What is Slow FI?

Slow FI (financial independence) is a variation of the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement. Slow FI focuses on enjoying the journey to financial independence just as much as the destination. It’s a reframe where rather than sacrificing your lifestyle now to achieve financial independence as soon as possible, you enjoy your lifestyle now, even if it means a longer path to financial independence.

How is Slow FI different than the FIRE movement?

Slow FI is different than the FIRE movement in many different ways.

Most importantly, Slow FI aims to live the life you desire right now, even if it takes you longer to reach financial independence. Contrast that approach with the traditional financial independence movement, which often seeks to drastically reduce costs while ramping income as high as possible, to reach financial independence in the shortest amount of time. 

I like to think of Slow FI as the slow-and-steady, more sustainable approach to financial independence, while I think of traditional FIRE as an all-out sprint to the finish line. Now that’s not to say that everyone on the path to FIRE is burning the candle at both ends, slashing expenses while adding another side hustle, but I think it is all too common and can lead to burnout on the path to financial independence.

The best way to illustrate the difference between Slow FI and traditional FIRE is to look at an example. Look at me. When I became a dad, I decided to spend more time with my wife and daughter right now rather than wait until I achieve complete financial independence at some future date. 

So, I quit a six-figure per year job that demanded anywhere from 50 to 60 hours per week. I traded that in for a seasonal position as a tax preparer that would pay significantly less but only came with a 20 hour per week minimum and left me in complete control of my schedule. I also started working as a freelance personal finance writer, supplementing our income during the offseason while maintaining an incredibly flexible and fully remote work schedule.

To say that this decision extended the amount of time it would take to reach financial independence would be putting it mildly. I estimate that if I had stayed with that company in 5 - 6 years, we would’ve reached our financial independence goals. Now, who knows, we are probably 10 - 15 years out from achieving complete financial independence. 

But, I couldn’t be happier with my decision, and I think that is the power of Slow FI. I am already living like I am financially independent. I get to structure my days and weeks how I want, and I get to hang with my family every day, work some, play a lot, and enjoy life as if I already made it. 

Slow FI is a trade-off: you get to live the life you want now, but you delay reaching financial independence. To me, it is a no-brainer. 

Should you pursue Slow FI?

While I think everyone would love the benefits of Slow FI, you’ve got to do what works for your situation.

However, I can say this: I’ve been following the financial independence movement for about five years, reading and listening to as much content as I could get my hands on. I have heard prominent financial independence bloggers like Brandon Ganch of the Mad Fientist and Pete Adney from Mr. Money Mustache express that if they had to do it all over again, they wish they would not have been so focused on the destination and would have slowed down their pursuit of financial independence. 

That’s because if you are only focused on reaching financial independence, you run the risk of failing to build the life you want to live. So then, you arrive at your financial independence destination, expecting everything to be rainbows and unicorns, only to find out that it is still just life, and the things that are going to make you happy are things you need to be building along the way like social connection and being part of something bigger than yourself.

I think Slow FI helps you to mitigate that risk. It allows you to begin building your financial independence lifestyle right now, trying things on for size, and testing the water a bit. Sure, Slow FI is going to delay your financial independence timeline a bit, but who cares? If you are doing it right, you won’t notice any difference between the life you live in Slow FI and your life once you reach your coveted financial independence number.