I saw this picture online and it made me think of how much we have changed as a society. Do you remember when we used to go to the grocery store and people weren’t wearing pajamas? It has been a while hasn’t it? I haven’t gotten that bad with my fashions in early retirement yet, although I am much more casual. In the summer, I … Continue reading Remember When …?
Here, I’ll say it: I would be willing to pay more taxes. Surprised? Well, there’s a catch. I’ll be willing to pay more taxes if it was combined with reduced government SPENDING to help eliminate federal debt. That’s a small ‘catch’ for ordinary Americans balancing their own checkbooks, but a seemingly impossible catch for politicians. I’m honestly amazed at the amount of taxes the Democrats … Continue reading Tax Increases
I have always loved monthly magazines. Cars, homes, travel, or business – there is something about bright, colorful magazines that fits my ADHD mind. Others can read Dostoyevsky, but give me a Road & Track or Condé Nast Travel and I will be happy. Or, the Robb Report. Launched by Robert “Rusty” White 4 decades ago, the Robb Report sells “Luxury Without Compromise”. I discovered … Continue reading How The Other 0.01% Live
Our FIRE friend, PhysiciansOnFire.com, hosts a Facebook group called ‘FatFIRE’. It’s a place for folks living comfortably, financially independent & retired early (or aspiring to be) can discuss different personal finance topics. It’s a remarkable group with over 18K subscribers. A few days ago, someone posted an interesting question: “What % of your assets are in cryptocurrencies?” (Excluding real estate). I’ve had a long-running interest … Continue reading How Much Are People Betting On Cryptos?
I came across this Japanese concept of ‘Ikigai’ when I was watching the Olympics last month from Tokyo. It’s a term to discussing the key dimensions of your ‘reason for being’. This graphic from the Toronto Star is a good look at it, although you will find many others on the internet as well. You can see that Ikigai represents the intersection of 4 overlapping … Continue reading Ikigai in FIRE
I enjoyed watching the Tokyo Summer Olympics 🇯🇵 earlier this month and seeing athletes from countries around the world. With my ‘50 States’ challenge complete, it’s time to focus on my next travel goal: visiting 50 countries. I’ve been to between 32-35 countries already. Why a range? Because it is seemingly difficult to assess what actually constitutes a ‘country’. There is no broadly agreed to … Continue reading Counting Countries – How Many?
I went to buy a Coke at a convenience store this week and the clerk accidentally said “good morning” when it was already pushing 1pm. When she realized her mistake, she happily said, “I guess time is going by fast … which is good for me!” Such is the nature of selling your time to your employer (or your clients). Time going by fast should … Continue reading Don’t Wish Your Time Away
That’s a picture of the pool house in our neighborhood. Our development is a great place for raising kids, although we are out of that business now. Other people our age are starting to move to smaller places. Sometimes we feel like we should downsize too, but I don’t think the benefits play out very well for us in today’s housing market. We’ve looked around. … Continue reading No Benefit To Downsize
Every few months, my wife will have me transfer money into our main ‘household’ checking account. It’s the account that groceries, utilities, and everyday expenses get paid out of, so it’s always running dry. I have a few accounts to pull $$$ from, including our one big money market savings account. Our smaller accounts have gotten so small over our first five years of retirement … Continue reading Sweep Up Loose Accounts
Our puppy, Riley, discovered my pile of slippers recently. He snuck in my closet and found that I had three matching pairs of navy blue, fleece Acorns. The great thing about dogs is that they don’t judge you. They don’t say, “why the hell do you have three identical pairs of slippers?” They don’t see the silliness of such obvious clutter. The slippers aren’t identical, … Continue reading Too Many Slippers? Too Much Clutter?
MrFireStation 