I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my work. Today, I’ll ask you about yours. First though, we have to get to last week’s question.
Should I pay off my mortgage?
Long time readers will know that I’m adamantly against paying off my mortgage. I love borrowing money at 3.25% and having the cash available for a good deal. Lately though, the .9% interest rate on my $100,000 in cash is getting me down. My solution is to pay off my mortgage and open a line of credit. That way, I’ve at least made a 3.25% return on the money. Here is what you had to say:
The most surprising response was from Done by Forty. His viewpoint is opposed to 95% of the folks who love having a paid off house:
I enjoyed having a paid off home for the few years we had it. But the longer I get to know our personalities as they relate to personal finance, the more I hate equity. It’s not that helpful. It just sits there, doing nothing & earning nothing…like cash. But unlike cash, it can’t be used for anything without going through ridiculous hoops to get a loan.
Mr. Tako thinks along the same lines:
…If you have guessed, I wouldn’t pay off the house. Cash gives you opportunity. Opportunity to capture the best return when it arises. It also gives you a certain amount of stability if you encountered job loss or some other economic misfortune.
The Green Swan will retire with a paid off mortgage:
My vision of retirement has always been with a paid off mortgage. While it may not be a high returning asset, I could tap its value in times of recession to bet on the upswing in the stock market. It would be a nice reserve of value I could flex in times I know the market will be bouncing back up soon.
I liked what Mr. SSC had to say. I’m thankful that my home has appreciated, but I don’t count on it (besides the forced appreciation I create by home improvements).
We have done zero to put anything extra toward our current mortgage. We may see our property values increase, but we don’t trust that and therefore don’t “invest” in our property.
I know I’m in the minority, but it won’t bother me in the slightest going into retirement with a mortgage. Maybe I’m biased though because I have the cash to pay it off.
Reader Daninave appreciates a paid off mortgage:
However, when you do not have to pay mortgage anymore, you feel that you really got a step forward to freedom. It is a great change, priceless.
Mr. PIE is realistic:
I wonder if patiently waiting for another 12 months and assess your options then when you have a mortgage loan option in play and perhaps a better opportunity in the housing market to strike at. The old landlady will be another year older by then…..oh come on, just stating a fact…..!!
Very true Mr. PIE, but she shows no signs of letting up! It wouldn’t surprise me if she was still going strong at 95.
What I’ll do
Elizabeth from World of Wealth had this to say:
You need to tap your home equity in any event to complete a quick cash transaction, so what’s the difference between making it a small heloc with cash or simply a larger heloc when the time comes? The total mortgage debt you end up with will be the same, if not less, and you’ll save some interest expense in the meantime.
I’m doing exactly as Elizabeth suggests. I’ll keep my cash, but open up a HELOC too. While it’s painful to have all that cash sit around collecting dust and spiderwebs, I’ll deploy it in the next two years one way or another.
Random thoughts as to where the money would go if I never buy a property:
- If Mr. Market catches a cold and has a downturn of 25%, I’d flush all those real estate dreams down the toilet and throw the money into equities.
- I may start to invest in properties through PeerStreet. If it’s good enough for the Mustache, it’s good enough for me.
- My Fundrise experiment has done well so far (10%!). Maybe I’ll throw some more money in its direction.
- I’m a big fan of Vanguard’s plain old REIT, VNQ. It’s hard to go wrong with Vanguard.
Ask the Readers: Are you Passionate about your Work?
This question was originally supposed to be called:
Are you working at your passion?
Then, theFIREstarter chimed in with this comment in last week’s post about my writing passion:
I’m going to play devil’s advocate here and say that the whole follow your passions thing just isn’t going to work for 90% of the population.
We can’t all be writers, musicians and artists, or professional video game players ?
I think Mr. FIREstarter has a really good point. There are a lot of us who are fortunate to enjoy our jobs. However, how many of us would continue to do them if a rich uncle left us $50,000,000 tomorrow?
***crickets*** ***crickets*** ***crickets*** ***crickets***
I believe that those of us that would continue working because we love our jobs so much are in the very small minority. I’ve had a great career and I’ll probably write some computer code post-retirement, but not for 40 or even 20 hours per week.
