Early and Often
MY FIRST JOB WAS��driving the golf-ball-picker cart on the driving range at a local municipal course. That was 2003, when I was a high school sophomore. My salary: $10 a day in cash plus free golf privileges. Playing time was important to me. I was a mediocre golfer trying to make my high school team.
Eighteen years later, and now age 34, I have more than $1 million socked away���the sort of sum my teenage self would have dreamed about. But along the way, I���ve discovered that amassing seven figures is far less meaningful than I once imagined.
Back in 2003, I saved all I could, stashing my $10 in a drawer after each day on the job. While getting hit by golf balls in the picker cart, I listened to FM radio. The Clark Howard Show ran during the late afternoons. My parents sometimes also had that station on in the car during errands around Jacksonville, Florida, where everything seems to be at least 20 minutes away. I had always been interested in money, so Howard���s personal finance show resonated with me.
I learned about the wonders of the Roth IRA and the new target-date mutual funds from Vanguard Group. My first investment came in early 2004, although not at Vanguard. My mom accompanied me to a local bank, where I bought a certificate of deposit yielding a solid 2.1%. I thought, ���I can make money without having to work for it? I���m in.��� In hindsight, I should have bought stock in Apple���which is up about 40,000% since then.
I left my money to grow at the bank while I continued picking up balls at the golf course. I got a pay raise in 2004���to $15 a day. The following June, I also began working at Publix, the main grocery store chain in the Southeast. My hourly wage was $7. I spent the summer of 2004 bagging groceries and sweating at the golf course. I went on to make the golf team that fall semester.
By late 2004, I had saved $3,000. Taking Clark Howard���s advice, I opened a Roth IRA at Vanguard and bought shares of the 2040 target-date retirement fund. My $3,000 was the minimum investment needed at the time. When my certificate of deposit matured the following January, I used the proceeds to start on my 2005 IRA contribution. It took months, but I accomplished my goal, contributing the annual IRA maximum of $4,000.
My junior and senior years in high school were devoted to three things: golf, money and tracking hurricanes. I remember doing time-value-of-money exercises on my TI-83 scientific calculator in English class. I���d never heard the term ���TVM,��� but that���s what I was doing���forecasting what my net worth might be by the time I retired, some 45 years down the line. Hurricanes were also barreling toward Florida during those two active seasons. I enjoyed giving impromptu hurricane forecasts and weather reports in front of my classes, so much so that I chose meteorology as my first major in college.
Winds of change. In 2006-07, I spent my freshman year at Florida State University. I enrolled in a few ���met��� classes and even launched a weather balloon from the roof of the Love Building in Tallahassee. I still thought of myself as a weather-nerd first and a money-nerd second. But I quickly realized that, while I loved presenting weather information to a crowd, I wasn���t as excited about learning physics, chemistry and computer science. I made the switch from meteorology to finance in early 2007.
I still recall 2007���s first quarter: I was earning a cool 6% in an online savings account and the stock market was doing well. I began dabbling more in international developed and emerging market stock funds since both kept beating the lousy S&P 500. I even took my speculative talents to the next level and opened an account at E*Trade right before the spring semester ended. Apple was my first individual company stock purchase. The shares went up 10% in a matter of a few weeks. I banked my profits and felt like a genius. In reality, it was the worst sell of my life.
While at college, I kept working at Publix so I could bolster my savings and pay some bills. One significant market trend wasn���t in my favor���gas prices. A gallon of regular gasoline surged from under $2 in 2005 to above $4 by mid-2008. My 1998 Toyota Camry, while great on gas, was no fun to fill up as prices rose. It took nearly a full day���s work, after taxes, to cover the cost of a fill-up. Still, I was able to keep hitting my goal of maxing out my Roth IRA each year.
Having switched majors from meteorology to finance, I decided to move back to Jacksonville and attend the University of North Florida (UNF). Meteorology was a specialty at Florida State. But since I was no longer going to be a weatherman, there was no point staying in Tallahassee. I also increased my savings rate by living at home and commuting to classes. My net worth swelled to $30,000 as of October 2007���s stock market peak.
