Announcing New Interview Series: Educators On FI/RE

Note: This series (and the site name changed in July 2018. )

Last week, I reaffirmed the Principal FI mission:

To support all educators to reach financial independence!

As part of my actions, I committed to elevating educator voice in the pursuit of financial independence. I plan to meet this commitment in two ways.

I will continue to highlight and share other educators writing about personal finance. I’ll amplify those voices through my social media and by building the list on the Educators on FI/RE page.

Educator Interviews

I also want to share the experience of educators reaching for FI (and Retire Early if that’s the goal), whether they’re writing online about it or not. I believe this is critical for a couple reasons.

First, I’ve worked in education for almost twenty years. I know we’re good at discounting the experience of others not working directly in our context. This was highlighted for me when I first got into the work of school improvement. To build strategies, we’d find another school doing well and take a team to research the steps the successful school had taken.

When we brought those findings back to the staff, the first responses were always about why it wasn’t possible because of contextual differences. These were along the lines of “Well sure, they’re successful because they have {insert anything here} and we don’t.”

I know financial independence experiences from other professions will always be met with skepticism. So, I want to make sure that we provide REAL educator experiences for you to draw from. Hopefully, most readers can find things that feel close enough to their context to provide motivation.

Second, and perhaps most importantly – it’s good instructional practice. As a teacher, I was always dismayed by colleagues who approached teaching math (as one example) with a single method. This was typically the method that worked for their own understanding. They were often so amazing at teaching it that the majority of students would learn it and be successful.

But, it wasn’t successful for everyone. Learning doesn’t work that way. We’re most successful at acquiring new concepts if we are exposed to a variety of approaches and methods. We can then find, and focus, on the ones that work for us. The best math teachers share a variety of approaches and allow for exploration. The same is true for the path to financial independence.

That’s what I want to bring to you.

Diversity of Perspective, Experience, and Approach

Starting next week, I’ll begin publishing financial independence interviews with real educators. I’ve communicated with two so far – one is an early reader, and the other is a real-life conversation I was fortunate to stumble into. These first two represent well what I hope to include in this series:

• Different roles – I want to include a variety of educator roles. Whether you are an education assistant, a school nurse, a teacher, or administrator, or any other role supporting students, we have something to learn from you. (My first two interviews are a teacher and an education assistant.)

• Different points on the journey – I want to feature educators at all steps on their journey to financial independence. (The two I already have include one just beginning to plan, and one who is already financially independent.)

• Different approaches – I can’t wait to see all the different ways we reach for FI. These may include extreme savings, searching out higher income, investments, FIRE, or traditional retirement. I want to share them all.

If you’d like to participate, please contact me. You can choose to be as open, or anonymous, as you like. I only ask that you are authentic and provide information for readers to learn. If you have an online presence, I’ll be glad to link to you if you desire. Again, the purpose is to amplify educators and support each other!

The Questions

Based on the first two conversations, I’ll begin with the following questions. I’m happy to change, expand, or branch out based on reader (and interviewee) feedback:

1. Tell us about you. (Describe your context in as much/little description as you like)
2. What do/did you like most about working in education?
   • What do/did you like least?
3. What is your Why of Financial Independence? (Why are you learning about or seeking FI?)
4. Are you:
   • FI Curious – Just learning and becoming interested in financial independence
   • Future FI – On the path, but still learning. Destined for financial independence!
   • FI Success – Financially independent!
5. Share any financial numbers you are comfortable sharing – examples include:
   • Income
   • Savings/investments
   • Net worth
6. Tell us about your path to FI.
   • What are your successes/wins?
   • What are your challenges?
7. What is your long-term goal? Do you have a FI target?
8. If you become financially independent will you:
   • Retire early?
   • Continue to work in education? (How/why?)
   • Do something different?
9. Tell us about a short-term goal you’re working towards.
10. Who/what inspires you?
11. What’s one thing you want to say to other educators about financial independence?
12. Is there anything you’d like to get feedback on from the community?

What do you think about these questions? Please comment below if you’d like to see any additions or changes.

Share Your Voice

And once again, I want to share as many voices and perspectives as possible. Please share this opportunity with any friends or colleagues you think may be interested. Contact me here if you are interested in being interviewed.