Part 272: Does The FI Mentality Make Work Harder?

Hello and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE.  This week I discuss how the pursuit of FI can impact your ability to stay motivated in work.  Also, a minor change in our property value.  There’s all the usual financial updates, and more fun with Monopoly.

Weekly Update

It’s the first full week of 2025 and not much has changed.  I’m still looking for work and spending much of my time looking at job adverts, speaking with recruiters and hiring managers, and then watching Deep Space Nine and playing Monopoly in my spare time.  

I’ve had a couple of good conversations this week about different jobs and I’m waiting to hear back if I’ve been successful in moving to the next stage.  My priority is still to find something that is home-based where I can put my initiative to good use.  

I would have liked to go for more walks this week but the snow and ice have made this difficult.  I did venture out on Wednesday but there was one part of the walk through Weston Park, where I had to go up a small ramp, and it was just pure ice.  Each time I tried stepping up I just slid back down.  It was like trying to go up an escalator that was running the opposite way.  At least I didn’t completely lose my balance, I guess.

More Appliance Frustration

A few months ago we bought a new washer-dryer as our previous machine was rubbish.  It worked fine until the other day when it got halfway through a cycle and then stopped.  I tried a few things and worked out it was probably an issue with the filter at the bottom of the machine.  I don’t understand why this filter is always so low down that it’s impossible to position a container to catch the excess water, but it is what it is.  Once I’d managed to drain the excess water I was able to remove the filter and it was packed with lint and fluff.  I suspect much of it was cat hair that ended up on our clothes and sheets.  We have now set a reminder to clean that filter every few weeks.  

Things like this stress me out because I always assume the worst, and that we’ll need to have it repaired or replaced.  One of the things that is a trigger for major stress is when we have strangers in our home, like repair or delivery people.  I get stressed about it for days ahead of time, and it takes time to come down from that stress after it’s finished.  

Lego and DPD

For my birthday last year, I received several Lego gift cards which I finally used.  I went for the Tudor Corner set which was due to be delivered this week. On the day of delivery, I got the notification from DPD that it was due to be delivered between 09:26 and 10:26.  I checked the tracking info and saw the driver was just a few deliveries from our apartment and I started putting my shoes on to go down when I got another message stating they’d missed me and would deliver to a pick-up point.  Our buzzer never went off.  It’s infuriating when this happens.  If I wanted to pick it up, I would just go to the shop and buy it over the counter.

DPD are normally the better courier in this area but this is just the first of two poor experiences this week.  We had a Hello Fresh delivery due but with the New Year we were told the delivery day would be different, and I normally receive a notification from DPD detailing when it will be delivered.  I got no such notice this time and our buzzer did not ring.  As I was expecting a letter, I went down to the postroom to check our postbox and saw our Hello Fresh delivery sitting in the foyer.  I don’t know how long it had been there, but when we opened it the icepacks had melted and most of the veg was inedible with some of the greens having turned white and fuzzy.  Fortunately, we were able to get our money back.  

Reality Sinking In

Since I left my position with Lloyds Banking Group a month ago, I don’t feel like I’ve had time to process the impact of leaving.  I wasn’t forced out and I wasn’t bitter about leaving; rather I welcomed it.  After being with one company for over 13 years I was ready for a change.  The thing is, 13 years of my adult life is a huge amount of time and to have that suddenly disappear is a massive disruption to my life, and my identity I suppose.

Whether you like your profession or not, when you’ve been in a role for that long it will inevitably become part of your identity; and for an autistic person part of the mask you wear.  There are people I would interact with daily who, now that I’ve left, are missing from my social group.  Everyone knows that there are friendships you have at work that don’t survive in the real world.  As a good friend of mine said, you have to have mutual interests or hobbies outside of work that allow your friendship to survive that transition.  For those friendships that haven’t survived my exit, I have no ill-will and I hope they move forward with happiness, health, and success.

Oana’s Birthday

It’s Oana’s birthday this coming week and my parents are taking us out for a meal each.  This Saturday my Dad took us for fried chicken and it was so good.  We had a chicken sandwich each, which came with pickles, aioli, cheese, and bacon jam.  In addition to this, we shared some fries and some chicken tenders on Texas toast which is essentially garlic bread with pickles.  However, the chicken tenders are served on the bread and their spicy coating soaks into the bread and it’s amazing.

Next Saturday my Mom, and her husband, are taking us for an Indian meal at a restaurant we’ve been wanting to try for a little while.  I’ll report back on our experience next weekend.  

Monopoly

We are thoroughly enjoying our games of Monopoly lately, whether it’s Oana and I, or with my Dad popping up for a game as well.  We are thinking of taking it on the cruise later this year which will be for my Dad’s birthday.  However, the language we come out with is probably not suitable for a public setting with f-bombs being dropped with abandon.  

