I recently watched the movie “The Greatest Showman” and realized it is a great promoter of Financial Independence.

We rarely go to the movie theater because of the high price. We basically have a theater at home with a nice tv and surround sound where we can pause it to go to the restroom or get a drink. I can either rent the movie for almost nothing or buy the blu-ray for around $25 which I can then resell later on Ebay and get most of that money back. That is of course unless it comes out on Netflix first.

As compared with going to a movie theater with the whole family at about $8-9 per ticket plus any popcorn or drinks, which we pretty much never do, would be a very expensive $75-100 movie. If we wait until it is in the “cheap” theater it’s about half the price. We do occasionally take the kids to the cheap theater to see a good family movie.

With that said, we recently rented the movie The Greatest Showman which is about the beginnings of P.T. Barnum who is best known in our time for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. It is a musical but surprisingly a very good one, I really do not enjoy musicals but this one was really entertaining. I don’t know how much of the things portrayed in the movie are true to historical fact. I’m certain that it did not include so much singing and choreographed dancing.

If you have not seen it and plan to, I will try to not spoil it too much for you. If you were not thinking of watching it, you should. Here’s why, the movie although it is about a circus, it is about the man and his dream.

Near the beginning as a young adult he was working at a job he did not like. He looked out the window and saw a graveyard right next to another office building. That is were he realized that he did not want to do this job until he dies. Just like many in the FI movement have said, they get to a job starting their career and see others who have been there a very long time and realize they do not want that same fate.

PT Barnum then got creative. Used “creative financing” to secure a loan from a bank to buy a building he could use to bring new life into an old museum. This later became the beginnings of the Barnum Circus.

He worked hard to build his business but got carried away and lost it all including his family. When he eventually realized his mistakes and started over again, he kept his focus on the “WHY” of starting the business. It was so that he could spend time with his family and do the important things in life and always be able to provide for his family. He was able to recover his family and basically got to FI again and used his time to be with his family and enjoy life.

That’s what Financial Independence is all about. Having the free time to do what matters most. To not have to spend your life working for somebody else and not be able to be with your loved ones.

My Mother has been living between hospitals and rehab facilities the last 3 months after having a serious injury and other complications caused from cancer, MS and pneumonia. It has been difficult for her and our family. I have been spending a lot of time with her which is why my posts have been far in between. I am not yet at FI but if I was, I can imagine how much more of a relief it would be so that I could be by her side all day and not be distracted with a job that I have to work so many hours. The same if it were my wife or one of our children. Time is our greatest resource and it is a shame that we have to spend so much of it working just to survive. Life was not meant to be lived in a cubicle.

Go watch The Greatest Showman and see if you pick up on the FI subtleties in it. If you do or don’t, either way it is a good family movie. Speaking of movies, you should also look for and prepare for a FI documentary called Playing With FIRE. It is a documentary about the FIRE movement and showcases many of the best known names in the group. Many people, including myself, helped fund the creation of the movie and our names are in the credits. I hadn’t started this blog yet at the time so you won’t see CTR Finance in the credits, but my personal name is there for those who know it.