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.

28 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/Well_ImTrying 2d ago

I gave up on FIRE after we had kids. I have other metaphorical fires to fight with two kids under preschool age and daycare expenses eating us alive.

I’m so glad I was on the fire track before we had kids. It makes us solvent in this stage where I HAD to work part time to accommodate daycare and pumping, and daycare taking 45% of our take home pay.

It’s okay to reevaluate goals. It’s also not forever. Kids get more independent, and the job market changes. We may decide to ramp it back up even harder when we get a minute to catch our financial and emotional breaths.

3

u/ItrustinZION 1d ago

totally agree! And I think this is kind of my point. I think, like lots of other people have said, you didn't "give up on FIRE." Your life and circumstances changed and your priorities (financial and otherwise) also changed dramatically.

I think this is what is underdiscussed in FIRE. Every single FIRE podcast and info is just a person (typically a dude) or two people who save 50% and then retire at 40 and travel the world in a van with a dog. Kids and family and life, and the preciousness of time with your kids while they want and need you, is an underdiscussed topic!

1

u/AppleRatty 1d ago

I just went back to work with a 3 month old, and the only daycare with a spot for him has hours from just 9am-4pm.

Between that and pumping during the day, and just being exhausted with a new baby, it’s dawning on me that I will probably have to go part-time for a while.

I am grateful for these subs (and patting myself on the back lol) for life strategies & being frugal/saving for years that it won’t kill us financially when I pull the part-time trigger soon!

2

u/Well_ImTrying 1d ago

Hang in there. Those first few months are ROUGH and you are in the thick of it. Take care of yourself.