UNF was great because classes were in the evenings. I could work at Publix during the day and be in class at night. Unfortunately, I had extra time on weekdays, when the stock market was open. I began day-trading. Naturally, I lost a few grand during a year of trading individual stocks and options. But I learned a valuable lesson: I didn���t have the talent or temperament to beat the market over such a short timeframe. I realized I was on the wrong track and wouldn���t become the next hedge-fund billionaire. I focused once again on my long-term strategies for building wealth, including continuing to max out my Roth IRA and maintaining a high savings rate.
One of the many benefits of pursuing a finance degree at UNF was the ability to work enough hours at Publix so the company paid part of my tuition. I took advantage of Publix���s tuition reimbursement program from 2007 through my graduation in 2011. My grandmother was also kind enough to contribute to a college savings account that grew to $2,200. She endearingly dubbed it my ���Legg Mason��� money, after the firm where she invested.
At the University of North Florida, I took part in several supplemental programs, helping with the student-managed investment fund, presiding over the finance society and even writing an investment column for the school���s newspaper. Yes, for a young finance nerd, this was what constituted fun.
My final two years at college were a whirlwind. I worked for an independent insurance salesperson and then took a part-time job as a wealth management intern at a local registered investment advisor. River Capital Advisors was just across the road from college. I learned the ropes of the advisory business during the afternoons and then shot over to campus for evening classes. I was paid by the hour, allowing me to invest a tidy sum around the stock market lows of 2009. While my net worth had declined to under $20,000 by then, I knew it was smart to be buying at cheaper prices.
Trading places. Another internship opportunity came my way in 2010 at The Energy Authority, a nonprofit in downtown Jacksonville that assists utility companies in navigating the energy market. I woke up in the dark to be on the trading floor in front of four glaring computer monitors by 6:30 a.m., so I could help schedule trades. I didn���t return home until 10 p.m.
With each job, I stashed away as much money as possible. I kept my living expenses low���like ���below poverty level" low. I maxed out my retirement accounts every chance I got. When I graduated from UNF in April 2011, my net worth was $80,000, with no debt.
I began working fulltime as a stock research analyst at a local mutual fund company, but found that I was too hyperactive to spend my days reading company 10-Ks and tweaking Excel models. I struggled to find my way. A bear market struck in 2011���s third quarter. From its peak near $90,000, my net worth dipped below $70,000.
I took a job at a major brokerage firm in late 2011. I worked overtime and saved as much as possible, but burned out after a year. Still, my net worth hit a big milestone while I was a licensed representative, eclipsing $100,000 in July 2012. I celebrated by purchasing a 100 Grand chocolate bar���no joke. That early financial success got me featured in Living Large for the Long Haul, a book written by my childhood hero Clark Howard.
My new goal was to max out my 401(k) each year. I was even savvy enough to do an in-plan Roth conversion at the end of 2012, so my 401(k) would grow tax-free thereafter. I moved on from the brokerage firm and began work as an operations associate at a major investment bank with a large office on Jacksonville���s Southside, just across the street from River Capital Advisors.
I settled in with a decent salary for someone my age. I continued investing as much as I could in my Roth IRA and 401(k). I drove a 2004 Honda Civic, which was better on gas than the Camry, and was dirt-cheap. I paid just $4,200 in cash for it. It lasted about five years with little maintenance. Meanwhile, at the investment bank, I nabbed a few raises.
In late 2014, Pat, my old manager at The Energy Authority, contacted me about a job on the trading floor. We dined at a nearby Applebee���s���which he and I look back on with nostalgia���to discuss what he had up his sleeve. A month later, I was back in front of four computer monitors, but this time I was the trader doing the deals. It was a steep learning curve. My salary also grew, including a 53% pay raise in 2015.
That���s when my net worth started taking off. I ended 2014 just shy of $200,000. I moved closer to my new office, saving money in the process. After college, I rented from my parents at a rate of $1,000 per month, partly because I felt guilty about living at home rent-free during college. The 2014 move lowered my monthly rent to $469, including utilities and internet. Conveniently, I was within walking distance of Target, Walmart, Publix and church. It was a great situation���and thrifty, too.
