I'll take the All Access Pass, please.

Looking for another way to accelerate your FI Plans? Move beyond ownership to just the access mindset.

For a moment, I started to consider how nice it would be to buy a big stately 2 story, 3,600 sqft house with a walk out basement. The house would be big enough to have my workout room with an endless pool, a hot tub, dry sauna as well as a place to entertain guests with a mini bar, pool table, ping pong table, and darts. I'd be able to pull up to it with a prestigious circle drive and have plenty of space for my vehicles and room for a shop with an oversized four car garage. Sounded like the American Dream to me!

A mini-estate like that would likely get your social circle saying things like "he arrived", "he made it", "he's rich". And to be frank, the idea of having all those trappings of a "rich" life sounded nice. It's certainly a great way to impress family, friends and strangers alike. It would also be slightly more convenient to workout in your gym or go for a swim in your house than drive through the winter time snow to just workout.. But what are the opportunity costs of having those things? What are you potentially giving up in the process? Is it really worth owning those things?

The first burden of ownership is if you have a large spread you also will have to manage the upkeep of the place, constantly cleaning it, dusting it, fixing things that break from time to time, pay taxes on the surplus space and of course covering all of the utilities. Those costs add up quick and will ultimately push your FI (Financial Independence) Plans even farther away.

Instead of saving for the future by investing your money you're spending your hard earned cash for instant gratification. It's the head-fake around the American Dream to think that the stereotypical "rich" lifestyle is what will bring you happiness. When in fact, it's certainly more likely to bring you, in time, financial ruin or at a minimum just no closer to FI as time passes. Imagine looking back 10 years from now, after working your tail off and being no closer to FI!

Successful Journey = Great Relationships + Great Experiences

If instead you shift your mindset to focus on important relationships in your life and having great experiences every day, week, and month out of the year you're far more likely to have the kind of life that you can be proud of. Great relationships with your kids and your significant other are free and they can make every day more exciting, fun and rewarding. Experiences, in my book, encompass everything that you do so I don't view this as only vacations that happen twice a year for one week at a time... Those trips are important but its far more important to ensure your experiences though-out the week, month in and month out, all year long are awesome. The best part is you don't actually have to give up experiencing the things that are important to you, just shift your ownership view to one of all-access.

Instead of owning the pool table, go to a billiards hall. Instead of owning and having to clean and maintain your pool and gym equipment just sign up for a membership at the local YMCA or Lifetime Athletics. Nothing is stopping you from entertain your friends and family at a local restaurant, county fair, city festival, destination trip, golf outing, or just a Dave&Busters. (Ok, so COVID-19 might be stopping you right now..... but you get what I mean). You don't need a big expensive house for 99.99% of the awesome possibilities of life. The big house and the nice trappings of the "Rich Life" are simply a head-fake.

Experiences don't stop with the fun, recreational stuff. You also need to enjoy the work that you do 40+ hrs a week! If I had to guess, this is the signal most critical factor in whether or not you'll be able to re-focus on the things that matter most in life. Why you ask? Because if your job drains your energy and sucks your creativity and passions away then its nearly impossible to maintain the right outlook on life. The second you clock out you are going to be seeking instant gratifications that make you feel like the work was worth your time. You're going to likely buy the big house to show others, "see I'm successful" when in-fact you don't feel successful in the work you're actually doing. The big house will never justify a job that sucks. Living this lifestyle will make you nothing more than a wage slave. The worst part is once you have the big house and the expensive lifestyle it will shackle you to the soul-sucking job that you hated in the first place!

Your work experience should be exciting, fun and challenging! If you're stuck, find a new job today! Daily experiences are what make up the sands of time. You won't magically get more time once you're 85 you'll only look back and either be proud of how you spend your time on this earth or full of regrets. The journey has to be fun, at least 80% of the time, or what's the point.

Don't fall into the trap of trappings. Focus on the relationships in your life that are meaningful to you and make every experience count! In America, you already have an All-Access Pass to everything you need or could want. Focus on the successful journey, and as it turns out, you might just have extra income that doesn't need to be spent on owning and maintaining stuff and you can channel it towards your FI fund.