Recently a good ‘friend-in-law’ posted this interesting chart on where Americans spend their money. The chart is not just for this year, but for the past 75 years (all numbers adjusted for inflation) using a single data source. Take a look at how amazing this chart (from howmuch.net – a cost information web site. It really causes me to reflect on our lifestyle today. How the way … Continue reading Over 75 Years, Consumer Spending Starts At Home
I have had a couple of friends in the last week try to explain to me how ‘exciting’ their jobs are and how they ‘wouldn’t ever think of retiring’. Their explanations often come with an amazing picture of some far-flung location that they traveled to. Beyond the travel, they work hard to explain how the projects they are leading new breakthrough in their company or … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Passing Time
I find that regardless of your political leanings, people continually frustrated by wasted government spending and what it means for the national debt. The debt, which was a trillion dollars in Reagan’s time, is now about $20T (it has risen at a shocking 8.4% annual clip). Despite today’s quote, Reagan himself substantially overspent during his 8 years in office. Fast forward to today and our … Continue reading US Government’s Wasteful Spending Problem
Many people are familiar with the 2010 Princeton study that reported that there is a diminishing return to the impact of money on one’s happiness that tops out at about $75K a year. People were surprised that the threshold was very in line with the average household income in the USA at $73K. It is often cited as evidence that money doesn’t buy happiness. I … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Love Of Money
We just returned from our January trip to Cabo San Lucas Mexico. It is the fourth trip we’ve taken since early retiring last year and we would definitely return to this area. It was a perfect cold weather getaway in an unbusy low season. In this post, I will share the top activities we did in Cabo and some money saving strategies that allowed us … Continue reading FIRE Travel – Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
I had lunch with a good friend this week who is just six weeks from her retirement date. I am very excited for her. She planned on retiring in a few more months, but moved up her date because she has “had enough”. Unfortunately, she is a little concerned about her retirement nest egg – which could probably benefit from the extra few months pay. … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun -Don’t Know, Don’t Buy
I thought our health insurance drama was over this year when we settled on a new plan during open enrollment in November. I wrote about our new plan then, which included a premium jump of more than 30% despite doubling our premium to $13K and dramatically dialing back the doctors and clinics we could go to in-network. As I wrote then, the insurance market in … Continue reading Early Retirement Health Insurance – Open Enrollment (Bonus Chapter)
Yesterday was an exciting day in stock market history as the Dow Jones Industrial Average set another new record, breaking the 20,000 mark for the first time. It certainly has come a long way when you look at this chart that stretches back to the 1970s … I am old enough to remember when it broke 1,000 in November of 1980, as I recall reading … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun- Market Milestone
Regardless of your politics, you can’t help but notice the discussion around minimum wage that has been on the news over the last year. I won’t make this post political, but at the risk of great blogging danger, I wanted to share some information I researched (as part of my Sociology class) that describes who minimum wage workers are. Afterall, many people start their journey … Continue reading Minimum Wage Jobs – Worker Profile
After 9 months, we are definitely having the most ‘chill’ month we’ve had since we early retired last year. I’ve been calling it ‘no responsibility January’ since I’m off work, my son is home from college, and my wife is working very few hours at her part-part-time job. Basically, no one is doing anything responsible! While the rest of the world has gotten squared back … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Chillaxing January
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