THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

     I hate working. I hate having to spend so much of my life doing something for which I have never been given a choice. And this isn't because I work a shitty job. It wouldn't matter what I would be doing to earn money. The problem would still remain: I was never given a choice in the matter.

     What do I mean? I mean the idea that one has to earn money for a living. We were all born under that regime. There can be no job I can ultimately enjoy doing because any job, by its very nature, would REQUIRE me to do it. It's that MUST aspect of working that drives me to despair.

      I value leisure and by that I don't mean being a lazy asshole. If I come across that way at all it is because my time off from work is so short. I haven't been "free" since the Summer of 1996. And a week off from work just doesn't cut it. All that week off does is get me used to the idea of being off just in time to go back to work. Vacations are almost more cruel than not having vacations. At least my weekend is part of the flow of my week. A vacation is a tease of the worst kind...

     So it got me thinking, what is the price of my freedom? In other words, how much money do I need on an annual basis to cover my life the way I wish to live it? I make almost $28,000 a year now and barely eke out a living from it. I don't drive because I can't afford it so while I'm keeping a roof over my head and food in my belly (and internet for my mind), it's hardly affording me a "lifestyle". I've learned how to live without driving but I'm going to assume I'll need it for this equation.

     Now I know this number won't be accurate because I don't know how the taxes would work. For me, the price of freedom is the amount of money you would need in an interest-bearing account that it pays enough in interest to cover your annual expenses thus removing the need to work for a living. Now this doesn't preclude you working or volunteering. No, what it does is remove the NECESSITY that you work. It makes working a CHOICE; something you've never had before when it comes to employment. Now you can do what you've always wanted to do because you know you're covered by this bank account.
      See, I'm assuming you can't collect Social Security based on interest income so you're probably not paying the FICA tax, just the Federal and State income taxes. Therefore, I'm guessing that an annual taxable income of $35,000 would not only cover my life's expenses (and a car) but leave enough left over for activities as well. Any money unspent could always be returned to the fund. Might even be a good idea to do so on account of inflation and variable interest rates.

      Anyways, so what amount in the bank would cover that $35,000 annual income? The amount, of course, varies because the interest rates keep changing. The highest my CDs ever earned was 5.15%. I locked in on a 3-year CD for 2% a couple years ago and that same 3-year goes for 0.9% now. The highest my bank offers is 1.25% on a 5-year CD. Just terrible rates.
      But let's use that 1.25% as our basis. I'm going to pretend that 1.25% represents the floor for interest rates that can be gotten. Thus in higher years, your account will grow in value producing greater income. With that said, the current price of my freedom is, get this, $2,800,000. Yup. 2.8 million dollars. Interest rates are so low that at that amount, with no interest at all, just withdrawing $35,000 a year, it would last 80 years which is longer than my projected lifetime by almost 35 years.

       If the interest rate were 3%, the price of my freedom would be approximately 1.2 million dollars. I have less than 15% of that total.

      The point of this entry? That I will never be free...