Today is the day that our only child leaves for his freshman year of college. It’s a big day that we’ve been looking toward since we brought him home as a newborn baby more than eighteen years ago. It is with deeply mixed feelings that we send him off – happy to see him growing and getting to do amazing things, but also sorry to … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Learning Independence
I’m dying early, it seems. I didn’t realize it, but a recent Oregon State University study claims to show that people that retire early are “11% more likely” to die earlier than those that work past age 65. Perhaps reaching FIRE (financial independence and retiring early) is bad for my health? The 18 year long study (1992-2010) had ~2,500 participants and showed that 12% of … Continue reading Death by FIRE?
When I was in college, my girlfriend and I stopped into the bank one day on our way downtown. I explained to the future Mrs. FireStation that I needed to check my balance. She was puzzled by the fact that I often zipped into the bank every week or two. The bank teller was puzzled too. I had my checkbook in my hand, but didn’t … Continue reading Bank Registers & Budgets – I Don’t Waste My Time
HAPPY FRIDAY! The movie Office Space features the indignation of employees being coerced into working weekends in servitude to their MegaCorp. A recent Washington Post article suggests that about a third of American office workers do some work on weekends. That is the highest among developed countries in the study. When I was working, I certainly put in some weekend hours now and … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Weekend Work
This is the post that I haven’t had much interest in writing, but one that quite a few people have asked about. If you look at early retirement forums and financial planning sites, everyone seems to love to talk about portfolio tracking, asset allocation, and withdrawal rates. More than anything, people are concerned about running out of money in retirement and so they are searching … Continue reading Financial Tracking, Asset Allocation & Withdrawal Rate(s)
I guess we are not retired anymore. Just when my wife and I were adjusting to our new life of leisure, our bliss has suddenly been interrupted by the clarion call of the workplace! No, I’m not working. I have quite a few friends and former colleagues that continue to be suspicious about my FIRE escape – and maintain their POV that I will be … Continue reading Going Back To Work?!
While I keep up with a lot of my former colleagues, I haven’t actually been on the MegaCorp campus and in the buildings since I left on April Fool’s Day. That changed this week as I went to lunch with a friend on Wednesday (thanks, DC!) and had a chance to come into the office as a “VISITOR” and say “Hi!” to my friends during … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Visiting MegaCorp
Before I early retired, I used to tell people that it is a great big interesting world and I am looking forward to soaking up a lot of it. Since I am quite an Olympic fan boy, it has been great to be home during the day and watch the Olympic sports you don’t typically see in prime time. Even though I was traveling a … Continue reading Gold Medal Olympic Watching in Early Retirement
When we first got married, Mrs.FireStation worked at a bank and she would talk about how frustrated customers could be at times. They would come in the bank – often overdrawn and not understanding why – and get all upset when she would try to help them sort things out. As you can imagine, it wasn’t a great environment to work in as people were … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Crazy Money
While we really love the house we live in right now, financially it certainly falls into the category of financial failures. When we designed and built it, we thought we were being really clever, but I don’t think we could get back for it today what we paid for it almost 7 years ago. Here’s the story – one of a series of financial failures … Continue reading Financial Failures On The Way To Early Retirement / House Value
MrFireStation 