I finished my MBA at the University of North Florida. Once again, the tuition was covered by my employer. I was on the hunt for my next challenge. I found it: the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Back in 2011, I had attempted to pass Level 1���and failed. Undeterred, I sought to round out my CV with the most respected and challenging finance designation around. I believed that, if I earned the CFA, I would boost my future earnings potential.
In late 2016, my net worth was rising fast. I was up to $350,000. I put my nose to the grindstone and passed each level of the CFA program, one after another. To this day, my greatest feeling of accomplishment was receiving that email confirming I completed the program and earned the right to put those three letters���CFA���after my name. My net worth climbed above $600,000 by mid-2018.
When I was a wide-eyed undergraduate at UNF, Prof. Reinhold Lamb had overseen the student-managed investment fund. During my MBA studies, I had also enrolled in three of his courses. But it turned out I wasn���t done with UNF. Lamb offered me the chance to teach his portfolio management class. I had been a regular guest lecturer for his students, but this was a whole new ballgame. I had to ensure my finance knowledge and communication skills were on point.
I began teaching in the fall of 2017 and continued through spring 2021. Teaching taught me lessons, including patience, how to listen and how to present. A university adjunct is not big money, though. Whatever I earned, I plopped in the university���s 403(b) plan, which complemented my employer���s 457(b) plan. I also kept socking money away in my Roth IRA.
Following the CFA program, I felt the obligation to monetize my CFA to the fullest. I offered my analytical and writing services on an online financial advisor forum. I got a couple of bites. I began doing portfolio due diligence and writing blog posts at an hourly rate. I wrote early in the morning before my day job started, while also teaching at UNF at night.
Meanwhile, I was advancing at The Energy Authority. I went from trader to assistant portfolio manager to portfolio manager. My total income peaked in 2019 and 2020, thanks to my work as a portfolio manager, investment writer and instructor. My net worth swelled to more than $800,000 as the ball dropped in Times Square and the fateful year of 2020 began.
Seven figures. A key lesson I learned over the past five-plus years: You can only drive down your expenses so low. I spent under $10,000 per year but couldn���t get that figure down any further, short of being homeless. Still, that was low enough, especially with my income growing rapidly. Indeed, that was the key to my financial freedom���minimal expenses and a rising income. I switched roles at The Energy Authority to the risk group in early 2020. My writing business was flourishing, and I still taught at UNF. Everything was on track.
Then came the pandemic.
My net worth notched a short-term peak near $860,000 in January 2020. That���s when I began writing for HumbleDollar. The following month, the stock market crashed. The numbers looked ugly on the personal finance spreadsheet I had kept since 2007. My portfolio bottomed at $640,000���the same level that I���d reached in September 2018. I didn���t care. I was confident the markets would recover.
They did indeed snap back, plus I still had my various jobs. I approached a huge psychological number that so many savers strive to hit: $1 million. I���m not going to lie. I checked my net worth frequently in October 2020 as I neared seven figures. Then the day finally came. Guess what? It felt like any other day. I didn���t have a profound sense of accomplishment, as I did when I earned the CFA designation. Eclipsing $1 million just seemed so empty. ���Is this it?��� I pondered the question on my daily walks. I���d achieved financial independence by saving early and often. But there were downsides to delaying gratification in such an extreme way.
I was also stressed about life at The Energy Authority. My work turned from something I looked forward to on Sunday afternoons to a job that no longer felt like a good fit. My former manager was helpful and encouraging, but I had no passion for the work, aside from the daily updates I published each morning on the energy market and weather. We agreed to a breakup in early 2021. I embarked down an uncertain road. I was writing and teaching, but doing so without a steady paycheck or comforting employee benefits.
Then the spring semester ended. After that, my only income came from the five to 10 hours a week of hourly contract work for advisors and financial firms. It was rewarding to work with others by phone, email and Zoom. I was living the good life���on paper���writing a couple of hours at most in the morning, then reading and charting before lunch. In the afternoons, I got some of that awesome Florida sunshine while listening to financial podcasts during my regular walks. Unfortunately, it was also a rather lonely life, especially now that I no longer had a trading floor full of friends and happy acquaintances with whom to socialize.