Anyway, the new question is this:
Are you passionate about your work?
I’m not ever sure what this means, so I’ll throw some other questions at you:
- Does your time at work fly by or are there spiderwebs on the clock?
- Do you feel energized after a day at work or do you want a stiff drink?
- Does you work make you a better person or give you crazy stress?
If you’ve found something that you enjoy, that is an incredible gift. Fill me in.
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.
*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
Kate @ Cashville Skyline says
Since I was recently laid off, right now I am just blogging and freelancing. And it’s been amazing so far! I’ve been doing these things for years around my full-time job, and it’s awesome to finally devote my best hours to it. I think it’s normal for your passions to change, though. For my early 20s, I loved promoting concerts. Right now, I’m pretty stoked about online marketing. But that may change as I get older. As long as I’m helping people and making their lives better, I will be happy.
Kate @ Cashville Skyline recently posted…Social Media Hacks for Artists
Matt @ Distilled Dollar says
I was thinking about this same topic over the weekend as someone had mentioned a similar scenario…if we had millions appear overnight, would my feelings on the job stay the same.
At its core, my job as a CPA involves helping people navigate tax situations. I love to help people with their $$$ so I feel passionate within that specific scope. Of course, my job involves a lot of other aspects I would change so I’m far from 100% passionate.
You hit the nail on the head with you describe it. I phrased it a little differently over the weekend via a tweet. “Life is not about minimizing effort for the maximum result. It is about feeling and being engaged.”
Matt @ Distilled Dollar recently posted…The Smartest Decision We Made to Build Wealth Rapidly
Physician on FIRE says
I’m passionate about doing my job well. I want patients to have the best surgical experience possible, and I’m all about patient safety.
I can’t say I’m passionate about the work. I have very little autonomy and it would be dishonest to say I look forward to my workdays or wish I could work more.
I’m working a few more years to build up a nice cushion and see our kids through most of elementary school. After that, I see myself chasing other dreams. The “being a doctor when I grow up” dream has been realized.
Best,
-PoF
Physician on FIRE recently posted…The Sunday Best (8/14/2016)
TheMoneyMine says
This is an interesting question Mr 1500 because I wouldn’t say that I’m passionate about my work, but I would answer yes to all three questions.
Time does fly because we’re having fun in the office. We work hard, but we talk a lot to each other and we currently have a friendly puzzle competition going on (whoever finishes first wins). So yes, time flies.
I also feel energized when I get home and I feel like I can do another 12h of work. Until we have dinner and my body calls it a day.
Work probably makes me a better person since it constantly throws a challenge to test me outside of comfort zone. It doesn’t stress me anymore and I do learn a lot.
I certainly don’t mind the work, but I don’t feel passion about it. Am I in denial?
TheMoneyMine recently posted…A Path to Wealth
Dr. in Debt says
I am very passionate about my work. It is the main reason I went into healthcare. I can lay my head down each night, exhausted yet knowing that someone today is better because I left my family and went to work.
If I had a rich uncle, I would still practice medicine but not at the pace required by my job today. Many of my mentors continue to practice part-time well into their 70’s, some even into their 80’s. They do this not because they are broke but because they are passionate about helping their fellow man and teaching the next generation.
The biggest downfall of medicine is the commitment it takes. It can take your whole life. There are a few physicians who know nothing outside of the hosptial. Their entire lives have been build around their work and their passion for helping others. It’s ideal for humanity, but poor work/life balance for them, and they suffer from poor relationships in other areas of their life. I struggle with this. I simply don’t have time to do hardly any of the other things I would like to do.
The negative press you read about health care now is partly due to the problems with the new generation of physicians seeking better work-life balance afforded by other fields. This balance is simply not obtainable except for a few specialties; it ‘s hard to achieve. The lack of work life balance can lead to unfilled expectations and bitterness at work. This is also made worse by so many physicians becoming employees of hospitals instead of being an entrepreneur and setting up their practices as they see fit and working for themselves.
An excellent foil for the follow your passion arguments is “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” by Cal Newport. You don’t have to match your job to your passion. I highly recommend the read.
