The holidays are when we kick back, eat lots, and unwrap presents with the family. But for some, the holidays can be a painful time of year.
I’m one of them. Last year, I lost my dad to brain cancer.
It’s a reality that more and more millennials are facing as time goes on. Our parents are getting older, and we’re increasingly finding ourselves thrust into the uncomfortable position of caregiver. And let me tell you, it sucks.
Millennials are a generation that has been saddled with crushing student loans, sky-high costs of living, and faced so many “once-in-a-lifetime” financial calamities that those words have lost all meaning. We’re having enough trouble getting through to the “adult” phase of our lives, so to have the weight of taking care of our ailing parents thrust upon us when the ground under our feet is already so shaky just adds insult to injury.
But when I myself faced that reality, I was so thankful that I had chosen the FIRE (financially independent and retired early) path.
The FIRE movement is depicted in many ways. Some see us as miserly penny-pinchers, some see us as money-obsessed spreadsheet nerds, and others see us as entitled brats who don’t want to work hard. You may have an opinion of us that’s somewhere in between.
But the reality is that FIRE is obsessed with one thing: freedom.
Sometimes, it’s the freedom to travel the world. Sometimes it’s the freedom to sit in our underwear and play video games all day. And sometimes, as I found out, it’s the freedom to drop everything and be there for our loved ones when they need us.
I was in Indonesia when I learned of my dad’s diagnosis and as soon as I did, I caught the first flight home. What followed were the most difficult years of my life as my family battled this disease together, all in the middle of a global pandemic that was especially deadly to immunocompromised individuals like my dad. Seeing him go from one of the most physically fit people I know to someone who needed help to go to the bathroom was heartbreaking. It haunts me to this day.
And when his condition took a turn for the worse, my sisters, my mom, and I organized 24-hour shifts so that someone could be with him at all times.
The thing is, my entire family all went into medical fields, which came in superhandy at a time like this, while I was comparatively useless in the expertise department. But what I could contribute was time.
This may sound strange coming from a financial writer, but at the end of the day, money really isn’t all that important. We all think it’s important, but it’s just slips of coloured paper. If I could have traded all my slips of paper to cure dad’s cancer, I would have.
None of us know how many years we have, but we know it’s a finite number. It’s the only resource we can’t create, borrow, steal, or buy. Once it runs out, that’s it.
It’s true that we need food and a place to live. And sometimes we really want that PlayStation5, and Best Buy doesn’t accept time as payment. So, we have to work to convert time into money.
The FIRE movement isn’t about being anti-work. It’s about making sure that you convert your most precious resource – time – into your second most precious resource – money – as efficiently as you can. It’s also about recognizing that once you’ve traded enough time for money, that you should immediately stop trading time for money. Because while money can generate more money, we cannot generate more time.
It’s the only resource that truly matters. And when someone you love needs you, that’s when you really realize how precious time truly is.
Happy holidays, everyone. Eat lots of turkey, unwrap lots of presents, and above all else, spend your precious time with the people you love.
Oh, and remember to contribute to your TFSA. Otherwise, Rob Carrick will climb down your chimney and put a lump of coal in your stocking.
Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung retired in their 30s and are authors of the bestselling book Quit Like a Millionaire.
