The Many Paths to Financial Independence

Chris Mamula documented his personal path to financial independence at Eat the Financial Elephant for several years before leaving his career as a physical therapist in 2017 at age 41. Shortly after, he joined Darrow Kirkpatrick at Can I Retire Yet?, where he continues to follow his calling of helping people live their best lives. He’s the co-author of the book, Choose FI, and his mission is to spread the life-changing message of financial independence to a broader audience.

Today, Chris joins the show to talk about common misconceptions around the FIRE Movement, what it means to have a valuist mindset, and why it’s imperative to prioritize saving money.

📺 Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/y86KdZNzscM

Key Takeaways

00:58 – Jonathan introduces today’s guest, Chris Mamula, who joins the show to talk about debt, helping people, and the decision to choose a path towards financial independence, retire early (FIRE)

11:20 – FIRE resources and common misconceptions about the FIRE Movement

15:48 – Having a ‘valuist’ mindset

18:08 – Valuing financial independence over retirement

21:45 – Statistics around retirement readiness and the vision of ‘Can I Retire Yet’

25:49 – How Chris is raising his children to think about money and finances

32:22 – The psychology of saving money

37:16 – One thing we can do to increase financial success and one thing to completely ignore

39:47 – The last thing Chris changed his mind about

41:59 – Jonathan thanks Chris for joining the show and lets listeners know where to connect with him

Tweetable Quotes

“Debt is a part of life for most people – at the very least a mortgage. Virtually no one can buy their first house with cash unless they’re getting a lot of parental support. That’s, unfortunately, a part of life for most people.” (04:50) (Chris)

“A ‘valuist’ just means you really line your spending up with your personal values. To me, that kinda just summed up exactly what we were doing.” (15:48) (Chris)

“There’s this Warren Buffet idea of giving your kids enough that they can do anything, but not enough that they can do nothing.” (28:58) (Chris)

“One of the bigger downsides of reaching financial independence is that I wish I had more impact. But, again, I’m trying to keep perspective of where I’m at in life.” (30:38) (Chris)

“If you really dive into the big things that move the needle – housing, cars, food – change those big things, get out of debt so you don’t have your money working against you, and start saving where your money is working for you and it’s surprising how things add up. But you have to make the change and you have to do those big things.” (35:18) (Chris)

“If you want to change your financial picture, you have to know where your money is going.” (37:56) (Chris)