What is financial freedom to you? Is it early retirement, is it the ability to quit your job, or is it permission to take chances?

After years and years of working in licensing, Diania Merriam opened up her credit report and saw that she was (collectively) $30,000 in debt. This forced her to ask the question, “what am I working for?” It made sense at the moment: you get your paycheck, you can go out to a fancy dinner, you get another paycheck, you can buy yourself something nice. But Diania wasn’t happy, or at least as happy as she thought she’d be.

She realized that she didn’t want to be stuck in a job she had to go to every day. She wanted autonomy, freedom, and financial independence that would allow her to rule over her schedule and pursue her passions and interests. So, she went to work and started saving whatever she could. She stopped eating out, started cooking all her meals, moved to a more inexpensive city, bought a house and house hacked, heavily invested in retirement, and did everything right.

Now, she’s self-employed, hosting the Optimal Finance Daily podcast and the EconoMe Conference in Cincinnati.

~~~~
Join the BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bpmoney
~~~~
Get Tickets to BPCon 2021:
https://www.bpcon2021.com/
~~~~
The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement:
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/
~~~~
Get Tickets to the EconoMe Conference and USE CODE BIGGERPOCKETS for a Discount:
https://economeconference.com/
~~~~
Past Episodes Mentioned in the Show:
Mr. Money Mustache: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/biggerpockets-money-01-surprising-scientific-truth-successful-with-mr-money-mustache
Michael Kitces: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/biggerpockets-money-podcast-120early-retirementasset-allocation-safe-withdrawal-rates-michael-kitces
Bill Bengen: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/biggerpockets-money-podcast-153-bill-bengen
~~~~
Grab the House Hacking Strategy:
https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/the-house-hacking-strategy
~~~~
Follow Scott and Mindy on Instagram:
@scott_trench or https://www.instagram.com/scott_trench/
@mindyatbp or https://www.instagram.com/mindyatbp/

Episode 215

Show notes at: https://www.biggerpockets.com/moneyshow215
0:00 Intro
3:47 Diana’s Money Story
7:38 The Financial Pilgrimage
11:28 Building a Strong Financial Position
20:48 The FI Opportunities
31:40 Launching the EconoMe Conference
43:33 More Sources of Income and Coast FI
52:08 The Risk of Stability
1:00:48 Detaching from Your “Job Identity”
1:05:01 Famous 4
1:10:01 Reviewing Diania’s FI Journey