You could call me the ���reluctant FIREist.��� As of 2021, I was financially independent (FI)���and I discovered I���d unintentionally retired early (RE). It was never my goal to retire at age 33.
Realizing that I wasn���t one for the FIRE movement, I started applying for jobs, not so much for the money, but to find a little more purpose in my life. Oh, and my net worth? It hit $1.4 million by late 2021. But I don���t pay as much attention these days.
As for my portfolio, I���ve not scored big in crypto or highflying tech stocks. My tilts toward value stocks, small-caps and international shares���along with keeping more cash than I need to hold���have resulted in relatively modest annual returns compared to a portfolio heavier on U.S. stocks and technology shares. That tells me that, in my financial success, my savings rate has mattered more than my rate of return. Maybe I���ll have better investment performance in the years ahead. Who knows?
At 34 years old, I have much more work to do and, God willing, many joyous moments in life left to savor. I hope my future work will be less focused on money and more centered on having a purpose. Still, it���s comforting to know that I���m financially independent, barring a confluence of financial disasters. It���s my goal to keep working, while resisting the urge to constantly track my net worth on my old spreadsheet. I should heed the wise words of a neighbor who recently wished me a happy birthday, and then said, ���Now, go spend some of that money.���
My story may inspire others to save. But I hope it also makes them realize that they also need to enjoy life. I���ve had extreme savings habits from an early age because I���ve always been somewhat anxious. I���ve long wanted enough saved in case bad things happen. I struggle with just going with the flow. Like many people, I feel the need to be in control. But as I���ve discovered, money is not an elixir. Sure, ample cash and high retirement account balances provide financial security. But they will not bring peace and joy. My advice: Try to strike a balance, preparing financially for the long run���but also living in the moment.
Mike Zaccardi is a freelance writer for financial advisors and investment firms. He's a CFA�� charterholder and Chartered Market Technician��, and has passed the coursework for the Certified Financial Planner program. Mike is also a finance instructor at the University of North Florida. Follow him on Twitter @MikeZaccardi, connect with him via LinkedIn, email him at MikeCZaccardi@gmail.com��and check out his earlier articles.
Eighteen years later, and now age 34, I have more than $1 million socked away���the sort of sum my teenage self would have dreamed about. But along the way, I���ve discovered that amassing seven figures is far less meaningful than I once imagined.
Back in 2003, I saved all I could, stashing my $10 in a drawer after each day on the job. While getting hit by golf balls in the picker cart, I listened to FM radio. The Clark Howard Show ran during the late afternoons. My parents sometimes also had that station on in the car during errands around Jacksonville, Florida, where everything seems to be at least 20 minutes away. I had always been interested in money, so Howard���s personal finance show resonated with me.I learned about the wonders of the Roth IRA and the new target-date mutual funds from Vanguard Group. My first investment came in early 2004, although not at Vanguard. My mom accompanied me to a local bank, where I bought a certificate of deposit yielding a solid 2.1%. I thought, ���I can make money without having to work for it? I���m in.��� In hindsight, I should have bought stock in Apple���which is up about 40,000% since then.
I left my money to grow at the bank while I continued picking up balls at the golf course. I got a pay raise in 2004���to $15 a day. The following June, I also began working at Publix, the main grocery store chain in the Southeast. My hourly wage was $7. I spent the summer of 2004 bagging groceries and sweating at the golf course. I went on to make the golf team that fall semester.
By late 2004, I had saved $3,000. Taking Clark Howard���s advice, I opened a Roth IRA at Vanguard and bought shares of the 2040 target-date retirement fund. My $3,000 was the minimum investment needed at the time. When my certificate of deposit matured the following January, I used the proceeds to start on my 2005 IRA contribution. It took months, but I accomplished my goal, contributing the annual IRA maximum of $4,000.
My junior and senior years in high school were devoted to three things: golf, money and tracking hurricanes. I remember doing time-value-of-money exercises on my TI-83 scientific calculator in English class. I���d never heard the term ���TVM,��� but that���s what I was doing���forecasting what my net worth might be by the time I retired, some 45 years down the line. Hurricanes were also barreling toward Florida during those two active seasons. I enjoyed giving impromptu hurricane forecasts and weather reports in front of my classes, so much so that I chose meteorology as my first major in college.
