I was talking with a good friend over lunch a couple Fridays ago and he mentioned that his kids were still quite young, and that he couldn’t see retiring until his kids were at least a certain age in school. I often thought about that myself before we retired and ultimately waited until my son was almost done with his senior year in high school … Continue reading Kids In School & Early Retirement
I have a few friends that have shared that they are now getting close to giving their formal notice or are turning the corner on their last year of work. The journey to financial independence and retiring early (FIRE) seems like a challenge oftentimes, but each day you push through, each paycheck you invest, and each luxury you forgo pulls you closer to the day … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Dream Locamotion
I am titling this post “Part 1” as I am expecting the challenge of organizing our health care coverage for 2017 to be a multi-part personal finance adventure. I explained how we were approaching health insurance in early retirement this past spring, but it seems that all of the cards are up in the air again and we are likely looking at a 33%-50% increase … Continue reading Early Retiree Health Insurance – Open Enrollment (Part 1)
I’m not typically too much of a worrier. I can be pretty analytical and objective in making decisions and don’t let my emotions get the best of me too often. In approaching the big decision that we made this year – to early retire and enjoy a life of financial independence – I used a number of analytical lenses to ‘pressure test’ the possibilities. Once … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – No Worries
My former boss at MegaCorp announced his pending retirement last week. It was big news with a number of people calling me and telling me about it from the office. He was immediately moved out of his role and put into ‘special projects’ until his final day on April Fool’s 2017. It’s exactly one year from when I departed, although I didn’t come close to … Continue reading From The Office Door To Door County
We are heading to Green Bay to see a Packer game this weekend and spend a few nights in Wisconsin’s Door County. In preparation, I’ve been reading a book about Packer great Bart Starr and the glory days of the team in the 1960s. Coach Vince Lombardi led the team to five NFL championships in seven years and was famous for his quote on winning … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Winning Attitude
More than 15 years ago, some colleagues and I were talking about how effective we were in building our savings. We were all making a good living, but some were more successful in building their net worth than others. One colleague – a single guy with a snappy car – mentioned that he started out being a good saver, but had recently been spending too much … Continue reading Stop Saving, Start Spending In Retirement?
I read an interesting white paper recently from the American Enterprise Institute that looked at “What Is Happening In Retirement Planning Today?” The paper was well-researched and stands as a bit of a contrast to the tangle of dark personal finance headlines that you often see in the in the paper and online. While the media seems intent on frightening working-age Americans and many analysts … Continue reading Eight Retirement Myths Thoroughly Debunked
This past Saturday (10/1) marked the six month anniversary of the day I walked out of MegaCorp for early retirement. It was April Fool’s Day, which seemed liked the most appropriate day of the year to do something so foolish. How’s it been so far? – terrific, I’d say. A friend who retired a few months early has been thinking the same thing. To mark … Continue reading Early Retirement – Six Month Anniversary
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