Frogdancer says
If someone gave me $50,000,000 I’d certainly quit work.
However, I answered ‘yes’ to all 3 of your questions. Where else would I get a job where my clients make me laugh every single session I have with them? Where I get paid for 9 weeks holiday a year? Where my colleagues are humorous, literate and funny? Where I’m doing work that matters and where every day is different?
Yes, I’m a secondary teacher. Love my work. (That doesn’t stop me wanting to retire slightly earlier than is normally the case. I want to travel while I’m still young enough not to need a zimmer frame.)
The Green Swan says
Hmmm, you asking that series of questions has made me realize something. See, I’m a banker, and I get most passionate about my work when I’m doing a big acquisition deal. While the time flies by when I’m most passionate doing these deals, I’m usually drained by the end of the day and need a stiff drink and it also makes me a crabby person when I go home to my wife and kid because I’m crazy stressed. I’m not quite sure what to think about this…
Bet you didn’t see that answer coming…I know I didn’t.
The Green Swan recently posted…College Tuition Estimate
Mr SSC says
I have to say that I may be in the minority, but still with a catch. I love my work – at its’ core anyway. I don’t like the bureaucracy within my company, but such is corporate life. If I got $50 million would I still come to the office every day. No way…
But, as a colleague and I discussed, I’d probably start doing field geology again, except study what I want to study and for my own sake, vs a degree or research consortium goals or that kind of thing. Currently, I get to apply all of that directly to my job, so it’s nice, engaging, and most days I enjoy being here and working through the problems. Last week, I read through about 12 different research papers and they sparked a new idea and approach to mapping I hadn’t tried yet, so I’m eager to see where that goes.
I haven’t found a day yet, that I’m at work and don’t have at least 1-2 things I’d rather be doing though. It’s quite the conundrum. I love that if I had to do this job for another 5-10 years, I’d be happy and not burnt out or bitter about it.
I love even more that barring a major catastrophe, I only HAVE to do it another 2 years. 🙂
Mr SSC recently posted…How we got FIRE’d Up!
Brian @ debt discipline says
Finding a new gig early this year has made me realize had bad my old life sucking job was.
I am no longer stressed. I have a better work/life balance. I have time to peruse other passion projects in my free time. This all leads to me being passionate about my job and doing my job well.
There are still occasional shake your head moments, dealing with stupid people, but I don’t see anyway to avoid that.
Brian @ debt discipline recently posted…Purchasing a Car: Do your Homework First
SavvyFinancialLatina says
No I’m not passionate about my particular job. If I inherited tons of money I wouldn’t come back. However, knowing me I would find something fun to replace it. Right now it’s about the money. Make money, save money, invest money.
SavvyFinancialLatina recently posted…Corporate Fog
redrider says
Nope, not passionate at all, but it paid the bills for the past 8 years and helped my wife and I buy 25 rental properties. Home mortgage is long paid off. Not much cash on hand, but we don’t need any. Always have heloc loans available. I gave my notice on my 35th birthday and I have 15 days to go! I’m sure you enjoy your job, but wouldn’t raising your kids and spending more time with your family be way more fun? I think you will wish you had done it a long time ago. The hardest part for me was telling my direct reports and coworkers. After that it’s been super exciting. Just my 2 cents!
Mr. Tako @ Mr. Tako Escapes says
Well, I’m not working anymore, and I write a blog about financial independence, so I guess you could say that I’m pretty passionate about that. 🙂
If someone gave me 50M, my life would be pretty much the same as it is today. I might have some nicer clothes or fancier toys, but really not that different.
Back when I was working though, I wasn’t passionate about my job. It was stressful, and I worked for a bunch of jerks. It wasn’t fulfilling, and I wasn’t creating something that had lasting value. Making money for shareholders was its only purpose. It was just a job for me….and efficient way to generate cash.
Mr. Tako @ Mr. Tako Escapes recently posted…A Tale Of Two Savers
Mr. PIE says
Long life and good health to the old landlady!!
I agree with PoF and his viewpoint. I strive to to do things very well. But I don’t want to do such things any more.
