The colorful and entertaining Callan ‘Periodic Table’ was recently updated with 2018 market results. It tracks the investment returns of key indices over the past two decades. The most recent year – the 20th in the chart – was challenging. As you can see, cash was king and few investments posted positive returns. I have often referred to the chart as “fascinating, but useless” because … Continue reading The Dumbest Investment Chart
This is the third (and longest) in a series of Anniversary posts marking three years since we embarked on our FIRE lifestyle (financially independent & retired early) back in 2016 … In my experience talking with people, the first considerations people have when thinking about early retirement are primarily FINANCIAL. You want to feel good about your nest egg, investments, and spending. Next is your … Continue reading Third FIRE Anniversary (3) – Go Your Own Way
We went from sunny and 68-degrees on Tuesday this week to an 8 inch snowstorm in just 24 hours this week. That’s life in Minnesota. As I was shoveling snow off the front porch this morning, I found a lawn service flyer on the handle of my door. I have always mowed my own lawn – sometimes with help from my wife & son. We … Continue reading Lawn Mowing Savings = 1 Year Of Work!
This is the second April post in a three-part series focused on our third anniversary since reaching FIRE (financial independence & retiring early). Last week’s post focused on the FINANCIAL aspects of early retirement from this Life Wheel, this week I’ll focus on the three SOCIAL dimensions: Family/Friends, Love/Romance, and Giving/Teaching. My goal in this series is to answer the most common question I get … Continue reading Third FIRE Anniversary (2) – Social Life
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