I’m also the target for most of the colourful language for two reasons.  The first reason is that I’m a naturally superior player and people are generally envious of their betters.  The second reason is that I’m not afraid to voice my superiority as I make various observations about the state of the board and the game.  

The thing is, Monopoly David and real-life David are two different people, and one cannot be held accountable for the words and actions of the other.  

Climate Change – Again

The fires in Los Angeles are horrific.  People have died, and many more have lost their homes.  Fires do happen, and in some parts of the world, fires are necessary for the health of woodland and forests, with some trees only spreading their seeds because of fire.  Climate change is going to hit parts of the world hard with fires becoming more common due to longer dry spells. 

The other side of the equation is that parts of the world may become colder due to climate change, with the UK being one of them.  If the warm air that comes our way over the Atlantic stops because of ice melting in the north, much of the UK would no longer be suitable for farming.  Our food security would be heavily impacted.  

It’s weird when I talk to people about climate change because most people seem to understand that it’s real, and most people know what needs to be done to combat it, but hardly anyone seems willing to do or change anything.  

In some respects, it may be a failure on the part of science communicators for not explaining things well enough.  People hear things like 1.5-degree increases in temperature but don’t understand that many of the systems of life on our planet are in delicate balance where small temperature changes can destroy those systems.  We’re all connected in a closed system.  Granted, the Earth is big, but it’s still a closed system and if parts of it fail we will all feel the impact. 

Bonus Post

If you missed it, you can have a look at my midweek post here. I discussed the concept of a retirement age and explained why retirement is in your hands.

What I’m Doing

Listening: Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis.

Watching: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

The book I’m listening to has been a bit up and down.  It had a fairly strong start and then had a bit of a lull, but as I’m nearing the end it’s picked up again.  There’s a sequel but I don’t want to check if there are more than two books in the series as I know I’ll end up spoiling it for myself.

We only have a few more episodes of DS9 left to watch, and despite it being my hundredth rewatch I’ve still enjoyed it.  Oana has also thoroughly enjoyed it and it’s so cool we have another show we both love.  We were talking the other day and she mentioned that I’ve got her hooked on a few different sci-fi shows over the years, like The Expanse, Battlestar Galactica, For All Mankind, and now Deep Space Nine.

The great thing about DS9 is that, for the most part, it’s timeless.  Much of Star Trek: TNG has not aged well, and Voyager just isn’t very good.

Support Mortgage Advisor on FIRE

Financial Update

Assets

Premium Bonds: £30,000.00.

Stocks and Shares ISA: £90,007.23.

Fuck It Fund: £13,052.13.

Pensions: £91,880.60.

Residential Property Value: £237,228.00. 

Total Assets: £462,167.96.

Debts

Residential Mortgage: £184,492.19. 

Total Debts: £184,492.19.

Total Wealth: £277,675.77.

ISA Fees

I wanted to get the New Year out of the way before pulling the trigger on my ISA transfer.  I’m happy with my current provider in terms of service, their app, and their website.  However, their account fees are pretty high; 0.45% on balances up to £250,000, with the percentage dropping in stages on higher balances.  There is another provider who offers an account fee of 0%.  Now, sometimes in the morning when I’m a bit groggy, I can struggle with complex maths, but even as I’m writing this it seems clear to me that 0% < 0.45%. 

I spoke with my current provider to check if they could reduce the fees, as I’d be happy to pay something as I like their service.  They refused.  Fair enough, instead of getting something they will receive nothing.  

It’s annoying as I’d rather not go through the hassle of transferring the account but I can’t carry on paying £35ish each month when another company will do the same thing for nothing.  The other company has fees for transacting, but as I’ll hardly be transacting it’s still much less overall. 

There are always new things to learn…

I’m just grateful that a friend, and one of my readers, pointed out this other company that offers no account fees.  As the saying goes, “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

“Knowledge equals profit.”

~ Rule of Acquisition #74

There was a small change to the index valuation on our apartment this week.  Our valuation dropped from £237,447.00 to £237,228.00; a drop of £219.  This may put my FI plans back by one or two seconds.  

For the mid-term future, the valuation of our property doesn’t mean much.  However, there will come a time when we need to change to a new interest rate and if our loan-to-value is under 75% we will get better rates than with our current LTV of 77.7%.  On the current valuation, we would need to reduce our balance to £177,921 which is a drop of roughly £6,500.  As we only pay around £350 per month off the debt it will take a long time to reduce the balance by that much.  

Our best bet for reducing the LTV is to hope that our property value increases in the next 10 months or so before we have to switch deals.  My rough, mental, calculation is that we need an approximate £9k increase in the valuation to bring our current balance under 75%.  It gets more complex because both the balance and value will change over the next few months.  If I’m able to secure employment soon, we should be able to pay a little more off the debt each month.  

