Who says that you need to quit your job once you become rich? The good part of being wealthy is choosing your own destiny.
Many of us find solace in the daily grind. We have worked in the workforce for many years and have built a solid reputation. We want the ability to retire whenever we want but want to keep grinding for a few years.
My situation. I find myself in the above situation now. I have been a US Marine for 23 years, and every year I continue, I build a better military pension. By better, I mean bigger!
The Magic of House Hacking
Three years ago, my wife and I started our debt-free, financial independence journey. It is life-changing not to have debt and have positive cash flow from assets.
I wrote the Stay-Debt Free at Any Age series (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s) to capture what we have learned along the way. “The Magic of Cash Flow” explains how cash flow is the lifeblood of any household.
Create a work-life balance. To get to a point where you love going to work, you need to be able to quit at any time. At that moment, you are in control of your actions; you are “work-optional.”
Knowing that you can walk away from your job at any moment creates a new feeling of work-life balance (part 1, part 2, part 3) that you have never experienced before.
Losing Friends? You’re Doing Something Right
The key to arriving at this point is becoming financially independent (F.I.). Luckily, I wrote an article about this movement titled “What is Financial Independence?”
The best ways to achieve Financial Independence. There are many ways to achieve F.I. I use as many ways as possible because I like to diversify my passive income.
In a nutshell, you can use dividends, royalties, real estate, interests, automated business, or cryptocurrencies to set yourself free. The metaverse is also something you can invest time into early to get a jump on the competition.
Of all of these, I believe dividends are the best way to get started towards F.I. Investing for dividends doesn’t take too much time, and you can see the benefits rather quickly. However, it requires money to get started.
What Type of Home Business Should You Start?
Why do you need a job? Once on your journey to F.I., you’ll feel the urge to quit your job. After all, why work if you have money coming in passively, right?
But your job does bring certain intrinsic and monetary benefits. Of course, you get the pride of knowing you have a job. Many people couldn’t hold a position if they tried. Going to work every day is essential to you and your family.
Medical insurance, dental care, and a steady paycheck are all things that a job can provide. It is good to have a paycheck coming in the mail during today’s volatile markets (housing, stock, crypto).
RE Lifestyles 2: Investor vs. Lender
You don’t have to be in a rush to quit your job, especially if you are a remote worker. When you have enough money to pay for your expenses from passive income, you are financially independent.
Being independent allows you to make requests that you usually would not have made. You can ask to work remotely or to work less in the office. Your employers will sense who you have become and get on board with the “new you.”
It’s not the destination; it’s the journey. Your path to becoming F.I. is more than stacking up income-producing assets. It’s a shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.
This change of perspective closely resembles that from an employee to an entrepreneurial mindset. Let’s examine the two attitudes quickly.
The employee mindset. Someone needs to tell the employee every step to perform. They usually say, “this is not in my job description.” They fight for little wins.
The 8-Hour Mindset Destroys Wealth
The entrepreneurial mindset. The entrepreneur looks for ways to complete the mission they are assigned. They have a “can-do” attitude and want to reduce the waste of time, energy, and money.
When you form the mindset of an entrepreneur, you don’t have to run off and start a business. Sometimes, your best service will come from working inside someone else’s company.
When you start a business, you’ll have to wear many hats, such as advertising, marketing, budgeting, and human resources. If you just want to focus your efforts on what you are best at, staying at your job is great.
It’s your life; live it how you want. Life is too short to follow what others tell you. You can build passive income (say $20,000/month) but still go to work every day.
The Magic of Dividend Growth Investing
Keeping your job also allows your income streams to mature safely. You don’t want to jump into retirement and have one of your income streams crumble.
Create your own job. You can also create your own job while you have a job. This is what I am doing right now as I write.
When I retire from the Marines, I want to be a writer, so I started a writing business. It takes 10,000 hours to build an income stream; why not accomplish those hours while getting paid from your job?
Here is a list of businesses you can start in your free time. The harder you work in your free time, the better chance you’ll have to build a great company.
- E*commerce
- Blog
- Author
- Music
- Photography
- Podcast
- Artist
- Beneficial insects
- Compost
- Vermiculture (worm farming)
- Rental car
- Gardening
- ATM, vending machine
- Airbnb
- Book reviews
There are unlimited ideas to start a business; you need only try. As you create your own business, you’ll find that you will understand more about your work.
Living Overseas on Dividends
Conclusion. The shift from a fixed mindset (employee) to a growth mindset (entrepreneur) doesn’t mean you have to quit your job. You can take your growth mindset to work and increase your value to the company.
You can build an amazing business, real estate profile, or dividend growth investing portfolio in your free time. Cash flow helps you achieve your goals in the fastest possible manner.
If the Financial Independence, Retirement Early (FIRE) movement turned you off because of the extreme financial sacrifices, you still have other options.
You can set yourself and your family up for financial success by combining elements of the FIRE movement and standard work logic. It is okay to go to work as long as you accumulate income-producing assets along the way.
- PDF of the Month: Make $500/Month in Dividends (pdf)
- Free PDF Downloads: Download FREE PDF LIST here
- Financial Mindset: Become CEO of Yourself 2 (Free 196-Page PDF)
- Retirement Planning: Your Retirement Planning Guide 2 (Free 255-Page PDF)
- Investing: How We Plan to Retire on Dividends 2 (165-Page Free PDF)
- Cryptocurrencies: Counting on Crypto 2 (Free 159-Page PDF)
- Real Estate: Financial Independence through Real Estate 2 (Free 123-Page PDF)
- Business: Retire Rich, Retire Comfortable with a Business 2 (Free 185-Page PDF)
- Latest DGWR: Don’t Gamble with Retirement 6 (Free 409-Page PDF)
- Everything!: The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 2! (book)(Web Edition)(Art Edition)
- I bought a Kindle Oasis: Check it out on Amazon
- Read My Books for Free: Free Kindle Books Schedule
- Crypto Exchange: My Favorite Crypto Exchange VOYAGER (Join Voyager)
- Kindle Unlimited: Why I Finally Subscribed Kindle Unlimited (learn more)
- Book Reviews: 505 Takeaways from 101 Books (pdf)
- Writing: Can Grammarly Make You a Better Writer?
- Best REIT- Fundrise: REITs vs. Homeownership (Join Fundrise)
- Follow us: On our Facebook Page and Join our Facebook Group
- Monthly Dividend Tracker (XLSX): Check it out on Etsy
- For more detailed analysis, join my Youtube: MFI YouTube Channel
Monthly Dividend Tracker Template: Buy on Etsy
Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing
Leave a Reply