When I first found the gospel of financial independence, I embraced extreme frugality in an almost virtuous way.

And while I think the finer things are a slippery slope, it’s strange to me that the FI world equates owning nice things with being shallow & irresponsible.

Like it’s somehow immoral to want a luxury car or fancy clothes, or that it’s impossible to build real wealth AND indulge in nice stuff.

Now that I’ve met several multimillionaires (some with MANY, many millions), it’s not lost on me that many of them:

Drive luxury cars
Wear designer clothes
Live in big, fancy homes

And they’re not up to their eyeballs in debt. They’re just confident in their ability to generate more income (and realize that, proportionally, their spending as a % of net worth & income is still less than the average person).

Yes, there are people out there living beyond their means—but assuming every person with an expensive lifestyle can’t afford it is cynical.

It’s a weird moral high ground.

These people have time freedom AND nice stuff because they’re just really, really wealthy. It’s not a “one or the other” thing after a certain point.

And I, for one, find that expansive and inspiring.