5 reasons why it’s hard to retire early after reaching Financial Independence
I thought that when I hit my $4,000,000 FI number, I would immediately hand in my resignation letter and pack my bags the next day. After all, I’ll be financially independent. I’ll have enough f-you money to do whatever I want. Why would I care what my employer has to say? Well, I reached my FIRE number in the middle of 2021 and I’m still working 9 months later. Over the last year, as I quickly approached my FIRE number I learned a great deal on what it takes to retire early. I’ve been overly focused on achieving FI and it came so fast, that I was left ill-prepared to RE. In this post, I’ll outline 5 of the difficulties that I’m currently going through and why I haven’t been able to throw in that resignation letter…yet. Are you ready? Standby.
1. Homes prices have skyrocketed
I originally planned to spend $750k on 2 homes in the Dallas area. $500k for my house and $250k for my parents. Unfortunately, home prices have increased in the last 2 years to the point where what used to cost $500-$600k now costs $1M+. We currently have a new home being constructed that costs roughly $1M. This gross underestimation of my home expense has given me a lot of pause.
2. Wife is unexpectedly, but happily pregnant with baby #3
During the tail end of my paternity leave for baby #2, we found out that we have baby #3 on the way. Totally unplanned. But I’m happy that our family is growing and we’ll soon have 3 boys creating havoc around the house. My current employer gives a very generous 4-month paternity leave. So my current chess board is: work for 4 months and get 4 months off OR quit now and start retirement life with a baby coming in 4 months. After you read bullet point #5 this point will sink in further. But essentially, I’ll get paid double on an hourly basis–because I’m working half the time (4 months) and getting paid for the full duration (8 months). It’s really hard to beat this deal.
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3. Home construction delays force us to be in a waiting pattern
The new home construction business has been very chaotic since the beginning of the pandemic. Supplies are hard to find and backed up for months, labor is hard to find and getting more expensive, and my city’s home inspectors are busy because there’s so much new construction. As an example, we have been waiting for 2 months to get the framing of my home inspected by the city. But in order to start that, we needed all windows to be installed. We have been waiting on a single window for weeks. And when we finally got it, it was the wrong size! Bummer. The new ETA for the home is mid-April.
4. Inflation and imminent recession is top of mind
It is a scary thought to think that inflation and a recession combined will eat away at my net worth. I feel pretty confident that I can withstand it though. However, these are the least ideal conditions to have when considering calling it quits. I’ve cashed out a decent amount in preparation for the home and another downturn, but one can never be over-prepared for what I think will come.
5. I’m at the height of my career and making 7-figures
For the first time, I made 7-figures from my daytime job in 2021. It is unreal. I’ve truly lived the American Dream. I was the kid who got free and reduced lunch growing up. I lived in the ghettos the first 10 years of my life. My first restaurant experience was at McDonald’s when I was 9 years old. And the first time I got on an airplane was when I was going to a job interview at 19 years old. It’s been difficult to think that I would give up what I’ve been able to build up to, considering where I started. But…freedom! I constantly need to remind myself that there are a lot of other things waiting for me to do.
Final Word
With all of these conditions, I am still determined to pull the plug in late 2022. I have a couple of positives working for me. I currently have a 7-figure tailwind because one of my previous startups raised a sizable round of funding, making the company now worth over $2.6B. This pool of money was never accounted for in my FIRE plan and it’s turning out to be substantial. Additionally, I have another 8+ months of working to continue to accumulate stocks and capitalize on any market downturn.
Finally, I’m finding that through my free FIRE coaching sessions, my desire to expand Road to FIRE is growing. There are so many tools and services that I want to provide that I cannot wait to get started!
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