Did you have a wonderful time over the Labor Day weekend?
Labor Day in the United States and Canada is celebrated on the first Monday in September. It also marks the “unofficial end of summer“. People who have procrastinated all summer, can use this opportunity to squeeze in as much family related activities such as barbecues, picnics and road trips. Of course, living in California we don’t experience the change in seasons as much as someone living in the Midwest or Northeast.
As soon as you show up to work on Tuesday, the most common question would be “Did you have a wonderful time over the long weekend?” Even your boss maybe interested in hearing your response. Ironically my boss has this massive planner in her office with elaborate details for the next long weekend. She was so excited about it that she even emailed me the Amazon link for it.
Historical significance of Labor day
The first of May is a national, public holiday in many countries across the world. It is celebrated as “Labor Day”, “International Workers’ Day” or some similar name. The date of May 1 emerged in Europe and Asia as a holiday for celebration of Laborers and working class. The US Democratic President Grover Cleveland was concerned that a labor holiday on May 1 would strengthen socialist and anarchist movements that backed the May 1 commemoration around the globe. He publicly supported the September Labor Day holiday as a less inflammatory alternative.
What does Labor Day mean to you?
Irrespective of your geographic location in the world or your preference to celebrate May or September as Labor Day; the fact remains that this is a day for us to reflect on what the fruits of our labor yield; and how we can optimize life to start our Financial Freedom Countdown.
The chart below indicates the ratio of days you spend working v/s weekends and public holidays for your enjoyment.
Distribution of working days and holidays in a year shows more working days compared to holidays.
[bctt tweet=”You need to flip the ratio of working days to holidays in a year to enjoy life” username=”FFCSocial”].
Currently the average worker is spending more than 2/3rd of their life being a wage slave and not having control of their lives. At the end of the day; even if you earn 7 figures or 8 figures at a job, but still need to show up at a particular time and place; you have still not achieved Financial Freedom.
Although it is inevitable to start with a job; the goal is to improve Human Capital and accelerate Financial Freedom You then need to invest wisely and prevent catastrophic failures to take control of your life.
Summary
We spend a lot of time working all through the week pining for the weekend. The ratio is skewed badly towards more days where we do not control our own time. Achieving Financial Freedom enables you to have a wonderful time over the Labor Day weekend.
Readers, how does your own chart look wrt working and non-working days? What would help you accelerate your Financial Freedom Countdown?
John Dealbreuin came from a third world country to the US with only $1,000 not knowing anyone; guided by an immigrant dream. In 12 years, he achieved his retirement number.
He started Financial Freedom Countdown to help everyone think differently about their financial challenges and live their best lives. John resides in the San Francisco Bay Area enjoying nature trails and weight training.
Here are his recommended tools
M1 Finance: John compared M1 Finance against Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity, Wealthfront and Betterment to find the perfect investment platform. He uses it due to zero fees, very low minimums, automated investment with automatic rebalancing. The pre-built asset allocations and fractional shares helps one get started right away.
Personal Capital: This is a free tool John uses to track his net worth on a regular basis and as a retirement planner. It also alerts him wrt hidden fees and has a budget tracker included.
Streitwise is available for accredited and non-accredited investors. They have one of the lowest fees and high “skin in the game,” with over $5M of capital invested by founders in the deals. It is also open to foreign/non-USA investor. Minimum investment is $5,000.
Platforms like Yieldstreet provide investment options in art, legal, structured notes, venture capital, etc. They also have fixed-income portfolios spread across multiple asset classes with a single investment with low minimums of $10,000.
Work is more enjoyable if you are the best at what you do. Holidays are for the masses.
Agree. If you enjoy what you are working on then it is no longer a chore and instead becomes more interesting.