Winds of change. In 2006-07, I spent my freshman year at Florida State University. I enrolled in a few ���met��� classes and even launched a weather balloon from the roof of the Love Building in Tallahassee. I still thought of myself as a weather-nerd first and a money-nerd second. But I quickly realized that, while I loved presenting weather information to a crowd, I wasn���t as excited about learning physics, chemistry and computer science. I made the switch from meteorology to finance in early 2007.
I still recall 2007���s first quarter: I was earning a cool 6% in an online savings account and the stock market was doing well. I began dabbling more in international developed and emerging market stock funds since both kept beating the lousy S&P 500. I even took my speculative talents to the next level and opened an account at E*Trade right before the spring semester ended. Apple was my first individual company stock purchase. The shares went up 10% in a matter of a few weeks. I banked my profits and felt like a genius. In reality, it was the worst sell of my life.
While at college, I kept working at Publix so I could bolster my savings and pay some bills. One significant market trend wasn���t in my favor���gas prices. A gallon of regular gasoline surged from under $2 in 2005 to above $4 by mid-2008. My 1998 Toyota Camry, while great on gas, was no fun to fill up as prices rose. It took nearly a full day���s work, after taxes, to cover the cost of a fill-up. Still, I was able to keep hitting my goal of maxing out my Roth IRA each year.
Having switched majors from meteorology to finance, I decided to move back to Jacksonville and attend the University of North Florida (UNF). Meteorology was a specialty at Florida State. But since I was no longer going to be a weatherman, there was no point staying in Tallahassee. I also increased my savings rate by living at home and commuting to classes. My net worth swelled to $30,000 as of October 2007���s stock market peak.
UNF was great because classes were in the evenings. I could work at Publix during the day and be in class at night. Unfortunately, I had extra time on weekdays, when the stock market was open. I began day-trading. Naturally, I lost a few grand during a year of trading individual stocks and options. But I learned a valuable lesson: I didn���t have the talent or temperament to beat the market over such a short timeframe. I realized I was on the wrong track and wouldn���t become the next hedge-fund billionaire. I focused once again on my long-term strategies for building wealth, including continuing to max out my Roth IRA and maintaining a high savings rate.
One of the many benefits of pursuing a finance degree at UNF was the ability to work enough hours at Publix so the company paid part of my tuition. I took advantage of Publix���s tuition reimbursement program from 2007 through my graduation in 2011. My grandmother was also kind enough to contribute to a college savings account that grew to $2,200. She endearingly dubbed it my ���Legg Mason��� money, after the firm where she invested.
At the University of North Florida, I took part in several supplemental programs, helping with the student-managed investment fund, presiding over the finance society and even writing an investment column for the school���s newspaper. Yes, for a young finance nerd, this was what constituted fun.
My final two years at college were a whirlwind. I worked for an independent insurance salesperson and then took a part-time job as a wealth management intern at a local registered investment advisor. River Capital Advisors was just across the road from college. I learned the ropes of the advisory business during the afternoons and then shot over to campus for evening classes. I was paid by the hour, allowing me to invest a tidy sum around the stock market lows of 2009. While my net worth had declined to under $20,000 by then, I knew it was smart to be buying at cheaper prices.
Trading places. Another internship opportunity came my way in 2010 at The Energy Authority, a nonprofit in downtown Jacksonville that assists utility companies in navigating the energy market. I woke up in the dark to be on the trading floor in front of four glaring computer monitors by 6:30 a.m., so I could help schedule trades. I didn���t return home until 10 p.m.
With each job, I stashed away as much money as possible. I kept my living expenses low���like ���below poverty level" low. I maxed out my retirement accounts every chance I got. When I graduated from UNF in April 2011, my net worth was $80,000, with no debt.
I began working fulltime as a stock research analyst at a local mutual fund company, but found that I was too hyperactive to spend my days reading company 10-Ks and tweaking Excel models. I struggled to find my way. A bear market struck in 2011���s third quarter. From its peak near $90,000, my net worth dipped below $70,000.
