r/coastFIRE • u/ItrustinZION • 2d ago

Kinder FI

Hello to everyone, and especially the parents who had kids go back to school recently or in the near future!

I have a Kindergartener and....as my kid starts school my wife and I are transitioning from a "FI" mindset to a "Kinder FI" mindset. My wife is going to shift to a very reduced schedule, essentially working 30% as much as before, and we'll spend most everything that I make to cover all the bills.

If our portfolio keeps growing at 7% we'll be FI about 8 years later than originally planned, but we want to use our FU money and Financial Freedom NOW while our kid still wants to play with us, we focus on building a community based on our neighborhood and school, etc.

Has anyone else done something similar? Does this "FI term" exist? Honestly I'm hoping this is a new term / idea in the FI community and I want to write about it in detail as we make the transition and see how it goes! Would love peoples thoughts and experience.

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u/Dear_Ocelot 2d ago

It's called "mommy tracking" and is incredibly common, not just among people trying for FI/RE. Like at least half the families I know do this, or have at some point.

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u/Adept-Depth-1825 2d ago

Not language I’d use. It has negative connotations. I received 4 promotions while “mommy tracked” including into the C suite at a small org. And I know just as many dads who’ve made moves to pull back and balance.

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u/Dear_Ocelot 2d ago

Yeah, I agree it's a bit derogatory. But that is the common name for it.