“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now. “ This wise proverb is as important for achieving your early retirement goals as any other virtue in life. It is easy to say that you are too far behind to play catch-up, but if you don’t start now, where will you be? Continue reading Chinese Proverb
It is with true sadness that I read that Dr. Thomas Stanley, co-author of the Millionaire Next Door, was killed recently in an unfortunate car accident. Reuters wrote that “Stanley was killed Saturday afternoon when a car slammed into his vehicle near his home in Marietta, Georgia.” Stanley researched the lives of American “high net worth individuals” – millionaires – and found that they … Continue reading Millionaire Next Door – Thomas Stanley RIP
I enjoy “living the good life” parables like this that help put put the concept of “Life > Money” in perspective … it’s featured in most Jimmy John’s sandwich shops … HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? “The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large … Continue reading How Much Is Enough? – Jimmy John’s
The stock market is off to a challenging start this year. This is a bit worrisome as I am now approaching the 1 year mark of my expected early retirement. Year to date the S&P500 is down slightly, and the one MegaCorp I hold a disproportionate amount of share in (former employer) is down -3%. Not huge declines obviously, but the closer I get … Continue reading Slow Market Start In Final Year
A strange thing happened to me at church on Sunday morning. The service had just ended, and my wife was chatting with another woman about getting together for dinner next weekend. While I was waiting, one of our pastors came over and asked me how I was doing. I figured he was just making small talk – but he said that he had really been … Continue reading Divine Guidance?
One of the things I’ve started to do is to meet with people I know who retired early themselves. Many of them are old coworkers or folks that I have met along life’s journey and it is good to tap into their wisdom and to catch up with some old friends. I will post a bit about these meetings I’ve had. Today I met up … Continue reading Early Retirement – Getting Advice One Cup At A Time
I started this blog in January and have been counting down the time to my expected early retirement on April 1, 2016. With February now complete, I have just 13 months more to go. I am capturing my thoughts and creating a countdown checklist each month, so that others can follow along and perhaps learn from my approach. I am sure like a lot of … Continue reading FIRE Escape – Early Retirement 13 Month Countdown
I’m a little less than 14 months from my expected early retirement date on April 1, 2016. It’s far enough away that I’m not ready to start talking about my plans at work, especially with my boss. A lot can change in 14 months and I want to keep my options open for as long as I can. That made today especially difficult. My boss … Continue reading Early Retirement – Not Ready To Talk Yet
I’m not sure when my wife and I started using the expression. I imagine we were shopping at the mall and trying to decide whether or not to splurge on something that might or not prove useful. It started pretty innocently I’m sure, but quickly became a trusted decision rule that has saved us thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars over the years. … Continue reading Four Simple Words That Saved Us $$$ Thousands
I’ve always had this interesting thought about highly paid athletes that are financially independent and retire early from their careers: why don’t they work “one more year” and donate all of the money they earn their last season to charity? Wouldn’t that be a magnanimous gesture? Wouldn’t every fan and city they visited be excited by what the are doing? Obviously some athletes’ careers end … Continue reading Work “One More Year” – As A Gift To Charity?
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