When I was in college, my girlfriend and I stopped into the bank one day on our way downtown. I explained to the future Mrs. FireStation that I needed to check my balance. She was puzzled by the fact that I often zipped into the bank every week or two. The bank teller was puzzled too. I had my checkbook in my hand, but didn’t … Continue reading Bank Registers & Budgets – I Don’t Waste My Time
This is the post that I haven’t had much interest in writing, but one that quite a few people have asked about. If you look at early retirement forums and financial planning sites, everyone seems to love to talk about portfolio tracking, asset allocation, and withdrawal rates. More than anything, people are concerned about running out of money in retirement and so they are searching … Continue reading Financial Tracking, Asset Allocation & Withdrawal Rate(s)
The one thing, as much as anything, that consumes people’s thoughts when they think about early retirement is money. How’s the market doing? How are my savings doing? Will I have enough? Have I estimated well enough? I was no different over the last 25+ years as we saved for early retirement. I have a spreadsheet that goes back to 2002 (14 years!) in which … Continue reading Money Money Money?
The MrMoneyMustache.com forum recently had a poll on how much money people saved before the retired early. People have different definitions of early retirement (for some it’s 40 or 50 or 60). Additionally, the MMM website has a significant focus on ‘frugal living’, so I’m not sure how representative it is overall. Nonetheless, the poll did have over 150 early retirees weighing in … so … Continue reading Poll Results – Savings At The Time Of Early Retirement
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
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 big part of reaching FIRE is having a plan for the lifestyle that you want after retirement. Many people work “one more year” because they fear quitting the workforce and finding out that they don’t have enough financial resources to live happily ever after. Fortunately, the level at which money drives happiness is (relatively) low at about $75,000. The Huffington Post published this graphic … Continue reading Happily Ever After @ $75K Lifestyle
The old Diana Ross song asks “Do you know where you are going to?” and many Americans should be asking themselves the same question when it comes to achieving financial independence. You can’t reach a goal you haven’t adequately envisioned for yourself and reaching FIRE is a very big vision indeed. The best place to start is by understanding what you are spending today. If … Continue reading Do You Know Where You Are Going To?
MrFireStation 