The FI Mentality and Work

The pursuit of Financial Independence is a transformative journey. It reshapes how we think about money, time, and work. But here’s the paradox: while FI is about creating freedom, it can make showing up to work, especially in a job you don’t particularly enjoy, feel more difficult than ever.  

The Mental Shift

Before discovering FI, most of us work with the assumption that we’d keep grinding until our late 60s. It’s “just the way things are.” But once the FI mentality takes hold, you realise life doesn’t have to be that way. You start viewing your job not as a lifelong necessity, but as a stepping stone.  

This shift can be both empowering and frustrating. Empowering because you have a clear goal and a way out. Frustrating because the daily grind starts to feel like an obstacle rather than a purpose.  You find yourself calculating timescales and FI numbers over and over.  It can become, in some ways, a form of mental torture.  You know there’s another way to live, but the light is at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel.  

Why Working Feels Harder with FI 

Hyper-Awareness of Time

FI makes you acutely aware of how precious your time is. Sitting in meetings that feel pointless or working on projects that don’t align with your personal values becomes almost intolerable. Every minute spent on “non-essential” work feels like a minute taken away from your FI journey.  There are so many tasks in work that feel like “busy work” and once you are aware of the utter futility of it, it’s hard not to respond emotionally to it.  Whether it’s filling out pointless trackers, or completing repetitive and redundant tasks, it starts to chip away at your very being.

Increased Frustration with the System 

When you’re focused on escaping the traditional work system, its inefficiencies and politics stand out more. That colleague who loves pointless debates? The senior managers who have no understanding of what the job actually entails? These things might have been mildly annoying before, but now they feel like roadblocks to your freedom.  Fortunately for me in my time at Lloyds, I was lucky to have some fantastic managers who were great people as well as great colleagues.  My last manager in particular was a source of support during some of my darkest moments with mental health.    

The Challenge of Staying Motivated 

The closer you get to FI, the harder it can be to stay engaged. Once you’ve built a solid financial cushion, the urgency of needing to work dissipates, but you still have to show up. This can lead to a “limbo phase” where you’re mentally checked out but still need the paycheck.  I talk about FI with a fair few people now, and they all say pretty much the same thing; motivation in the short-term is very difficult.

Longeing

Many years ago I read a rough draft of a story of which I can’t recall many of the details but there was one scene where a character is looking at a horse being led in a circle over and over.  The character makes some comparisons to their life; just going round and round in a circle.  

When you consider how most jobs operate, it’s easy to see the similarities with longeing.  You are tied to a desk and you just do the same stuff over and over.  This is why my next job must have a little more room for personal autonomy.  I don’t want to feel like that horse tied to a post and being led in a circle over and over.

The Pressure to Optimise  

FI enthusiasts often become obsessed with efficiency such as maximising savings, investments, and time. This can spill over into your work life, creating frustration when tasks or systems don’t meet your standards for productivity.  It can become very easy to see everything through the lens of FI.

How do you learn to cope with this? You have to reframe your perspective.  Instead of viewing your job as a burden, see it as the fuel that powers your FI journey. Every paycheck is another step closer to your goal.  Every investment you make is another brick in the building of your FI house.

Find Meaning in the Moment

Focus on the aspects of your work that you enjoy or find fulfilling. Whether it’s mentoring a colleague, solving a complex problem, or simply connecting with people, look for small wins.  Try to squeeze as much out of your job as possible in terms of transferable skills, networking (something I’m awful at), and experience.  

Set Micro-Goals

Break your FI timeline into smaller milestones. Celebrate each one to stay motivated and remind yourself of your progress.  Whether it’s getting to the next thousand, hundred thousand, or million.

Experiment with Mini-Retirements

If possible, consider taking breaks or reducing hours. Mini-retirements can help you recharge and remind you of what you’re working toward.  This is something I want to experiment with but circumstances mean I may need to return to work sooner than anticipated.  

Use Work as a Testing Ground

View your current job as an opportunity to build skills and habits you’ll need post-FI, like managing your time or pursuing side projects.  All jobs are transactional; you get something and the employer gets something.  As long as you are doing the job to the required standard, see what you can do to spread your wings and learn new things.  

The Takeaway

The FI mentality transforms your relationship with work, often making it harder to tolerate the grind. But with the right mindset and strategies, you can navigate these challenges while staying focused on the ultimate prize: freedom.  Money is not the end goal here.  Money is just the currency to get what you want: freedom.  

Have you experienced the FI paradox at work? I’d love to hear your thoughts and strategies in the comments below.  

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions in this blog are my own, and do not represent the views or opinions of my former, current, or future employers, nor should they be considered advice.

If you want personalised financial advice, seek an appropriate professional.  If you are in financial difficulty, seek advice via the resources below:

StepChange

MoneyHelper

Biolink 

You can now find all my social media pages by checking out my Biolink:

bio.link/davidscothern.