{"id":524,"date":"2021-06-14T03:33:10","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T03:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-655153-2137993.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=524"},"modified":"2021-06-14T03:33:10","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T03:33:10","slug":"msfire28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/msfiremama.com\/msfire28\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Fear with FIRE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The past few weeks have been a difficult time for my family. We received news that was changing our plans and forcing us to look at other options. This, compounded by our pending baby, had me lying awake at night, wondering what the consequences would be of asking work to allow me some additional flexibility. After an unprecedented year of insanity, my small request should have been the least of my worries given everything that has happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wanted to see if my employer would allow me to relocate to another state to be closer to family, prior to my pending maternity leave. My husband Chad works remotely so other than physically moving, permission from his work was a formality. In my situation, the potential outcomes could be 1) my company tells me I need to use vacation time to take me to maternity leave, 2) agree to my proposal or, 3) ask me to take a leave of absence and come back when my family situation is resolved.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chad and I weighed all these situations and the most important thing to us was being with our family. We did a little math and budgeting to figure out what the financial impact would be and decided we could live with any of the three situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the benefits of being on a journey to FIRE and being five houses deep in real estate investing is that these endeavors have provided us with the financial flexibility, if our terms couldn\u2019t be met.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our investing income does not quite cover my salary (yet), but with some adjustments, we could make it work in the event that my employer decided to make me take an unpaid leave of absence or terminate me, as a result of my request. Our finances are healthy and we have that bucket to cover six months of expenses, in the event either of us had a job loss or required a medical leave. In this case, our work to achieve FIRE allows us to choose what\u2019s best for our family over needing to compromise with a company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I get older, I realize that your employer relationship is kind of like a person you date. The relationship has to be mutually beneficial, otherwise things are sure to sour. It\u2019s understanding each other\u2019s needs and being willing to compromise where it\u2019s most important. If one side is overpowering the other, then it\u2019s likely not going to last. Neither side can figure out how to continue to meet the other\u2019s needs unless the needs are communicated. If my employer made me choose between my job and family, I was prepared to choose my family. However, it did not relieve me of my concerns and fears. I didn\u2019t want to be disappointed by my employer. If the answer to my request was no or met with resistance, I would feel like the sacrifices and hard work I put in at my job were not valued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n