What Does It Mean to Be Rich?

FIRE MOVEMENT

Do you know what being rich is really about? I don’t mean fake, flashy, name brand rich. I mean true wealth.

It’s about time. I’m not a rich man because of the possessions I have. I am a rich man because of the time I control — no meetings on my schedule, no boss to report to, no debt that has to be paid back. I own free, open, one of a kind time.

Warren Buffett said that if you never learn how to make money in your sleep, you’ll work until you die. All it takes is a quote like this to realize that we are really doing this work-life balance thing completely wrong.

I’ve always had a child-like curiosity about life. I’ve always asked the question why. I remember that when I was in college, I was looking for the best internship in town. That internship happened to be at an insurance brokerage who sold trucking insurance. My friends always told me that this company was the best place to get a job. Why? Why was it the best? They said that it was the best place to make the most money compared to any other businesses. So, I applied for the internship and got it.

In my first weeks, I got to job shadow a trucking insurance salesman. My curious mind wondered how much money he made. Instead of asking him flat out, I instead asked if he could retire with his current income. He responded by saying that he wouldn’t even need his 401K. Wow, I thought. He must make a lot of money!

After my internship was over, I applied to get a job in sales and was rejected. Here I was with one foot already in the door as an intern and I still couldn’t land a job. This really made me ponder the status quo of what a great job is. What’s the point of working? We essentially only work now so that we don’t have to work later, right? Isn’t that the goal? Work the most formidable years of your life so that one day you can retire.

Damn. I don’t want to wait until I’m 65 to retire! How can I turn the golden years of retirement to the golden years of my life? Is that possible? How do I learn to make money work for me during my formidable years? How do I make the maximum income doing something I love instead of selling trucking insurance? Is it…