Episode CF04 – Self-Employment Vs. Employment for FI

Episode CF04 – Self-Employment Vs. Employment for FI

Welcome to another Community episode! Today Alvar and Mathias talk with Michael about the different options to reach FI as an employee VS being self employed. Enjoy!

We also talk about:

  • 9 to 5 mentality
  • Support for the unemployed
  • Life/work balance
  • Side hustles as a fulfillment

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How the two approaches differ

Employees put an FI number and save until that. Freelancers think more in terms of cash flow: that could make for a more flexible view on the FI path, but of course the stability of income and all the usual perks of being an employee can help greatly. The key to freelancing is being able to sell your expertise and experience and not your time, this way you can have the ability to shift gear and reach the FI number faster.

Two different mindsets

Looking further into the subject, we can see that often the choice between these two paths is not only determined by considerations about career and money, but in the end there are two different mindsets and lifestyles at play. For example, Michael considers himself ‘unemployable’ because he couldn’t adapt himself to the mechanisms that come into play as an employee, while other people don’t want the uncertainty and competition associated with a freelance job. Definitely, your mileage may vary!

The benefits of combining both

From an FI perspective, a combination of the two approaches can yield benefits, allowing you to have a stable primary income as an employee and adding a part of freelance work on the side, along with some side hustles to increase earnings and add passive sources to the mix. This could also act as an accelerator on the path to FI for employees, who otherwise must heavily invest in their career in order to reach the goal in less time.

Let us know what you think about the Interview in the comments or our Facebook Group!

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