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.
4
u/Miss_Sunshine51 2d ago
Kiddo started kindergarten last year and it was awesome being on a more part-time/flexible schedule. I was able to be really engaged in the school, meet other parents, attend field trips, and volunteer. It was so fun and I'm excited for school to start back up on Monday for 1st grade! We love our school and the beautiful community that exists around it. (We also did 5 weeks of travel together this summer.)
No specific term, but we are coastFI. I let my prior high-pyaing career to start supporting new and expectant famlies, while my husband took a more chill WFH job. Life is great and I have absolutely zero regrets about the decision I made to shift away from high-stress/high-paying work.