Having enjoyed a career in biotech, been able to travel and lead projects across the globe in Asia and EU, I reflect with much satisfaction on that. I also work with a great, supportive group of close colleagues but outside of that the corporate politics has become tiresome over the last 2-3 years.
Realizing that it takes very little for our family to be very happy (good food, the great outdoors, a bit of travel and TIME with the kids), the epiphany came upon us to just call time. Pharma/biotech will continue to thrive because the patients deserve better and more efficacious medicines. And a younger generation than us can pick that up with the enthusiasm and energy that is necessary to innovate.
Mr. PIE recently posted…Revealing our FIRE Plans: One Story, Four Ways
Fervent Finance says
NO! I am not passionate about my work, but then again it pays the bills and then some. I get a good amount of time off. Some parts can be challenging. I get to travel a little bit. For the most part the people I work with are good people. But at the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoy maybe 5-10% of what I do. That doesn’t mean I hate the other 90 to 95%, but I don’t love it. People might look at this and say “wow – you need to find another job/career.” But I know the grass isn’t greener. I’d be hard pressed to find work that paid more in a different career with as much time off as I get. I just don’t like working for the man plain and simple. But I think this is the path of least resistance for me to get to my FIRE goals 🙂
Fervent Finance recently posted…The Stigma of Subsidized
Jim @ Route To Retire says
I used to love my job, but after working there for over 17 years, I’ve “lost that loving feeling.” I’m good at what I do and have great hours (with flexibility) and good pay, but I think it’s time to move on… and not to another job.
My passion is my family and I think work tends to get in the way of that. I’m really enjoying the blogging and hopefully as I get closer to FI, I’ll be able to keep that going and maybe even earn a couple bucks while doing it.
— Jim
Jim @ Route To Retire recently posted…Is It Possible to Reach Financial Independence with Kids?
Mr. PIE says
Cue the Righteous Brothers on Monday morning
All together FIRE bloggers:
We lost that workin’ feelin’
Whoa, that workin’ feelin’
We lost that workin’ feelin’
Now it’s gone, gone, woh…
Work, work, I’d do that commute just for you
If work would only love me like it used to do, yeah
We had a job, a job, a job you don’t find everyday
So don’t, don’t, don’t let FIRE take it away
I have just put that damn song in my own head for the rest of the day. Doh!!
Mr. PIE recently posted…Revealing our FIRE Plans: One Story, Four Ways
Jim @ Route To Retire says
Haha, that’s about it! Now I’m going to have that song stuck in my head as well!
— Jim
Jim @ Route To Retire recently posted…Is It Possible to Reach Financial Independence with Kids?
Done by Forty says
I definitely don’t think I could call myself passionate about my work. But I thought about & wrote about this over the weekend, and I’m trying to feel grateful about my work. I’m lucky. Like, preposterously lucky, to have this job. Many people would want this kind of work if it were available.
As you said, even though there’s probably a kernel of passion in what I currently do (I like negotiating, and saving money for the company just like I save money for our family) there is no way I’d want to do this for 20 or 40 hours a week. I don’t think there’s any one activity I want to spend 8 hours a day on. Not writing, not playing games, not…um, well.
Good post. 🙂
Done by Forty recently posted…The Privileged
Gwen @ Fiery Millennials says
I would go one step further and say I hate my job. It’s a “learning position”, and I was put in this job when they put someone else in the position I wanted. It’s stressful, I’m not good at it and my coworkers put me down instead of try to help build what little skill I do have. It’s making me depressed and wearing down my self confidence.
Fortunately this rotation will come to an end in a few months. I will be allowed to apply for any position I want that’s currently open.
I would be most passionate about quitting and working on any one of my side hobbies/hustles, but they don’t pay enough to cover my expenses at the moment. I’m going to keep my corporate full time gig for at least a few more years.
Gwen @ Fiery Millennials recently posted…Life After FI
Ugh says
In the spirit of misery loving company, I can completely understand where you are coming from. I’m a civil engineer doing a rotation as a field inspector, and it’s been horrible.
