When people ask me what I do to keep busy in early retirement, I almost never mention writing MrFireStation.com. I guess that’s odd, given that I created the site more than three years ago and have now posted over 400 articles. Even though I probably spend about 2 hours a week writing and updating the site, I haven’t ever actually considered myself a ‘writer’. Sometimes … Continue reading Free-Lance Writer In Early Retirement?
Are you saving enough? It’s the most basic of questions. Yet, I’m always so disappointed when I see an article showing how low the US savings rate is. A recent study by Fidelity showed that the average American is saving about 8.5% of their after-tax income – including the value of any employer matches. Even though 8.5% savings is far less than is typically suggested … Continue reading Savings Rates & Reaching FIRE
Before the summer is out, I wanted to share some of the highlights from our trip to Jerusalem & the Holy Land. This (along with our trip to Japan) is the biggest trip we’ve taken since we early retired. We tagged on a fun side trip to ancient Petra in Jordan. In many ways, this was perhaps the most enlightening trip we have ever taken … Continue reading FIRE Travel – Divided Jerusalem and Ancient Petra
Someone posted an interesting question on Early-Retirement.org recently that caught my attention. Just a few months from reaching FIRE (financial independence & retiring early), a person asked the collective wisdom of the ‘Life After FIRE’ forum if their early retirement was what they had planned on, or something different. The post generated a lot of response with over eight pages of people sharing their experience. … Continue reading Should You Expect the Unexpected?
A couple months ago, I did a 45 minute phone interview with a reporter writing for Kiplinger’s on health insurance for early retirees. She said that she had read our FIRE story on this blog and in particular a post called “Health Insurance – The Biggest Worry For Early Retirees” caught her attention. She appreciated that we had included the dollars & cents in the … Continue reading Bam! My Interview with Kiplinger’s
BankRate.com recently published the results of a survey where they asked people about what the “ideal age” was for certain personal finance milestones. I thought it was interesting to look at the results and compare to our experience (and our son’s) in reaching FIRE (financial independence & retiring early). Here are some of the milestones: FIRST CREDIT CARD – My son is 21 right now … Continue reading Personal Finance Milestones – What’s Ideal?
I had a dream last night about going back to work. In this dream the MegaCorp bosses were in a pinch and wanted me and one of my former colleagues to come back and fix the business I used to run. It seemed like fun in the dream, but I don’t know how the dream turned out since I woke up before we got too … Continue reading Quickly Faded Dreams About MegaCorp
What MegaCorp Perks will you miss when you stop working and which ones will you seek to replace on your own dime? The forum early-retirement.org had a thread recently where people were listing some of the corporate perks and benefits they used to enjoy. They were fun to read through, running that gamut from typical perks like airline miles, sports tickets, fitness club memberships, and … Continue reading Irreplaceable MegaPerks from MegaCorp?
Back in March, I shared the concept of early retirement being like a second childhood. Really, a combination of the best of being a kid and an adult at the same time – “Kidulthood”. One aspect of Kidulthood that has been renewed this year might seem a bit silly for a former MegaCorp executive to spend his time on, but my Dad and I have … Continue reading Playing With Toys in Early Retirement
Is your early retirement in the cards? The famous Trinity Study by William Bengen in the 1980s, was the first major analysis to put forth the idea of 4% annual safe withdrawal rate of your nest egg for retirement living expenses. It’s become a popular rule of thumb for people thinking about how much they need to save. I frequently tell people about the 4% … Continue reading Betting On The 4% Rule Alone?
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