Unlock Financial Freedom: Your Journey Starts Here!

The journey to financial freedom begins with a simple yet profound question: "Why?" Imagine a young professional named Niya, who, after a grueling workweek, found herself exhausted and longing for more than just a paycheck.

One evening, she sat down and reflected on her true desires—time with family, pursuing passions, and living without the constant weight of financial stress. As she embraced her "why," Niya started to make intentional choices: budgeting, investing, and learning about passive income.

Gradually, she experienced a transformation; her energy surged, and her fulfillment blossomed. With newfound financial clarity, Niya spent weekends hiking with her children and creating cherished memories. As days turned into months, the stress that once loomed over her faded, replaced by a vibrant life of joy, connection, and purpose. Ultimately, understanding her "why" was the key that unlocked the door to her financial freedom.

Both B and I are on that same journey. We both work full-time and personally, I work 70+ hours regularly. It's only been in the last year and a half that I've significantly cut back. To working 40 hours per week -- which is truly just so sad hearing myself say.... We work so much we hardly see one another except in passing. I've been in and out of the hospital several times all due to the persistent physical stress of long and intense hours.

We hit the realization phase about 3 years ago when I woke up in excruciating pain and unable to move my arms. It turned out I had 4 herniated cervical disks -- something I will have to deal with for the rest of my life. That was a wakeup call. After surgery and a month off work we knew we could not continue how we had been, and that we wanted much more out of our lives that what we had come to accept as normal.

We spent a significant amount of time since then learning all we could about decoupling our time from our earning potential. The goal is that our lives won't just look good on paper, but we'll truly have the time and health to enjoy them fully.

Now deeply entrenched in the research phase, we're beginning to morph into the execution phase, where we are tentatively testing things out as we're able. B is interested in working in educational consulting, and I am very interested in leaning more into technical trading (swing, long term), as well as looking into starting other businesses. We, like so many others, also discovered the F.I.R.E movement, and like everyone else who's done so, we're going to figure out our own way to early retirement and financial freedom.

We're both now heavily committed to investing any extra income into index ETFs and have been since Jan of 2023. I also learned what far too many professionals realize... that the money in our 401k's hasn't been invested this whole time.

I wasn't even bothering to contribute. I had been at my job over 8 years in 2023..and I hadn't contributed ANYTHING. After my heart sank and I had a good cry, I updated my contributions and make sure the investments were setup to the proper security...As of today, my investments now sit at over $40k and in the last 12 months, have grown by 37%.

When I think about where I could have been (now going on almost 10 years), I shiver with disappointment. But we didn't know then what we know now.. and there's only looking forward.

We are both committed to the goal of an early retirement (becoming work-optional) in the next 4-6 years. This website is a way of documenting and sharing our journey.

I took today and yesterday off from work...something I've been trying to actually do more often, since I'm accustomed to never...actually.. taking any time off ever.... And I find I am often using this time to imagine what it would be like if this were my actual day-to-day life. I wake up when I want to, I work on my businesses or study financials to make better decisions.. I daydream about it quite a lot, now. But I know that sooner than I think, it will be my reality.

Until next time!