Even under the best of circumstances, this would be a tough job for me – the job description could basically be “Tell people who don’t want to talk to you, things that they don’t want to hear.” The contractor lies to my face, screams obscenities at me, coasted for a month and now says it’s my fault he’s behind schedule and facing liquidated damages (it could go to litigation), and does things like sing (to the tune of “I can’t get enough of your love”) “I can’t get enough of your vagina.” At least he’s keeping his hands to himself at this point (a victory that involved high-volume conversation), but seriously – who thinks that it’s OK to grab someone at work?
Seriously, it’s awful, and if this were my permanent job, I’d leave and never look back without a single regret – from a money perspective, I could do it with no real problems. The thing is, my actual job is my dream (though, if I’m honest, this is kind of ruining that feeling for me).
As it is, every morning I tell myself “I said I’d do this, and people are relying on me.” That’s all that gets me to work. In fact, right now I’m procrastinating going to work…
16 more days. I just have to make it 16 more days…
us says
I love the intellectual part of my work, but I enjoyed it in school a lot more. It has been a lot more challenging once I started working in the industry for miscellaneous reasons. 1) Poor work-life balance. It is easy and fast to get burned out working in a highly technical field. Hard to find enough time for family life. 2) The fast-growing segment of the healthcare industry attracts a lot of mercenary characters. There is a lot of backstabbing and grand-standing. 3) It’s disheartening to see how many top executives are not worthy of their lofty paychecks. Often, the people with the strongest technical skills and talents are often not the ones who get promoted frequently. There are few of them near the top. But the ones with great backstabbing, credit-stealing, unethical practice, and semi-subtle brown nosing skills do. 4) The execs set the rules, so corporate rules tend to be best for execs, board of directors, etc. Despite the lower quality of technical workers from emerging countries, execs usually favor outsourcing to emerging countries to lower costs. If your job is not outsourced, you have to work a lot of OT to fix project errors associated with outsourced work. 5) Although the US has a lot of great products in healthcare, I am disappointed when I do my healthcare visits to clinics etc. Times with a real RN, PA are very rare and very short. There are a lot of low-costs technicians. Many of whom are not detail-oriented at all and do not care enough about patients. I am not surprised to read Medical Errors are 3rd leading cause of death in the US in recent news headlines. I am also disappointed at how several large healthcare, including pharma, biotech firms spend more money on marketing than on R&D.
Even when it comes to pharma/biotech investing, I run into scandalous headlines in the few firms I looked into. For example, CEO and CFO of Trovagene were both ousted. Current CEO may not be that reputable either. Inovalon is also being sued and doesn’t look that much better than Trovagene.
Physician on FIRE says
The data on medical errors is fraught with, well… errors. Don’t believe the hype.
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2016/05/hyperbole-seldom-helpful-especially-comes-medical-errors.html
I’m with you on the difficult work-life balance, the minimal time healthcare professionals are alloted for direct patient care, etc…
Best,
-PoF
Ms. Steward says
I am not necessarily passionate about all aspects of my day job, nor do I really expect to be. As I get older, I think more and more that making more money, as long as you don’t HATE what you do and are still living frugally so you can bank that money to stop working sooner, is the better of the options.
I do think it’s important to work your passion somehow, though, even if that’s a side gig or simply a hobby. Perhaps it could eventually turn into work, but I don’t think it has to (and sometimes it might stop being a passion in that case).
Ms. Steward recently posted…Mint: A Review
The Russian Guy says
The question is tricky… Really tricky.
I like my job, I wouldn’t say I’m passionate about my job, but I love it because it allows me to keep going to the job/carrier field I’m passionate about.
It pays great, sometimes I even do the job that matters and, again, it allows me to keep going to my dream.
Kristin says
I’m passionate about my job, but I also know it’s just a job. It could disappear at any time. My job probably not going to ‘reward me’ (either financially or with love or mental health) if I give more than 40 hours week to the job. I draw a hard line at how much I am willing to give my job and if that causes me to have a slower career progression, that’s fine with me. I will still achieve FIRE!
Revanche @ A Gai Shan Life says
Not anymore. There are things from it that I have passion for but my passion has always been for getting a good job done, not for any specific job. It’s good in that I can transfer my skills just about anywhere and be generally happy with kicking butt there, but it’s “bad” (as in, I guess it’s bad?) that I don’t ever buy into a mission statement.
