{"id":158254,"date":"2023-09-15T10:43:59","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T16:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=158254"},"modified":"2024-05-17T12:08:23","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T18:08:23","slug":"your-idea-of-financial-freedom-is-different-than-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/your-idea-of-financial-freedom-is-different-than-mine","title":{"rendered":"Your Idea of Financial Freedom is Very Different Than Mine\u2014And That\u2019s Okay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ask 10 BiggerPockets members what their high-level real estate investment goals are, and you may get similar responses. We all want financial freedom, right?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That question isn\u2019t as easy to answer as you\u2019d think. Because when you dive a little deeper, you\u2019ll get a myriad of answers about <\/span>what exactly financial freedom is<\/span><\/a>. My definition of financial freedom differs from other investors in the REI community, and many will probably say I\u2019m crazy\u2014including some of my BiggerPockets colleagues, whom I respect and admire. But that doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just hear me out\u2014even if you disagree with my logic (and I expect that many of you will). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financial Freedom Doesn\u2019t Mean I Need to Retire Early<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get this out of the way now: I have no interest in retiring early. I plan to work until I\u2019m 65 and then live off my 401(k) and stock options, with supplemental income from a rental property.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know several people my age or younger living the <\/span>FIRE lifestyle<\/span><\/a> and many more with that goal in mind. That\u2019s great for them, and I will always offer encouragement along the way. But that\u2019s not for me. I will never be a Brandon Turner or Josh Dorkin or even someone with a portfolio that\u2019s a fraction of their size.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong: There are definitely times I wish I lived in a tropical paradise with no care in the world other than if the Eagles are going to win this weekend. But for every frustrating day at work, there are twice as many days when I feel empowered and passionate about what I do. I enjoy my W-2 job, and I have no plans to give it up, at least anytime soon.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means I\u2019m not actively looking for my next deal or opportunity to expand. I could always point to high interest rates or housing prices as my reason for standing pat, although smart investors know the market is cyclical and wealth will continue to grow with time. Plus, there are always good deals if you know where to look. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, though, I\u2019m not scaling because I really don\u2019t need to right now to have my version of financial freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My View of Financial Freedom Is More Low Key<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My idea of financial freedom is simple: Since I have no plans to give up my full-time job, I don\u2019t need to replace that income. I just want to earn enough extra money to pay for one incredible vacation each year for my family. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spending time with my family and enjoying experiences together are very important things to me. I\u2019m in a fortunate situation where I really don\u2019t worry about money on a day-to-day basis, thanks to a well-paying job and careful budgeting. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only time I feel financially stressed is when I try to plan a trip to a unique destination. (Or maybe when I see my credit card bill after Christmas.) I aim to use my rental income to cover this expense, freeing me from that financial burden. In other words, it\u2019s providing me with financial freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave Meyer has a new book releasing in January called <\/span>Start with Strategy: Craft Your Personal Real Estate Portfolio for Lasting Financial Freedom<\/a> <\/span><\/em>that further validates my thinking. I recently had the honor of reading an early draft, and it\u2019s truly fantastic. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the key tenets in his book focuses on discovering your values and building an investment strategy around what\u2019s important to you. And that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m doing to reach my goal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am I Ignoring Common Sense?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve probably been screaming at me the whole time you\u2019ve been reading this. I can hear you saying things like how my money can grow exponentially with additional investments and how I can still have my vacation fund while at the same time building my wealth for the future. And you\u2019re not wrong. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My fiancee and I each own a small primary residence. We plan to sell my home and use the equity for a down payment for something bigger for our family and rent her place. It has a low remaining mortgage balance (and interest rate) and has incredible equity. It\u2019s also in one of the most in-demand neighborhoods in <\/span>Atlanta<\/span><\/a>, so finding qualified tenants will likely not be an issue. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will admit this is all speculative since we\u2019re still prepping the property to rent, which will take another month or two. However, without sharing the details, we\u2019ve crunched the numbers a few different ways and are confident we can fund our goal with just this one property.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we wanted, we could absolutely use some of the equity in both our residences with a HELOC or cash-out refinance to fund another deal and scale. Even with the additional mortgage obligations, we\u2019d still generate cash flow on the original investment while earning an additional return on the second property over time. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this doesn\u2019t align with my current goals, so I\u2019m not going to do it. Yet.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bottom Line<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So who\u2019s right here? I\u2019m right. And you\u2019re right. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since there\u2019s no one-size-fits-all approach to real estate investing, it\u2019s up to each individual to determine what financial freedom is and how to get there. Just because my strategy doesn\u2019t align with yours doesn’t make either of us wrong. It just makes it different. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll be the first to point out that my strategy is based on my current goal. And I know my goal will likely change a few times in the next 25 years before I retire. That\u2019s a bridge I can cross later. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for now, this is my plan, and I\u2019m sticking with it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think? Sound off in the comments below. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Early financial freedom is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building wealth is always possible, even while working full-time, earning a median income, and paying off debt. Set for Life <\/em>gives young professionals the action plan they need to conquer their financial goals and achieve early financial independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Get Your Copy<\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/main>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Financial freedom can be different than replacing your active income with passive investments, it can be as simple as a really good 9-5 and peace of mind. But you might have serious reservations about that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613658,"featured_media":158256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4433],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/613658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}