The New FIRE: Financial Independence, Recreational Employment

As most of you know, my husband and I “retired early” from our W-2 jobs almost 3.5 years ago now. As you would imagine, it’s been 3 years of waking up late and lounging by a pool all day – except that’s not how it’s been at all. Today (and yesterday, and the day before that), my husband has been at our properties dealing with maintenance issues – a cracked floor, limbs down from recent storms, and a broken-off toilet handle (how does that even happen?!).

And I’ve been busy working on our multiple property tax protests, going over business models with Caitlin for our new financial planning offering, sitting in on a required IRS CE tax class for my Enrolled Agent certification, and dealing with all of the May-cember school events (at least no more complaints of a ‘ghost’ in our rental cabin this week!).

On paper it doesn’t seem very ‘free’, but the crazy thing is that yes, we’re still busy, but we’re doing things we (mostly) enjoy – and we have the time flexibility to fit in things that pop up. One of my friends asked if I wanted to check out a winery tomorrow afternoon while the weather is nice, so I moved a few things around and said yes. I can do weekday morning hikes when the parks don’t require permits, and visit museums when the crowds are down. And this summer we are planning to travel for about 6 weeks, which never would have been possible with a traditional job.

A lot of people approach ‘retirement’ with a fear of being bored, but we honestly somehow have just as much (if not more) going on than we did before. The difference is we’re choosing what we do, and we’re doing things we find meaning in – improving our properties for our tenants, helping women become confident around their finances, and spending time together as a family. We also have the flexibility to make time for other things rather than being chained to a 9-5 schedule every day.

This is what the new version of FIRE really looks like. Not escaping work entirely, but escaping work that drains the life out of you. Not doing nothing, but having the freedom to choose what fills your days.

For us, financial independence hasn’t meant sitting still. It’s meant building a life where work, family, hobbies, travel, and rest can coexist in a way that actually feels sustainable. We still have responsibilities and stressful days, but they belong to our life now - not someone else’s schedule.

The goal was never to retire from living; it was to have more space to actually live.

Enjoyed this post? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter! 📩