What difference would financial independence make in your life? What changes are you willing to make to get to that point? In this episode, I talk to Brad Barrett about the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement and why it's about pursuing choice rather than denial, as well as some of the money choices we have both made over the years. I am not financially independent but I am an investor with pension and other savings and money is an increasingly important topic for creators. In the introduction, Amazon Advertising expands into France, Italy, and Spain; Rakuten sells Overdrive to private equity firm, KKR [equity-firm-agrees-to-buy-overdrive.html">Publishers Weekly]; Romance Writers of America (RWA) goes through turbulent times [Bookriot], and Nora Roberts explains why she left the organization years back [FallIntoTheStory]. Mark Coker publishes his State of the Indie Nation 2020 calling for renewed independence — check out episode 429 if you want to publish wide. I explain why I moved the pre-order for Audio for Authors: Audiobooks, Podcasting, and Voice Technologies. Today's podcast sponsor is Findaway Voices, which gives you access to the world's largest network of audiobook sellers and everything you need to create and sell professional audiobooks. Take back your freedom. Choose your price, choose how you sell, choose how you distribute audio. Check it out at FindawayVoices.com. Brad Barrett went from being a full-time CPA (an accountant in the US) to retiring with complete financial independence by the age of 35 through diligent savings and investing. Now, as co-host and co-founder of ChooseFI, he’s empowering others in their own pursuit of the financially independent lifestyle. He is also the co-author of Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence, which we are talking about today. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript below. Show Notes * The definitions of FIRE and FI * Why financial independence is about running toward something, not away from a life you hate * The 3 pillars of FIRE: spend less, earn more, invest better * Re-examining our spending without pinching every penny – Lean FIRE vs Fat FIRE * Making financial decisions based on re-examined values * Quickly acquiring new skills, for little cost, so that you can earn more * Why investing is important and less intimidating than you think You can find Brad Barrett at ChooseFI.