Gen Z Guide to FI

If we had a drinking game for how many times people asked us “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, it would be one hell of a party.

I always wanted to make movies. When I was about 12, I watched Rango. Now, it has been so many years since I watched that movie but I can still remember how it made me feel. Rango was this weird animated movie about a chameleon who did not want to blend in. He wanted to be a star. Forgive me if I’m completely butchering the plot but that was what 12-year-old me took away from the movie. Anyway, watching Rango felt like the first time I had ever seen something that described exactly how I was feeling.

Right after I watched the movie, I remember running into the kitchen and telling my mum “I want to be an actress”. I was so young and cute. My mum immediately started crying. Angry crying. Like, how dare you waste all the money we have put into your private school education for this non-scholarly career. This is my recollection of the situation. I have no idea if my mum even remembers this or if that was her intention. Anyway that was the last I ever spoke of my acting dream to my parents.

As I grew older, I dedicated my life to choosing a path of sure success. OK so now things are going to get a bit more philosophical. I definitely wanted financial stability and I was good at math & science so obviously chemical engineering felt like the right move. Actually, I remember writing a college essay on ‘Rango’ and how it changed my life and helped me to find me voice. Except that entire essay was entirely bullshit. My voice wanted to be a star not a fucking engineer. Every moment, since the moment my mother knocked down my dream at 12 years old, felt like a calculated lie. My life became get good grades to go to a good college in America. Start up a book club in school that you don’t care about that much but make sure it looks good on your application. Then, when I finally got into college with the lies from my youth, I continued to lie to get myself a good job at a good company. I finally graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering. While my family had a celebration party at home, I felt empty. Of course, I did graduate during the pandemic so that definitely dimmed the accomplishment. But deeper than the existential dread of the pandemic, the emptiness I felt was an accumulation of all the lies I told myself since I was 12 years old.

Fast forward to 2022, I am now working the good job at the good company but it is eating away at my soul. As I write this post, I obviously have not forgotten Rango but my dreams have evolved from what I wanted at 12. The financial stability makes the gradual death of my soul slightly bearable. Also, side note, I did immigrate to this country by myself and still live on my own so I’m really proud of how far I’ve come. I have forgiven myself for all the lies I told to get me here. The healing has begun. Now, I am going back to my dream but with a twist. Who doesn’t like the razzle dazzle?

Now, I want to go back to school because yes, I am now a scholar. I actually love school as long as I don’t get into ridiculous debt. But this time, I want to pursue an entertainment career and I am very upfront about it. Acting is more of a hobby now but I am still interested in making movies. I realize now that there are so many other factors that make movies happen and I would love to learn as much as possible.

Alright so if you made it this far down my rabbit hole, let’s get to why this dream is important to my FIRE goals. While I respect people who started from the bottom in the entertainment space, I don’t like the idea of being broke or earning disrespectful wages so I am semi-content with the roundabout path I’m taking. Do I love my job? No, not really. But is the cash worth it? Hell yes. I’m going to business school in 1 year 7 months 21 days & 3 hours. This is not the most FI community endorsed decision but I’m hoping to use the rest of my countdown to figure out college hacking. The last thing I want is $200k debt but this has been the best idea I could think of to transition closer to my dream job and not be broke. That’s why my dream retirement age is now 41 (14 years after I graduate b-school). Based on my current savings, I know there will be some debt involved in going back to school (but I’m hoping for as minimum debt as possible). Sugar daddies welcome… Just kidding, mostly.

That being said, thank you all for joining me on this expensive ass grad school journey and let’s all see how this affects the timeline of my FI journey.