A 50-50 Lifestyle

I just wrote a A Simple Guide to Financial Freedom based on my experiences with Financial Freedom. Consider giving it a read if you are interested in this topic.

This post really is a ‘shower thought’. I’m working through some ideas by writing them out. I don’t know if these thoughts have any value for anyone but me. Consider this post a collection of personal notes/ideas rather than fully formed essay.

Most of us live the 8-8-8 lifestyle.

8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure time.

This split is just sort of what we have accepted as normal in our society. But to me this model is flawed. Maybe it works for some people, maybe on average this is the best split, idk. I’ve lived this model for years now and some deep cracks are starting to show.

First up, the 8 hours of leisure/free time is a myth. We have chores, responsibilities, commute to/from work, etc.

8 hours of sleep is a myth too. We need roughly that, but to get it we have to be in bed more than 8 hours.

All of this means our ‘free time’ to pursue hobbies, creative interests, learning new things, etc., quickly shrinks to way less than 8 hours.

Let’s just play a scenario that seems realistic to me:

• Additional time in bed past 8 hours: 1 hour
• Cooking and eating dinner: 1 hour
• Working out (plus getting ready for the workout and shower afterwards): 1 hour
• Getting ready for work, commute, coming home from work: 2 hours
• Additional daily chores (grocery shopping, cleaning, email, taxes, etc): 1 hour

I now have 2 hours left of “free time”. And I don’t even have that many responsibilities outside work!

2 hours of free time may sound fair to you. But I’d say the estimates above are conservative. For me personally, working out easily takes more time. And even if that is not the case, 2 hours of free time doesn’t sound appealing to me.

But even if we did have enough free time, it is almost always lower priority than the work hours. We spend the best hours of our day at work. So the 8-8-8 isn’t an even split at all. We’ll spend most of our energy at work and arrive home exhausted.

In winter time here in Scandinavia we straight up spend all daylight hours at work — we go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. Sounds like an even split?

I think the 8-8-8 lifestyle may function if your work is your highest calling. If you derive a deep sense of purpose from it. If you find growth in it and you don’t have other big interests outside your job. And if you are able to work 8 hours straight and find that productive.

8-8-8 doesn’t work for me. But society revolves around this standard. So what alternative can I come up with within these constraints?

A 50-50 lifestyle

I have been working on adding more free time to my life for years now. The core idea behind my financial freedom project is to buy more free time. I have bought some additional vacation time here and there (and loved it!), but until now most of my savings have gone towards future free time.

From the very beginning of the project I was skeptical if I wanted “full early retirement”. I still think some work is good for me. Which leads me to an idea:

Work 50% of the year. Take 50% off. A 50-50 lifestyle.

Sounds amazing to me when thinking about it. Take the entire summer off (and more!) and spend it on “free time”.

It doesn’t even seem that hard to pull off. I’ve been saving for years now and with a bit of discipline, saving 50% of my paycheck isn’t a problem at all. If I save 50%, I can work 6 months while building up a bankroll to support me the next 6 months. Rinse and repeat.

I won’t have to take anything from my long term savings.

There obviously are some downsides:

• It will take longer to reach full financial freedom
• It requires a job that accepts this proposal
• I have to live on 50% of my paycheck

Is this something I want to try?

I’m considering it. I have built up a decent amount of savings over the last few years. And even though this experiment would mean I stop adding to my savings, my investments should hopefully continue to grow.

Alternatives

50-50 has a nice ring to it. But the work to free time ratio can be different.¹

I could also do 60-40 (or 70-30). Working 60% of the year and taking 40% off. I could save or spend the additional cash I would earn.

Over time the ratio could also flip to 40-60. Working 40% and taking 60% off.

The other alternative is continuing what I currently do: working most of the year and taking a bit of time off here and there. I’d guess one average I have done something like 90-10 the last couple of years.

Now or later?

I like the idea of 50-50. But I still find myself contemplating if I should continue working until I have a bit more.

This is the kind of stuff I have been saving for. The reason I’m working on financial freedom. But something interesting happens when I start to consider using more of this freedom: I become reluctant and find it easy to argue that I need ‘just a bit more’.

I could wait a year or two. Or three. And then I could start reducing the hours I spend working a job.

The question is when do I have enough?

I have to remind myself that time is more important than money.

I could work another 10 years and have a big pile of cash. But I have no idea what the world looks like in 10 years. I may be too old to do the things I want. My body could start failing me. Or something else could happen.

There is risk either way. If I reduce my work hours now, I risk “not having enough”. Maybe I end up pushing retirement many years down the road. But if I continue working now I risk spending too much time working a job for money I do not need.