Tinian Crawford, blogger at DIY2FI and licensed electrician, talks about his path to licensure, the advantages of trade jobs and his transition to pursuing financial independence.
- What jobs are represented in the FI community?
- Base salary for an electrician is $70 minimum.
- Many people go to trade school in high school or immediately after, so there’s very little financial education in the trade-work community.
- Tinian’s father built his childhood house, and Tinian was enlisted to help with construction projects on their property.
- Does Tinian find value in the graphic design education he received in community college?
- Tinian’s first job was building signs – many of which were lighted signs – which piqued his interest learning about electrical work.
- What education do you need to start electrician licensure training?
- Tinian’s one-year program cost $25k.
- To be fully licensed, an electrician has to do a 5-year apprenticeship.
- Making $70 an hour comes when you work for yourself.
- Do most electricians jump right into owning their own business?
- Tinian’s recommendation: stick with a contractor you can learn from for your day job, and start taking jobs on the side.
- Additional trade jobs that would be great for FI:
- Garden landscaping and design
- Plumbing
- Tinian’s wife suggested that they save $20k by the time their first child was born.
- In order to avoid high childcare costs, Tinian and his wife split their schedules as much as possible.
- Tinian hopes to leave his day job at some point, but still needs to learn more about managing benefits and figuring out exactly how much he needs to support his family.
- In order to prepare for leaving a day job, it’s important to identify how much life will cost after the change.
- Beginning their investing with a local financial advisor and a socially conscious portfolio was a mistake for Tinian.
