Quarterlife Goals Reworked: “Just Getting By” to Financial Freedom

19Jan12

The quarterlife crisis. Several years removed from college, one finds oneself overworked or underemployed and far from original career goals. Where to now? Only 0ne and a half years in the “real world,” my goals, too, have been fired by the flames of recession and opportunity — the ups, downs, in-betweens and hard knocks of freelancing and job searching. This is the first in a series of posts exploring the reworking of my own quarterlife goals.

Photo courtesy guitargoa

When I decided to study liberal arts in college and pursue nonprofit work, I knew I wasn’t going to be rich. “I don’t need to be rich, I just want to get by — to feed myself, put a roof over my head and travel,” I proselytized.

This thinking, I realize now, is naive and constrictive. Falling into exploitative and underpaid work via the fringes of the nonprofit sector because one is uninterested in being wealthy and has a vague notion of “doing good” is NO good.

Though I’m still not interested in pursuing a three-figure salary, I now see the importance — and attainability — of financial freedom. I am no longer interested in living paycheck to paycheck with financial insecurity and need being the dominant decision maker in my life. My reworked goal is  financial freedom. 

Scott Young, a young entrepreneur, discusses financial freedom versus wealth:

Financial freedom isn’t the same as being rich. Although people often confuse the two, they are completely separate goals. One person could be completely financially free earning $15,000 per year. Another person could be trapped, even with millions of dollars. … I define financial freedom as not needing to worry about money. Money shouldn’t be a dominating force in making decisions in your personal or professional life.

Young offers a few tips on obtaining financial freedom:

1. Cultivate automatic income
2. Ensure greater income than spending
3. *Develop a low poverty threshold – the minimum amount of money one needs to live comfortably, no matter the income level.

Practically, what does financial freedom look like? One of Young’s tangible goals, for instance, is to amass an emergency fund with one year of income:

If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, you don’t have significant flexibility in changing your career or business. Even if you wanted to make a switch, you’re completely dependent on your current income streams to support you. With an emergency fund, you have an entire year to transition from one work direction to another.

This, Young says, creates a “reasonable escape route” for greater flexibility and autonomy in his career when he finds he’s merely working toward something because he needs it to survive.

Every business activity or job will eventually create conflicts between your professional mission and your need for income. … Having an emergency fund gives me the ability to focus on a mission, instead of just profitability.

Are you on your way to obtaining financial freedom? What quarterlife goals have you reworked and why?

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Tags: Career, Gen Y, Goals Reworked, Job Search, Nonprofit, Personal Development, Purposeful Career