Apparently I am the only person here that thinks there is more to life than saving, investing, and/or creating passive income streams. While those things are great and all, I hardly want to give up what are arguably the best years of my life because I’m chasing some “dream” I don’t really want.
I’m assuming that you all suggest I save more, invest more, and create multiple streams of income so that one day I can have the financial freedom to cut back on work, possibly even retire extremely early. Let me stop you right there. I don’t hate my job nor do I care to be wealthy.
Multiple income streams:
Girl Ninja and I don’t think to ourselves at night, “We need to make more money.” Actually, we are completely content with what we have. Contentment is a beautiful thing.
I understand multiple income streams help protect oneself in the event of a job loss, but she’s a teacher and I work for the fed. Fortunately, this means we have a good bit more job security than those in the private sector. If we don’t need more money coming in, and we both enjoy our rather stable jobs, I don’t see an advantage to an income property or a taxable investment account. In fact, all I see are potential headaches and emotional roller coasters.
Save more:
Could we keep saving until our bank account read $120,000, $150,000, or $200,000? Sure. But what’s the point? I’ve already chronicled why I would NEVER pay cash for a house, so that’s not really incentive (side note: you shouldn’t pay cash for a house either).
I hope you all remember that the only reason we save is so that one day we can spend (or give that money away). Why do we need $200,000 in cash? Seriously, I don’t get it. Part of me thinks people want me to save more cash because it sounds like the responsible thing to do. Let me turn the tables, How many of you have $150,000 in a savings account right now?
Invest More:
I got my job six months after I graduated college. Since day one, I’ve steadily contributed 15% or more to my retirement. Since I have absolutely no desire to retire with tens of millions of dollars in the bank, I don’t really see the need to go crazy. I said I’ll likely up my retirement contributions to 30% once we reach our $100,000 savings goal, but I don’t really see a reason why I should be putting more than that away? Unless of course I want my future dentures, wheelchair, and catheter to be made out of diamonds. Barring some major catastrophic event, I think a 15%-30% investing rate over the course of a 40 year career should be just fine.
Conclusion:
I do realize however, I was being dramatic in my last post and it’s very likely many of you took me literally; Thinking I was going to buy a new flat screen TV every month just for the sake of doing it. That’s hardly the case. That post was simply my way of acknowledging, that for the first time in my personal finance journey, I’m completely content. I’ve stressed about student loans, emergency funds, down payments, and retirement for far too long.
To be clear: We will still put our excess discretionary income in to a bank account (or taxable investment account). We will continue to save for our future house (and the unexpected headaches that come with homeownership). We will make sure we have enough cash on reserves to take care of our not-yet-conceived children. But mark my words, once we reach our $100,000 goal… you’ll see a whole new side of Ninja 🙂