I took a job at a major brokerage firm in late 2011. I worked overtime and saved as much as possible, but burned out after a year. Still, my net worth hit a big milestone while I was a licensed representative, eclipsing $100,000 in July 2012. I celebrated by purchasing a 100 Grand chocolate bar���no joke. That early financial success got me featured in Living Large for the Long Haul, a book written by my childhood hero Clark Howard.
My new goal was to max out my 401(k) each year. I was even savvy enough to do an in-plan Roth conversion at the end of 2012, so my 401(k) would grow tax-free thereafter. I moved on from the brokerage firm and began work as an operations associate at a major investment bank with a large office on Jacksonville���s Southside, just across the street from River Capital Advisors.
I settled in with a decent salary for someone my age. I continued investing as much as I could in my Roth IRA and 401(k). I drove a 2004 Honda Civic, which was better on gas than the Camry, and was dirt-cheap. I paid just $4,200 in cash for it. It lasted about five years with little maintenance. Meanwhile, at the investment bank, I nabbed a few raises.
In late 2014, Pat, my old manager at The Energy Authority, contacted me about a job on the trading floor. We dined at a nearby Applebee���s���which he and I look back on with nostalgia���to discuss what he had up his sleeve. A month later, I was back in front of four computer monitors, but this time I was the trader doing the deals. It was a steep learning curve. My salary also grew, including a 53% pay raise in 2015.
That���s when my net worth started taking off. I ended 2014 just shy of $200,000. I moved closer to my new office, saving money in the process. After college, I rented from my parents at a rate of $1,000 per month, partly because I felt guilty about living at home rent-free during college. The 2014 move lowered my monthly rent to $469, including utilities and internet. Conveniently, I was within walking distance of Target, Walmart, Publix and church. It was a great situation���and thrifty, too.
I finished my MBA at the University of North Florida. Once again, the tuition was covered by my employer. I was on the hunt for my next challenge. I found it: the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Back in 2011, I had attempted to pass Level 1���and failed. Undeterred, I sought to round out my CV with the most respected and challenging finance designation around. I believed that, if I earned the CFA, I would boost my future earnings potential.
In late 2016, my net worth was rising fast. I was up to $350,000. I put my nose to the grindstone and passed each level of the CFA program, one after another. To this day, my greatest feeling of accomplishment was receiving that email confirming I completed the program and earned the right to put those three letters���CFA���after my name. My net worth climbed above $600,000 by mid-2018.
When I was a wide-eyed undergraduate at UNF, Prof. Reinhold Lamb had overseen the student-managed investment fund. During my MBA studies, I had also enrolled in three of his courses. But it turned out I wasn���t done with UNF. Lamb offered me the chance to teach his portfolio management class. I had been a regular guest lecturer for his students, but this was a whole new ballgame. I had to ensure my finance knowledge and communication skills were on point.
I began teaching in the fall of 2017 and continued through spring 2021. Teaching taught me lessons, including patience, how to listen and how to present. A university adjunct is not big money, though. Whatever I earned, I plopped in the university���s 403(b) plan, which complemented my employer���s 457(b) plan. I also kept socking money away in my Roth IRA.
Following the CFA program, I felt the obligation to monetize my CFA to the fullest. I offered my analytical and writing services on an online financial advisor forum. I got a couple of bites. I began doing portfolio due diligence and writing blog posts at an hourly rate. I wrote early in the morning before my day job started, while also teaching at UNF at night.
Meanwhile, I was advancing at The Energy Authority. I went from trader to assistant portfolio manager to portfolio manager. My total income peaked in 2019 and 2020, thanks to my work as a portfolio manager, investment writer and instructor. My net worth swelled to more than $800,000 as the ball dropped in Times Square and the fateful year of 2020 began.
Seven figures. A key lesson I learned over the past five-plus years: You can only drive down your expenses so low. I spent under $10,000 per year but couldn���t get that figure down any further, short of being homeless. Still, that was low enough, especially with my income growing rapidly. Indeed, that was the key to my financial freedom���minimal expenses and a rising income. I switched roles at The Energy Authority to the risk group in early 2020. My writing business was flourishing, and I still taught at UNF. Everything was on track.
