Financial independence and the balance between time, money and health

When we are young, we generally have a lot of time available and good health, but no money. We are financially dependent.

Even once we start working, we still don’t have much money. In fact, when I was 20, my net worth was less than when I was too young to walk, thanks to a student loan. Our health is generally still good, and our free time still abundant.

Each decade from our 30’s our free time starts to often diminish as we spend more time at work as our careers progress and we have more commitments such as family. This is also when the health of many starts slowly deteriorating, but our net worths are steadily increasing too.

For most of the general populace who spend the majority of their pay checks, it is not until our 60’s that we finally have enough money to slow down from work or even retire. But now that we finally have our free time back from when we were young adults, we don’t have the same health. We can’t enjoy as many activities as we once could. Our kids have moved out of the house, so we can’t enjoy the time with them. Even if they were still close by, not many young adults want to spend too much time with their olds.

Because of this relationship between time, money and health, I have abandoned the idea of full early retirement. It would have taken me to around age 50 to achieve this – when my kids would be 13 and 10.

That is a bit long for me to wait. I already have a history of a bad back from too much office time and I don’t want to spend 40 plus hours a week away from home before the kids are teenagers. That’s too long for me to wait.

That’s why we have settled on part time work. I explained more about that decision in this post here. But basically, in about another year or so (age 42) I plan to leave my main higher income job and focus on the financial advice business only. It will free up many more hours to spend time doing what I enjoy the most, with people that I want to spend time with.

I don’t see the point waiting until standard retirement age to do this.

For many people, the only reason is money.

But what if you could have the money part sorted earlier in life through smart investing and frugal living?

That is when all the options open up, where you can spend your time how you wish, before you are too old to enjoy it.

The traditional path to retirement needs a real shakeup.

I am all for early retirement, coast FI, sabbaticals, mini retirements and career changes if it means buying more time to live your best life and enjoy your money while you can. A lot of the financial plans I provide consider these options for my clients.

The standard path is broken.

Our prime years should not be spent breaking our backs at jobs we don’t enjoy or wishing we were somewhere else.

Varying degrees of financial independence can flip that script on its head.

Saving money early is not sacrificing today for tomorrow. If that money is used to cash in your options early, then it is money extremely well saved.

The problem is when we save for too long, as we age, there are less and less things to enjoy the time and money on.

Financial independence or a good financial plan, opens up the chance to enjoy the perfect balance of good time and good health without running out of money.

If you need help with your personal retirement planning, then get in touch today.

The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here