I LOVE my paycheck, I love the flexibility, and I have great autonomy. I love the things that my job lets me do. I am looking forward to the next level, though, a job that I create and hopefully also love the work and paycheck for, and then perhaps early retirement. My family responsibilities, are, however, something that will likely prevent me from ever feeling like I can truly retire from making income, until they’re stowed. Medical care is not cheap.
Revanche @ A Gai Shan Life recently posted…Married Money: How we do it in 2016
Vicki@Make Smarter Decisions says
I lost my love for my job as a school administrator so I went off to teach at the college level. Funny enough, today I went back as an Interim administrator in the school I worked at for over 20 years. I love working with kids and I am looking forward to using all I have learned teaching at the college level too. But “interim” is the key word – hoping I will be energized each day, but if stiff drinks are needed, it will only be for a short-time!
Vicki@Make Smarter Decisions recently posted…One More First Day of School
52 and out! says
Same with same boss job 17 years. First 11 flew by in a blink. I could do no wrong and everything was fun, exciting, challenging, rewarding and I couldn’t believe how perfect the job was. Not to mention frequent and substantial raises. When the recession hit, the execs and HR started treating people horribly, but no one dared leave the previously wonderful job for fear of being unemployed. The execs changed, the economy eventually recovered, but the place hasn’t returned to its great days. The past 6 have been a major drag. FIRE in 4.5 months.
Ty says
Passionate? No. But following passion to find your fortune isn’t wise for the majority of us anyway. I’ve chosen to follow a lucrative opportunity instead. I’ll save my passion for my FIRE days.
http://www.getrichquickish.net/2016/07/work-to-earn-save-your-passion-for-your.html
Jan says
Thank you for your interesting blog.
I am not passionate about my job – however as I have increased my responsibilities over the (many) years I do not have anyone looking over my shoulder ever. I am in charge of my work. Going to work in an office every day is kind of sad if you think about it deeply (!) however I can use my income to invest which I find very interesting indeed. Still have a lot to learn.
Another topic – can you tell me why Jason’s blog Islands of Investing is no longer up?
Jason says
Like a lot of people there are some aspects of my job that I don’t like. I am not a fan of department meetings and helicopter parents. I also despise grading. Despite that, however, I do love my job. Every day is different. I know I make a difference. I get paid to do research, talk about politics, educate young minds, and I have a flexible schedule to boot.
Certainly there are things that I would change, but nothing is perfect. I have recently declared my financial independence date, but even if/when I reach it I don’t think I will stop working. I need to be intellectually stimulated and I can think of no real better place for that than a college environment. Of course in 20 years I could be replaced by robots then I will have to reinvent myself.
Jason recently posted…Financial Tip Friday: Take the 52 Week Savings Challenge
MrRIP says
When I’m not passionate about my job I simply change it. That’s what I’ve been doing so far. So by definition I’m always passionate about what I’m doing and, at the same time, I’m going to hate it in few years. I love writing code. It’s both a creative process and a scientific one. At Hooli I’ve found the smartest colleagues I’ve ever met and the office is full of perks. Well, if the uncle will leave 50M I’d run away instantly though! Problem is that I value my time so much that any job is an inferior option with respect doing what I love.
Early Retirement in 2019 (Already Retired) says
I just read your story on CNBC. Thank you for sharing your story publicly. It is very good for our early retirement community.
I was passionate about my job 10 years ago but didn’t last more than a few years. Many factors like people, clients, economy, etc. negatively affected my passion. I completely lost my passion toward my career 3 or 4 years ago and started organizing my early retirement plan. I had been working for only money and was let go this April as a result. I haven’t had a job since then but haven’t really missed working neither. I would rather pursue my dream (a culinary study and travel) than working in the IT industry.
Last week a company in Colorado asked me to re-consider my job application. But I rejected it without any hesitation because I am already retired. I have no desire to working as a corporate ant.
Early Retirement in 2019 (Already Retired) recently posted…Ready for Bear Market?
ESI Money says
I wasn’t passionate about my work so I retired. 🙂
Now we’ll see if I can find something to be passionate about!
