The Fulfilling Path to Financial Independence – Khe Hy

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About this course

‍You don’t need to have F.U. money to be financially independent. In fact, you don’t even need to be rich.

‍I’ve developed a framework to achieve financial security and independence, while living a rich and fulfilling life.

‍I’m not feeling FIRE

‍The FIRE (aka Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement is such a tired trope. Yes, in theory you could move out of your beloved (but expensive) city, cram into a tiny 425 square foot apartment, and buy discarded brown bananas for your smoothies – but the opportunity cost would be unbearable.

‍I’m not denying that there’s a ton of wisdom in the FIRE principles (save a lot, compound your investments, and grow your income), but who wants to delay gratification for 10+ years? Financial Independence and taking epic ski trips seem fundamentally at odds with one another. How on earth do you balance today’s enjoyment while being responsible about your future commitments?

‍Confused, you stay the course on the corporate treadmill. You diligently max out your 401ks, 529s, and IRAs, but feel completely disconnected from the fruits of your labor. As you respond to your boss’ weekend emails, you wonder how on earth this could be the path to a more independent life.

‍So the years go by. And with each passing year, the commitments – kids, private school, mortgages – increase and intensify. You feel the corporate handcuffs tighten around your wrists. Crap! The escape route is quickly closing, yet you’re paralyzed with worry and indecision.

‍Are there even any levers left to pull? You’ve gotten the promotions and pay raises, but feel like you’re sprinting to stay in place. Your financial security feels tenuous at best, especially as the Ray Dalios of the world are predicting apocalyptic stock market crashes (and you’ve missed the last 30% of the stock market rally).

‍Yet somehow, everyone around you is crushing it.

‍There’s another path

‍The obvious answer is to earn more. And then some more. And then invest more aggressively, buy more real estate. Sure, these will help, but barely move the needle. Not to mention they require lots of time OR lots of money.

‍But what if you had a solution to answer the timeless question: what does it mean to have enough? And I’m not talking about money, that’s a gross oversimplification. I’ve developed (and am living) a framework to determine what’s enough. Enough financial security, status, freedom, optionality, and free time to help you design a fulfilling and financially independent life.

‍After all, the Tao Te Ching wasn’t kidding with this 2500 year old truth bomb: Wealth is knowing what is enough.

‍A “rad” life

‍I’m creating this course from Manhattan Beach, where I work for myself writing, coaching, and giving talks under the RadReads umbrella. Every morning I surf with the dolphins, make breakfast for my wife and kids after having slept a solid eight hours. I don’t set an alarm (unless the waves are good), NEVER work with assholes, and (despite living) in LA don’t commute. I work about 40 hours a week.

‍Am I financially independent? Absolutely not. Do I feel like I’m retired? Totally.

‍This is a 180 degree pivot from my prior life as a Wall Street investor. I thought I had played my cards right because thanks to the combo of hard work and good luck, I was one of the youngest (age 32) Managing Directors at Blackrock. But I was bored out of my mind. My kids only knew a distracted and drained father. And I was emotionally disconnected from my work.

‍I looked at my colleagues who were 15 years older than me and didn’t want their lives. Not because their lives were bad (in fact, they were very financially secure) but because I knew that I needed to be build a life with a different set of priorities: Family, flexibility and creative expression.

‍But I had no idea how on earth would I get there. Could I withstand a 99% pay cut? Was I selfishly putting my family in harm’s way? How would I discover what I wanted to do? And did I have enough money?

‍Please don’t quit your day job

‍You don’t need to quit your job and dig a hole into your savings to determine if there’s an alternate path to financial independence. This workshop will be your reconnaissance mission.

‍I’ve immersed myself in research, lectures, and books about the psychology of money. Spoiler alert: when it comes to money, ambitious professionals regularly make decisions that are irrational, undisciplined, and totally reactive. Said differently, they make bad decisions.Something about money makes them ditch the exact principles that made them successful at work.

‍I’ve collected the stories of thousands of entrepreneurs, executives and creatives – my newfound tribe – who have attempted to carve a path towards Financial Independence. What worked? Where did they fail? What would they have done differently? (And of course, how did they get health insurance?)

‍I got so deep in the weeds, that I built an entire six-figure coaching and speaking practice around the topic without any marketing. This workshop is the result of dedicating the past four years of my life helping people find a fulfilling path to financial independence.

‍This work has taken me to companies including Bank of America, Liberty Mutual, Bank of New York, Coinbase, Knight-Getco, IEX and Blackrock. My work has been featured in Bloomberg, Barron’s, CNN, Wall Street Journal, TED, Financial Times, LifeHacker, Quartz, and the Nieman Journalism Lab.

The lottery test

‍You know you will have enough when you wake up saying to yourself “If I won the lottery yesterday, this is exactly how I’d be spending my day.” You will have enough financial security when you’re unfazed by that surprise IRS bill or when your portfolio suddenly plunges 20%. Not only will you know that you’ve got the right a plan, you’ll have the confidence that you’ll stick with it. And since you know you can afford it, you will splurge on that flight upgrade, with ZERO guilt.

‍You will then stop caring status games. You will feel nothing when your neighbor gets the new X5 or when your old roommate makes partner at their fancy law firm. In fact, you’ll be genuinely happy for their successes.

‍You will feel connected to your work. It will help that you’ll never have to miss a kid’s recital and you will be able to dictate who you interact with professionally – a true no asshole policy.

‍And finally, you will reclaim control of your time. Your kids get your best energy – FULL STOP. You will give yourself permission to increase the frequency for your house cleaners, which will let you prioritize sleep and daily exercise.

‍You will glide through daily life with purpose and lightness. You will savor each moment, with immense gratitude and positivity.

‍You will smile more.

What Students Say

Khe led us through a process to align our spending and investing with our values and shed some needed light on deeply held and subconscious aspects of a scarcity mindset

“We engaged Khe because despite being very financially secure, we felt a disconnect between our money values and our approach to spending and investing. This caused an unnecessary cognitive burden and made it harder for us to be as present as we want to be in our lives. Khe led us through a process to align our spending and investing with our values and shed some needed light on deeply held and subconscious aspects of a scarcity mindset. This made us more purposeful and confident in all our money decisions.”

Course Curriculum

The Fulfilling Path to Financial Independence

• What is Financial Independence (10:55)
• Ex 1: Your Financial Independence Statement (1:36)
• WT, F(ire) (10:53)
• Ex 2: Your FIRE Checklist (1:13)
• Meet the Distracting Duo (3:46)
• The Myth of the Retirement Number (4:06)
• The Myth of Passive Income (7:30)
• Ex 3: Your First Digital Dollar (1:25)
• Don’t Quit Your Day Job (6:32)
• Ex 4: How to Make Work Feel Like Play (0:44)
• The Scarcity Mindset (5:01)
• What is enough Financial Security? (9:24)
• Ex 5: Break Glass Protocol (7:18)
• Define Your Money Values (8:33)
• Ex 6: The Money Values Workbook (3:00)
• What’s the Next Dollar Worth? (6:45)
• Ex. 7: Last Mile Math (1:30)
• Spending Money to Buy Time (5:15)
• Ex 8: 3 Ways to Buy Back Time (2:15)
• Where does Happiness Fit In? (9:45)

Appendix 1: Q&As

• Q&A #1 (55:32)
• Q&A #2 (67:08)

Appendix 2: Original Workshop

Full Workshop (90:14)