Gen Z Guide to FI

I recently listened to Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin on Spotify. Side note, Spotify premium has free audiobooks now. I had been waiting for it to show up in my local library but it was not available.

I love anything Free.99 so my Spotify premium subscription is working overtime. This makes me fear that they’ll increase subscription costs because their providing more value. I want to bet that they will eventually… but let’s hope not.

Your Money or Your Life is a book that was pivotal in the financial independence movement back in the 90s. The ideas were revolutionary. I listened to the modern day revised version from the original author. I learned three major lessons from reading this book.

Lesson 1: Value of life energy

There’s a part of me that has always cared about how I’m spending my life energy. Time is limited. What am I doing with my time? There’s a popular post on the blog Wait But why called The Tail End. This post details how much time we have left to spend with our loved ones throughout our lifetime. I’m my case, I think of my fraught relationship with my Dad. I spent 90% of my life before age 16 with my parents. Now, I only see them 2 or 3 weeks a year. While reading this post makes me want to repair my relationship, it also makes me realize that two parties need to be willing to have a relationship. In that case, I want to have those 2 or 3 weeks be pleasant memories but I don’t think I’m down to increase the time I spend with him for this phase of my life. I want to have happier memories than sad ones. Right now, space gives me more happiness than time together.

Lesson 2: We are making a dying

We call slaving away for corporations making a living. But no one feels energized after a day of work. If you feel energized, tell me what you do because I wanna do it.

Lesson 3: How much do you have to show for all your years of work?

We must prioritize our mental and physical health while at work. Also, ensure that we are actively making good financial decisions.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book. I’d give it a solid 8/10 just because a lot of the info I read was stuff I already knew. But it was helpful to hear someone older and wiser say it.

XOXO Gen Z Fire Baby