree that this is a favorite post of mine.
Financial independence is tricky. What works in this moment may not work in the future. That is why I am ultra conservative with my plans. Sure it might mean I work a few years longer than I needed to but hopefully the margin it creates will give me a peace of mind. Once I exit medicine it will be hard to come back so I better damn well make sure I have enough.
Nice! As a hospice Doc, you would think that learning acceptance came easily. Not so!
Roll with the punches… when a door closes a window opens… man plans and god laughs…
There are so many sayings out there for the situation, ALL of us should understand that change happens. But change is hard!
At least you have already won the game of time freedom. You have the benefit of experience and the world of possibilities…
It’s good to have a plan of attack on how to get to FIRE and then what you want to do post FIRE. But I’m learning that sometimes what you plan to do in your FIRE life, might not as pan out exactly as you want. This can be either self-decided (now that you finally have the time and space) or something that is imposed (like a health scare, etc). To me, flexibility is key because life never goes quite as we expect. Love this post Doc! Though the change might be hard at the moment, I know big things are in your future.
Totally agree with this. I especially like how you ended it. We are currently struggling with a decision and DH woke up yesterday to tell me he’s at peace with however it turns out because he realizes we can’t control the outcome of this particular issue. If we can’t control it…it seems the only path forward *is* peace and acceptance. May you be well, Doc G.
I am content, and I dislike it.
Ill-fitting armor at best is uncomfortable and at worst injury producing. FI allows a choice from a position of strength, as all options appear better from this perspective. The suit of armor, for me, is the choice. Plate mail, chain link, cotton or carbon fiber nano-tech; each a tool to choose from. There is a great dignity to forming your own thoughts and breathing at your own cadence – but there is nothing simple about it.
Thank you for the thought producing article Doc G.
Really great perspective. There is only so much we can control, and we tend to think that with adequate preparation, there is nothing that can get us.
But I frequently return to my two buddies from fellowship who were dead from cancer before the age of 50. It sharpens my focus on what is most important in life (hint: it’s not that Vanguard dropped the expense ratio of an ETF from 0.05% to 0.04%).
Great post. As docs who face death and misfortune through our patients frequently, it is easy to separate ourselves from that as a coping strategy to be able to do our jobs. However, we eventually discover that the same rules apply to us – some discover it late and others early in their careers. I think that the deliberate thinking about time and money that accompanies FI doesn’t make us invulnerable, but it does help us make better decisions. Earlier rather than later.
I’m sorry you’re going through this turmoil, but thank you for sharing this perspective. I agree we have little control over much of the movement in our lives. We love to think (myself included) that if we plan and execute just right that we’ll get only what we envision. Much of the safety of FI and the safety in staying gainfully employed is just an illusion.
I love your metaphor of us as leaves floating on the ocean. Yes.
All you need to do to know what the universe thinks of your plans is to look at a waterfall, or lie down and watch the stars for a while. Our human systems trick us into thinking we have control, but really all we can do is make the best of a dispassionate world. And in many cases that is enough! Or at least better than a lot of people have it.
Best of luck with the transition and new directions.
I hope whatever it clears up soon. Life certainly does have it’s own plan for all of us. The trick is in learning to dance to the plan… and not stumble over it.
I hope whatever it is clears up soon. Life certainly does have it’s own plan for all of us. The trick is in learning to dance to the plan… and not stumble over it.