Why Not Freedom 30?

I've read the blogs, read the books, I’ve done the math and I’ve realized that I could retire today.  I have enough passive income to support myself and my family without ever working another day in my life, other than managing my rental properties which is about 5 hours a month max currently.

So why do I keep waking up every morning at 6 am to spend 8+ hours in an office working for “The Man”, instead of quitting today waking up after 10am and spending all my time doing things I want to do?  First, for me just like Money isn’t Everything, Time isn’t Everything.  What the hell am I talking about you are asking?  Yes, time is finite and yes I currently struggle everyday with not having enough of it but like everything too much of something can be a bad thing.  Second, doing the things I want to do and living where I want to live is not cheap.

Without boring you with too much details I'll quickly summarize where I am at:

• Net Employment Income = 6200/month                                                          
• Passive Rental Income = 2000/month  Reninvested into rental company.
• Required Expenses (Mortgage/Power/Gas/Tax etc) = 3500/month
• Other Expenses (Fuel/Food/Cable/Cell/Internet/Travel/Etc) = around $2500/month

Anything that happens to be left over get invested in High Dividend Stocks.

I would assume some minimalists would probably want to round-house kick me in the face if he saw these expenses.  Tell me to sell my oversized house, Trade in my Truck for a Prius, Bike in -30 degrees to the grocery store in a foot of snow to cut my expenses and live frugal.

But that's where my first point about time isn't everything comes into play.

In order to retire today here is one of my options I would have to do:

• Sell my oversized 2300 sqft home
• Buy a small 3 bedroom bungalow (1000-1400 sqft) with all the equity in my current home in a slightly rougher neighbourhood (Which in Calgary is not really a big deal)
• Renovate the basement to make a legal suite and get an extra $1000-$1200/month income

Doing this would decrease my required expenses significantly = approx $1000
Increase my Passive Rental Income = approx $3000/month
Which would provide enough income = $2000 to cover my most of my current expenses, easily fixed having a single family vehicle vs a truck and SUV, cutting the cable and taking cheaper vacations. 

So summarizing I could free up 40 hours a week of my time and all I have to do is live more frugal, have less privacy and take up hobbies I don't like that don't cost money.  Awesome Sign me up.

But wait,  that means I'll be having a staycation instead of going to Mexico with my Family in the dead of winter.  That mean's I'll have to run into my basement tenant often and have my kids share a backyard with a guy that pisses on the lawn on a saturday night when he gets home drunk (I've had tenants complain about that).  That means instead of Quading in the mountains on my days off,  I'll mountain bike around town instead any time I want.  That means on a really cold day after a great day of Snowboarding I will have to take a shower instead of soaking in my hottub with my sexy wife.  That mean's I'll have to illegal stream the football game and hope it doesn't cut out durring the game winning drive. Never mind I'll pass.

What good is more free time if you aren't really doing exactly what you want.  Are you truly free?  Who is the guy with the most free time on his hands?  The homeless bum on the street.  Ask him if he feels free?