I’m a huge basketball fan. Prior to self-employment, March Madness usually involved me trying to discretely follow tournament games while at the office. In 2016, I told myself that next year I’d take two vacation days to watch the opening round of March Madness. I pursued self-employment in summer 2016, but I made sure to take time off in 2017 for March Madness. Salt Lake City hosted some first and second round games. I bought tickets and took friends/clients.

This year, I decided to take it to another level:

It wasn’t that extreme, but it was definitely two carefree and enjoyable days. To me, much of the allure of financial independence (FI) is about the FREEDOM to be able to do this if/whenever you want. Substitute the recliner and TV for whatever your carefree destination would be: skiing in the mountains, backpacking through Europe, lounging/surfing at the beach, rebuilding classic cars, etc. You get the picture.

I hope to reach FI in September 2022. Then I will “retire.” After we hit our FI number, my wife and I plan on buying a truck and trailer and will spend an indefinite amount of time traveling around the country. Call this our George Costanza recliner.

Then what?

After FI, I suspect my life will include much of what it did pre-FI. I still plan on being a valuable member of society. We plan on having kids. FI will give me a greater ability to spend time with my kids and be involved/present with their activities. It’s easier to throttle back in my occupation than with many others. When you’re self-employed, you don’t have to tell your employer “I’m only going to come into work if/when I feel like it.” I’ll still work on projects and with clients that I enjoy. I have quite a few creative, entrepreneurial friends, and I may join them if they have projects/companies that seem interesting to me.

But I might occasionally want to spend a day doing nothing, and FI will give me the freedom to do that.

And you can bet I’ll be watching the NCAA Tournament every March.