Then came the pandemic.
My net worth notched a short-term peak near $860,000 in January 2020. That���s when I began writing for HumbleDollar. The following month, the stock market crashed. The numbers looked ugly on the personal finance spreadsheet I had kept since 2007. My portfolio bottomed at $640,000���the same level that I���d reached in September 2018. I didn���t care. I was confident the markets would recover.
They did indeed snap back, plus I still had my various jobs. I approached a huge psychological number that so many savers strive to hit: $1 million. I���m not going to lie. I checked my net worth frequently in October 2020 as I neared seven figures. Then the day finally came. Guess what? It felt like any other day. I didn���t have a profound sense of accomplishment, as I did when I earned the CFA designation. Eclipsing $1 million just seemed so empty. ���Is this it?��� I pondered the question on my daily walks. I���d achieved financial independence by saving early and often. But there were downsides to delaying gratification in such an extreme way.
I was also stressed about life at The Energy Authority. My work turned from something I looked forward to on Sunday afternoons to a job that no longer felt like a good fit. My former manager was helpful and encouraging, but I had no passion for the work, aside from the daily updates I published each morning on the energy market and weather. We agreed to a breakup in early 2021. I embarked down an uncertain road. I was writing and teaching, but doing so without a steady paycheck or comforting employee benefits.
Then the spring semester ended. After that, my only income came from the five to 10 hours a week of hourly contract work for advisors and financial firms. It was rewarding to work with others by phone, email and Zoom. I was living the good life���on paper���writing a couple of hours at most in the morning, then reading and charting before lunch. In the afternoons, I got some of that awesome Florida sunshine while listening to financial podcasts during my regular walks. Unfortunately, it was also a rather lonely life, especially now that I no longer had a trading floor full of friends and happy acquaintances with whom to socialize.
You could call me the ���reluctant FIREist.��� As of 2021, I was financially independent (FI)���and I discovered I���d unintentionally retired early (RE). It was never my goal to retire at age 33.
Realizing that I wasn���t one for the FIRE movement, I started applying for jobs, not so much for the money, but to find a little more purpose in my life. Oh, and my net worth? It hit $1.4 million by late 2021. But I don���t pay as much attention these days.
As for my portfolio, I���ve not scored big in crypto or highflying tech stocks. My tilts toward value stocks, small-caps and international shares���along with keeping more cash than I need to hold���have resulted in relatively modest annual returns compared to a portfolio heavier on U.S. stocks and technology shares. That tells me that, in my financial success, my savings rate has mattered more than my rate of return. Maybe I���ll have better investment performance in the years ahead. Who knows?
At 34 years old, I have much more work to do and, God willing, many joyous moments in life left to savor. I hope my future work will be less focused on money and more centered on having a purpose. Still, it���s comforting to know that I���m financially independent, barring a confluence of financial disasters. It���s my goal to keep working, while resisting the urge to constantly track my net worth on my old spreadsheet. I should heed the wise words of a neighbor who recently wished me a happy birthday, and then said, ���Now, go spend some of that money.���
My story may inspire others to save. But I hope it also makes them realize that they also need to enjoy life. I���ve had extreme savings habits from an early age because I���ve always been somewhat anxious. I���ve long wanted enough saved in case bad things happen. I struggle with just going with the flow. Like many people, I feel the need to be in control. But as I���ve discovered, money is not an elixir. Sure, ample cash and high retirement account balances provide financial security. But they will not bring peace and joy. My advice: Try to strike a balance, preparing financially for the long run���but also living in the moment.
Mike Zaccardi is a freelance writer for financial advisors and investment firms. He's a CFA�� charterholder and Chartered Market Technician��, and has passed the coursework for the Certified Financial Planner program. Mike is also a finance instructor at the University of North Florida. Follow him on Twitter @MikeZaccardi, connect with him via LinkedIn, email him at MikeCZaccardi@gmail.com��and check out his earlier articles.
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