Our taxes are complete and in the mail as of yesterday! I am so thankful because even though we use an accountant, getting our taxes done feels like a part-time job for the months of February and March. Related: Income Taxes Not A DIY Project This was the first year we got a good look at what our post-working tax rate might look like. Because … Continue reading More Favorable Retirement Tax Rate Revealed
Three years ago this very day, I blasted out of MegaCorp and into the sunshine of early retirement. I had the Beatles’ Revolution on the car stereo and I’m sure many colleagues thought it was more an April Fool’s Day prank than one of the most epic decisions of my life. That night, as a family we toasted the future with a bottle of Dom … Continue reading Third FIRE Anniversary (1) – April Fool’s Day
I ran across this list of Life Lessons on Pinterest recently and thought I would share it as this Friday morning’s post. When I see a common sense list of advice like this, I’m always struck by how reading through them gets me better focused on the long-term and less focused on the small stuff. While only a few of them directly speak directly to … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Life Lessons
I’ll begin by warning you that this is one of those investing topics, I will claim to have very little understanding of. I thought I might learn a little bit about it through the process of writing this piece. Perhaps you will learn a little too. The yield of bond rates has become inverted recently for the first time in since 2007. This means that … Continue reading Inverted Bond Yield – Harbinger of Recession?
Reaching financial independence & retiring early (FIRE) leads to all kinds of interesting reactions from people I meet. Some want to learn how you did it, others are puzzled over how it could be done, but most are just happy for you. Yesterday someone said simply, “I want to live your life!” Related: Funniest Reactions to FIRE Related: Odd Comments & Snappy Remarks Not all … Continue reading Another Odd Reaction To FIRE
We built our house 10 years ago this year. We broke ground in March 2009 and moved in on Halloween Day. Construction followed about a year of planning – including finding the right lot and selecting a builder. Building a house is no small project. You pay a definite premium for getting things ‘just the way you want’ and have to make thousands of decisions. … Continue reading Building The Perfect Nest
There is very little I can add to this remarkable story but it made me smile … According to the New York Post, Art Mason, who lives here in the Twin Cities, is retiring from his job working the McDonald’s Drive-Thru at age 89. He started working there 30 years ago after being retired just 3 months from the factory job that he worked at … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Man Retires From McDonald’s at Age 88
Having just turned our income tax paperwork over to our accountant, I thought it might be good time to put in a plug for Health Savings Accounts – my favorite, tax-advantaged place to invest money right now. You might be puzzled by the thought that a Health Savings Account is a great ‘investment’ vehicle, but that’s really how you might start thinking about them. If … Continue reading Investing In Health Savings Accounts
Some friends I play softball with in the summer got together for our ‘Winter Meeting’ the other night. We don’t talk too much softball, but enjoy a few beers and catch up on what’s happened in our lives since last August when we played our last game. This year, we started chatting about getting our income taxes pulled together. Some guys had already filed their … Continue reading Taxes – Too Complicated for DIY
The media and politicians love to plant the seeds of discord between generations. Younger generations are alternately presented as either victims of the current power structure, and/or helplessly unprepared or unwilling to live in the “real world “. I have found that nothing is further from the truth. Younger generations tend to be smarter, more diligent, and better prepared for the futures than the generations … Continue reading Millennials May Prove To Be The Best Generation With Their Finances
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