We had a frosty beverage with an old friend recently that we had not seen since before I stopped working 4 years ago. He was astounded that I had retired early and asked if we had made any lucrative investments to make it happen. I told him that our investment strategy had been pretty vanilla – simple index funds in our 401ks and after-tax brokerage … Continue reading Keep Savings Simple
We’re about halfway through our Florida Snowbirding experiment and so far it has been wonderful. It is quite a bit different than any other trip that we have taken for a few reasons, but most all of them have been pleasant surprises …. STAYING PUT – Unlike most trips of a week or more, we aren’t packing up and moving at all. We moved into … Continue reading Snowbirding Surprises
Consumer confidence is a big part of the economy’s ongoing performance. If people believe that things are going well, they are more likely to go well. It’s not a perfect correlation, of course, but it is better than the opposite. With that in mind, I was encouraged to see the latest numbers from Gallup on how Americans are feeling right now. They polled people on … Continue reading Americans Feeling Positive About Their Financial Positions
Anyone who has read this blog for a while, knows that I’m pretty tenacious about hitting my fitness ‘step goal’ each month. I hit my goal of averaging 12K steps a day 42 out of 43 months since I early retired in early 2016. Then I had my heart attack on 12/26. I hardly moved for a couple days and missed my mark for December. … Continue reading FIRE Fitness Goals Evolving
Paul Simon lamented “all the crap I learned in high school” and I tend to agree with him. I wasn’t a great student, but most of the coursework wasn’t great either. Much of it was too specialized or abstract to have value to most students. A new North Carolina state requirement is putting a personal finance course into their classrooms. I think this is terrific. … Continue reading Financial Literacy In The Classroom
Today’s the final day of packing for our first-ever retirement snowbird getaway. We leave for Florida tomorrow for our extended escape from the Minnesota deep freeze. Related: 2020 Snowbirding Practice Since we haven’t done a 3+ week trip ever before, packing is a bit different. We need to pack like we are going on vacation for sure, since we will be in Orlando. But, at … Continue reading Snowbird Packing
Since folks know that I write this personal finance blog, people have been interested in the financial side of the sudden surprise of my heart attack. While not all of the numbers are in yet, it looks to be less expensive than I thought. It seems like I often read about people racking up tens of thousands of dollars of medical bills when something serious … Continue reading How Much Did That Heart Attack Cost?
Every four years is a ‘quadrennium’. I’m not sure if there is something special about a four year cycle, but universities, leap years, Olympics, Presidential elections, and many other things are set up on the cycle of a quadrennium. Unlike Picasso, I can’t imagine learning to paint like Raphael in just four years, but I guess a lot can be accomplished. This week is special … Continue reading Four Years Is A ‘Quadrennium’
A survey in a recent online group asked early retirees if they work with a professional financial advisor. I was surprised to see that the great majority (about two-thirds) of folks did not. While I always tell people you need to be knowledgeable enough to be your own primary financial advisor, it’s nice to have a professional financial advisor as a secondary resource. That is, … Continue reading Do You Have A Financial Advisor?
It’s been a few years since I lamented recurring payment schemes that many companies advance now a days. When I first wrote about this, I had five different subscription-based purchases … Link: The Ongoing Drip of Subscription Purchases My goal at the time was to trim some of them back. Who needs so many, anyway? Of course, the road to hell is paved with good … Continue reading Drip Payments Gradually Accelerate
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