ESI Money recently posted…I Retired!!!
Travel Travel & Retire! says
I targeted my company very specificallay because of the mission and I have a HUGE passion for making cultural/corporate changes. That said it was really depressing to have to go back almost to the bottom after being a stay at home mom and start my career from scratch, but I did it and got promoted quickly. Then I found myself in ajob that was killing me. A few months ago I moved to a different area of my company – an area and I am SO in love with my job. So to answer your question – yes time flies by, I do feel energized most of the time (though there are diffcult days) and while my job does not make me a better person, I bring my best self to work.
I am not one of those people that thinks of work life balance as being separate – working is part of living so it is important that how we choose to spend our time now is something we like doing (same for a mattress – most of our time is spent there, get the one you love!).
That said I think that my being energized at work increased exponentially when I also started to get on a FIRE plan. This meant to me that I dont have THAT much time to meet my job goals – there is so much change I want to accomplish and so knowing that i wont have to do this for “40 years” helps me get to it day in and day out.
I am passionate about living – that needs to include all aspects of life. If I am not feeling that way (even with my happy pills lol) then it is time to rebalance some part of my life and move on. But yeah – I am very much looking forward to the freedom that financial independence can afford so that we can move around the world and enhance our souls in other ways and find places were we an add value as we go. That is why I chose my quote on my about page “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass but about learning to dance in the rain” VG.
Mike Hardy says
Careful with lines of credit (home equity backed, or commercial, or whatever). They provide access to liquidity however should not be confused with actual liquidity
Why? LOCs usually contain the right on the part of the lender to deny the request at their discretion. In practice that means that if you rely on the credit as liquidity in a time of crises (possibly for other people in form of market crash for instance, and you just want cash to capture opportunity, or just crises for yourself) you may not be able to tap it.
Example – re: opportunism maybe missed – If you think about how closely volatility / price on nearly everything is correlated financially these days, it’s not hard to imagine that the lender would be observing nearly crisis with a big enough opportunity you want to capture as an internal crisis requiring lending to be curtailed. Heck, some people were even being stuck in money market funds as they put redemption moratoriums in effect recently!
Second example – emergency fund faith misplaced – you lose your job or have a major medical emergency and want to make a withdrawal from the LOC you opened for just such a situation, but the request causes the lender to pull your credit file / redetermine your credit-worthiness and they deny the request, right when you need it, for the purpose you initiated the line.
It is easy to take this mindset and go to far – getting conspiratorial about access to money / “money-ness” and start worrying about everything, stressing about counterparties, reading up on rehypothication etc and end up with gold buried in the backyard, but I don’t think it’s too much caution to make sure that if you think of something as similar to cash it is actually negotiable on demand no questions asked! LOCs aren’t that near as I can tell.
1500 says
Funny you mention this. Back in 2009, Chase Bank yanked my LOC. The more that I think about it, the less that I’m going to try to rely on it.
Debt Hater says
I wouldn’t say that I’m passionate about my work, but I do enjoy the work that I’m doing. Most of the people I work with are super cool and I’m not one of those people that dread going into work. I really enjoy the problem solving aspect and “thinking” part of my job, but there are a lot of reporting and daily tasks that I do hate. I do think that it causes me a minimal amount of stress, but listening to some other people I do feel I’m a good situation when it comes to my job.
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Jgirl says
I am passionate about my job. If I won the lottery, I would quit my paid job but do the work for free. We could retire tomorrow if we could afford the medical insurance, but alas, my husband will work at least 30 hrs a week until 65 just for insurance through his company. Did I miss how you and your wife have addressed this expense?
Designing A Frugal Life says
I work as a UX designer and really enjoy the work I do and the team of people I get to work with. I’m passionate about design and how it can improve the products people have to use every day. Most days fly by and while I’m tired after each day, it’s usually a good tired like after you have a nice workout session.
That being said, I’m passionate about other things too and have a lot of art & design related ideas/projects/jobs I’d like to explore. Being FI will allow me to pursue these other projects or jobs (which may or may not pay) without having to worry about earning a salary from my work. I’m a designer and artist at heart and will continue to create in some fashion or another, paid or not, until I die.