My path to Financial Independence

I didn’t discover the concept of financial independence in its current context until I was 27-years-old and married. I had been conscious of money since childhood and I began working at 16, but I didn’t have a clear financial direction until I discovered the Financial Independence/Retire Early movement. I am now very invested in creating a life for my family that includes work as an option but not a requirement. My path is ever changing, as military life often thrusts us into unexpected situations, but I am confident that one way or another, we will retire in our forties.

My adult life began with varying degrees of financial stability. I started college with married parents and a ton of loans and no intention of working. Reality hit after a couple of months and I was suddenly desperate for money, and had to get a job at school. I experienced being so broke I couldn’t drive an hour to visit family, and we shared food stamps with my boyfriend’s mother for a few months.

My parents got divorced during that first year, and I witnessed my mother’s financial turmoil despite child support payments for my younger brother. As a trailing military spouse, she was used to working different jobs, but had never had the chance to develop a career that would provide her health insurance or retirement benefits. It was a very rough time for her, financially. (She made it, by the way. Finished her Bachelor’s and then her Master’s of Social Work, bought her own home, and has a plan to retire around age 62 now. I’m extremely proud of her, but it was a rough decade to get here.)

Fortunately, my second and third years of college were much better financially. I made the dean’s list my first two semesters so my scholarship was increased from $1000 to $5000. I also used my mother’s income on my FAFSA since I was really supporting myself anyway, and I received Pell grants. Then my father was also able to give me some of his post-9/11 GI Bill which covered tuition and provided a housing stipend as well. On top of that, I had a part-time job, and my boyfriend had a well-paying job as well. We had a lot of money in those months, and we spent it ALL.

Suddenly my senior year of college it all came crashing down. I ran out of GI Bill benefits, I lost my scholarship because my GPA dropped below a 3.25, and my boyfriend lost his job. We ran totally out of money, to the point that we were scrambling for rent every month and had the electricity turned off after failing to pay two months in a row. It was a very difficult time.

Eventually I graduated, my boyfriend left me, I quit both jobs and moved to Florida and left behind 90% of my stuff. I had about $10k in student loans, $2k in credit card debt, a car loan that I wasn’t even considering at the time (left it with the ex despite my name on the loan) and only about $500 in my savings account. I moved into a friend’s spare bedroom, got a job where they worked making $10/hr, and worked on independence. I budgeted like a maniac. I got an apartment that cost me 51% of my take home pay, not including utilities. I couldn’t even afford internet in my house. Bought a crappy little $1000 car, which broke down less than two months later and I was back to biking, busing, and bumming rides. I had $10/week to enjoy myself with, I had multiple temporary roommates sleeping in my living room, and I got very used to reading on my back patio as my main form of entertainment. I worked as many hours as I could get without getting in trouble, and I made sure all my supervisors loved me so they’d call me first when overtime was available. I spent about a year doing that, very slowly making a dent in my credit card and building a tiny $1000 emergency fund. I loved my job and the people I worked with, but eventually, I decided I needed a career change. I needed more money to get out of debt. I needed more money to be happy.

I joined the US Air Force in 2015, and at the time I was 100% sure that’s what I wanted to do with my life. I had a lot of unanticipated problems and realized very quickly that I needed a career change again. My entire time in the military was spent coping with depression and anxiety brought on by my lack of control over my life. I did one thing right though, I focused heavily on reducing my cost of living as much as possible. I paid off my credit card, got married with no debt, paid off a loan for my cat’s veterinary bills. I shoveled as much money into savings as possible, canceled bills left and right, paid off my car that I had gotten back from my ex. All in all, about $20k of debt that plus paying about $4k toward my wedding. I lowered my student loan payment by overpaying, and generally focused on becoming financially invisible. When I separated from the military, I moved in with my husband whose bills didn’t increase at all (small apartment but lovely) and the only expenses I brought with me were my phone bill, student loan, and car insurance totaling less than $200.

I discovered the FIRE movement in 2019 as I prepared to separate from the military, when a friend of mine assumed I already knew and kept trying to discuss strategy with me. I had never really considered Financial Independence or Early Retirement before, but I was very familiar with the concept of “F You” money, which is how my financial path became so well known among my peers. I was committed to creating a life where I didn’t need the Air Force’s money, so that when the opportunity arose to separate, I could confidently accept it.

In May of 2019, I separated from the Air Force and we promptly received orders to NAS Sigonella in Italy! It was a dream come true, for sure, and it meant that starting a new career wasn’t going to be a good idea. I got a job at a coffee shop and just saved everything I made for about 6 weeks, until getting ready to move became too overwhelming. My husband asked me, “can we afford for you not to have a job?” And I told him, “Babe, you literally won’t even notice!” And for the most part he hasn’t. Living here in Sicily, we are in military housing so our home and utility costs don’t play into the budget, but our income is approximately $3000/month, we pay about $500 in bills(car insurance, phone, internet, DSC, Cora, YouTube x2, Washington Post) $750 toward debt (2x as much as necessary toward student loans and the loan on Aram’s Subaru), and $1750/month going to gas, groceries, dining out, and entertainment, and travel for the two of us. We’re only putting about 8% of his income to his retirement account, which is low. We know we are overspending, we are traveling a lot, but we are living very happily on our single income while we are in Europe and that allows us both to go back to school and it allows me to pursue volunteer opportunities and grow my business. Our FI path has somewhat stalled, but investment in my business, my education, my husband’s career, and his education, should allow us to pursue FI faster upon returning to the USA.

The plan is to pay off both the car and the student loans as well as save up approximately $10-15k toward a home down payment before returning to the states, on top of our $5k Emergency Fund and any trips we are planning. Why such a low emergency fund? Because we have better use for our money! For Aram to separate from the military we would have at least a year’s notice, and even if something crazy happened and he was separated quickly we would still have several months. We also both have family we could rely on in such dire circumstances as those. 

We may incur a small vehicle loan for me to get a new vehicle (the military only ships one) around $6-8k, or we may just pay for it with cash. I don’t have a problem with a small amount of debt, especially since Aram’s job is so secure and he really loves it. I will have finished my Master’s Degree in Family Financial Planning by then and hope to find an apprenticeship with a CFP so I can finish the experience requirement of my certification.

Right now we are keeping our options open professionally. Aram is considering commissioning as an officer in the Air Force, which would approximately double his income. When I finish my education, I may focus on growing Financial Stability Experience into a full-time career, or I may look for a position as a financial counselor or financial planner wherever we end up living. Either way, I plan to be bringing home an additional $40,000-60,000 salary when we return to the USA, which would go mostly toward our retirement savings and whatever expenses we incur having a bunch of kids!