From Ant to Grasshopper: Financial Freedom

Just a year ago, I had set myself the goal of moving from the stage of financial independence in 2024, acquired in 2021, towards that of financial freedom. What distinguishes the two is essentially a raising the standard of living.

While the transition from employment to financial independence aims to maintain an identical standard of living, without working, that of financial freedom aims to to live with means that go beyond those previously granted. This is the sixth and penultimate stage. stages of financial independence.

If I can allow myself to do this today, so soon after having passed the last stage, it is first of all because I had taken a very significant safety margin before completely ceasing my salaried activity.

I had in fact underestimated certain savings generated by the transition from employee to "rentier". For example, the "professional" expenses, directly or indirectly linked to my former dependent activity, were ultimately higher than expected. I wasn't aware of it when I had my head down, but there are plenty of unnecessary costly activities that disappear by themselves when you stop working. There are also, on the contrary, plenty of things that you have time to do yourself again, like DIY and cooking, which allows you to spend less. Finally, the income from my small independent sideline is also higher than expected.

The other point that I had not taken into account is the surge in stock prices. I had always imagined the worst-case scenario, where the stock market crashes right after leaving employment. This is unfortunately a fairly common experience: our wealth is at its peak after many years of stock market booms and that's when we decide to stop working, while valuation multiples are at their peak and the risk of a downward correction is just as high. In fact, that's what happened to me, since in 2022 the market contracted considerably. But not only My wallet has held up well during this period., but above all, it recovered its beautiful colours just after, like the market. Better still, it even strengthened considerably in recent months.

So today, It is time to devote more financial resources to the free time I gained by leaving my salaried activity..

When I worked at 100%, I lived in the cult of delegation. As a manager, I delegated "low added value" tasks (in reality those that annoyed me) to my colleagues. Outside of work, it was the same, due to lack of time, but also desire, I had others do almost everything: I ate a lot at restaurants, I had a cleaning lady, I called workers every time something needed to be repaired.

As I got closer to financial independence, and lowered my employment rate, I started to do more and more things myself : cooking, household chores, DIY, etc. I had more time available and it was an opportunity not only to save money, but also to acquire new skills.

I enjoyed this time in my life because it allowed me to learn a lot of new things and see the world in a new light. But I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a domestic goddess or a luxury concierge. Especially since the means are there. I prefer to imagine myself as a hotel guest, where all the tasks that annoy me are taken care of by someone else. In a way, I'm going back to delegation mode. The difference is that this time I don't have to work 5 days a week to do it. It's like being on vacation all year long.

I have the time, I have the means, so I might as well enjoy. It's time to finally bury the little hard-working ant and let the cicada in me sing (again).