Why a journey to financial independence does not mean deprivation

Sometimes, life, or in this case, death, steps up and smacks you right in the face, and yells: “Hey, there’s a message you need to learn here.” And you have no choice but to pause and reflect.

Thanksgiving this year was one of those days for me. I woke up to news that one of my oldest and best friends had died. He was 35. There was no warning. I met Jay when I was 16. From the first day I met him, I knew I wanted to be friends with him. To me, he was always kind. I loved Jay as much as I’ve ever loved anyone.

He wasn’t perfect though. My biggest regret for him is that this brilliant, insightful person never got to live up to his potential. He dropped out of college after one semester and was, for most of his life, a pizza delivery driver. When he died, he was living with and taking care of his elderly parents. He had a generous soul.

While getting ready for work, he collapsed and died, probably of an aneurysm. Aneurysms can strike anyone at any time. Was it because of his lifestyle? Was it genetic? I don’t think we will ever really know.

My life is significantly poorer for Jay’s loss. But it also made me grateful that I got 19 years of friendship with him. Grateful that I am still alive and grateful that I’ve been able to reach out and seize so many of my own dreams, and that I will continue to do so.

It also reinforced the idea that we need to enjoy the journey, because no destination is assured. This, to me, hits at one of the hearts of the conflict many people feel about the financial independence path and journey. Many people feel that they have to deprive themselves of happiness now so that they have enough to enjoy the future once they are financially independent. In some equations, buying things equals happiness, so if you can’t buy the thing, you’re less happy now, and you’ve traded that happiness for an uncertain future. After all, you could die well before you hit financial independence (FI), then all your “deprivation” would be for nothing. If the value in your life comes from material possessions, and the experiences you purchase, this is a very real fear and strong reason not to go along with FI.

But to me, the FI journey is not about deprivation. It’s not about just buying less stuff so that I’m miserable now only to have a miserly future (and present). I actuallybelieve there’s a lot of joy in the journey, and if you’re going to be successful at pursuing it, you need to find joy in the process – the everyday frugality of it.

For me, every day that I’m under my spending targets, I get a little boost of joy. My high savings rate gives me so many more options and less stress than if I was living paycheque to paycheque. I am really excited about saving up for a rental property and learning all I can about real estate.

I enjoy the extra time I don’t have to spend shopping for new possessions or fixing old ones. I love the lack of attachment I have for material goods that allows me to easily pack up my life and move to a new country for a new opportunity, as I’ve done six times already.

I love that I don’t need a high salary job, because my needs are low, so I can be a teacher and help kids everyday and hopefully make the next generation better than my own. I love the people I’ve met who are on the FI journey as well, because they’re generally fascinating and accomplished and generous. I love that I can help others reach their financial goals because I’ve educated myself enough that I can bring real value in solving their problems.

For all of those reasons, I love the path to FI, and not one of them is really about the goal. I could die today and not think of my life as a series of wasted purchasing opportunities. I can be proud of how I live.

You could die well before you hit financial independence, then all your ‘deprivation’ would be for nothing

Dubai schoolteacher Zach Holz documents his journey towards financial independence on his personal finance blog The Happiest Teacher