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Let’s talk family, careers, and saving aggressively (but not too aggressively) for FI.
We met up with Mrs. Adventure Rich (from Adventure Rich of course) at FinCon, and was incredibly impressed with everything she’s currently doing! She is a blogger, mother, wife, FI-seeker, and overall insightful person.
Straight up, here’s what we want you to take away from this episode: Flexibility. For FI, for your role in your marriage, for your spouse’s role, for your career.
You’ll definitely see a trend here. We also dig into…
- NOT rushing to FIRE…
- The supreme important of communication in relationships (and how it might help the journey to FI!)
- Which lifestyle should you choose: the bad$&# business woman boss? Or the chill stay-at-home wife/mom? (hint: It’s a trick question)
- Fellas, listen up for some awesome pointers to score bonus points with your significant other) 🙂
We had a blast diving into Mrs. Adventure Rich’s story, and it will definitely inspire you too! Enjoy.
Show notes and links from today’s episode
- Mrs. Adventure’s blog: Adventure Rich
- The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands
- Bozoma Saint John, Uber’s new Chief Brand Officer
Key takeaways from our chat with Mrs. Adventure Rich
1 – Not rushing to FIRE!
“Make it more enjoyable.”
Those were Mrs. AR’s exact words. It’s probably all too easy to get caught up in the “argh let’s save save save and cut cut sacrifice sacrifice!!” in order to achieve early retirement.
But is this really the best strategy? (probably…not) The Adventure Rich family doesn’t even have a specific FI number, and they don’t need one.
In fact, they don’t want to someday spend more time with their kids, or someday go hiking more, or travel more, or [[[[fill in the blank]]]], they want little parts of that life now.
Even on the way to fire. Especially on the way to fire.
(technically, it’d be appropriate to throw out the old “hey you might get hit by a bus tomorrow…” but you get the point 🙂
2 – The time is probably never “just right” for having kids
Most of us have probably already heard this before, but we really enjoyed the insights Mrs. AR shared in regards to career vs. parenthood. (“vs” is a horrible way to put that probably…)
More than anything else, Mrs. AR sought out flexibility; optimizing a lifestyle that could allow her to choose whether or not to go back to work after having a child. This is huge.
The truth is, becoming a parent (hey, a mom or a dad, but probably especially a mom) feels different for every human on the planet. Going back to work isn’t for everyone. Staying at home full-time isn’t for everyone.
We certainly aren’t advocating for any particular direction…but rather the supreme benefit of being able to choose for yourself.
Heck, this is what FI is about in general, but even more-so the years leading up to FI, when you’re still working. It’s important to seek out flexibility in those years as well!
3 – When it comes to gender roles in the household, you can figure it out as you go.
People change. Duh. Speaking of flexibility (pretty sure we’ve used that word 18 times already), it’s probably best to keep an open mind when it comes to your role as a wife or husband, mother or father.
These roles change over time just like we do, and as Mrs. AR pointed out, you may have no clue what you want to be doing 4 years from now.
In life, in your work, etc.
Dare we say it….again? Plan for flexibility and options.
4 – Strike while the “income iron” is hot
This has been said on other episodes of the podcast before, but it’s worth repeating.
If you are currently in a situation where your income is particularly high (or at least not particularly low?), now is the time to save.
You can’t control the future, and you also can’t predict the person you’ll want to be in five years. Mr. and Mrs. Adventure Rich are currently living off two incomes, and thus are saving as much as possible right now…
…for future flexibility.
Yes, we did it again. Sorry bout that 😉 But yes, it’s important!
Questions? Like or dislike? Leave us a comment!
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