Hi Colin,

I’m 23 years old, and want to leave my corporate job for a job with minimal responsibilities so I can make just enough money to get by on a low budget. I don’t want to be tied down to a career, a demanding schedule or a single location, and I want something that will allow me the freedom to work on my passions and explore more interests.

But I’m afraid doing so will put me years behind on savings for retirement or home purchasing if I ever decide to do so.

Do you have any advice on how to invest in my future but live my present without being tied down to jobs for the money?

Michelle

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Hey Michelle-

The good news is that what you have in mind—adjusting your lifestyle so that you have more time, energy, and resources to spend on the most vital aspects of your life—is possible.

The bad news is that it can be tricky to balance that ambition with the desire to flourish according to the mainstream standard of monetary success.

It’s not impossible to balance the two, though: you just have to take the requisite time to establish a suitable equilibrium between those two types of success.

Since you’re already thinking about how you might change things to align your life with your ambitions, the next step is figuring out how much time you’re willing to give up for how much money, so that you can navigate the professional world in a way that allows you to make appropriate, beneficial, and non-destructive tradeoffs.

This means finding or creating work that allows you to make the money you need to fund your lifestyle, without locking yourself into a career that drains you physically, psychologically, or spiritually.

Then, consider how you might be able to earn more money in less time, or require less money to begin with.

In many cases, this means reducing your expenses while simultaneously increasing your skills or other sellable attributes; attacking the problem from two directions so that you can earn more in less time, and get more value out of every dollar earned.

It’s also important to figure out what it is you’re trying to calibrate your lifestyle toward, to begin with.

The freedom to pursue your passions is a great start, but there will be radically different costs involved if your primary passion is yacht racing, versus being really into watercolor painting.

Be as specific as you can and figure out what you’ll need to earn if you want to liberate the appropriate amount of time and accumulate the proper resources for your particular goals.

One final thought I’d like to add is that it’s possible to invest in tomorrow while still fully experiencing and enjoying, today.

I earn just enough to do what I love, while also having enough left over to put something away each month.

Having that kind of buffer—some money in the bank, some investments here and there—gives me options, today and tomorrow.

It means being capable of making a hard pivot, of putting a down-payment on a house, of taking a big trip or starting up a bootstrapped small business. It’s making sure you have firm footing for whatever comes next, wherever your interests and priorities might lead you.

Chances are good that you won’t be the same person five years from now, and thus, it’s unlikely that plans you make today will fit that future version of you as perfectly as you think.

Making growth, both personally and economically, a component of your definition of freedom, then, is a great way to ensure that your future self will also feel free; will feel even more free, in fact, because you’ll have more wiggle-room when it comes to taking risks and trying new things, due those small investments you make along the way.

Don’t make it all about the money, but don’t give up the foundational security that a bit of money can offer, either. Find your balance between the two, and approach any job you take as a tool to help you fund and build the lifestyle you want to live.

Fund your own freedom—be your own patron, your own Medici.

There’s nothing wrong with doing work you don’t particularly enjoy to fund a life that you do. But if you plan appropriately, if you map out what your priorities are and what you need, specifically, to fuel them, there’s a good chance you can find something that aligns with your values that also helps you finance your priorities.