Friday was the 30th Anniversary of the Wall Street’s Black Monday Crash on October 19, 1987. I remember sitting in college that afternoon and my friend telling me he heard on the radio that the Dow Jones had dropped over 500 points that day (508, to be exact). I was incredulous that the market could drop that much in one day (-22.5%) and imagined that … Continue reading Black Monday Anniversary
After two posts this month assessing the tremendous cost of cars, their depreciating value, and ongoing repairs, I thought I would give partial time to acknowledging the incredible fun of cars. After all, while the financials are negative, they do provide many, many intangible benefits that help make life a joy. Similar to cabin/cottage life, world travel, or owning a speedboat, driving a cool car … Continue reading “Every Day This Man Takes A Vacation”
I’m continuing the discussion from my last post on the cost of vehicles by looking at the differences in the total cost of ownership for different models – basic transportation and luxury vehicles – over time. In April, I analyzed the impact of luxury homes on the number of years someone needs to work and reached the conclusion that trading up to a luxury home … Continue reading Financial Analysis: How Many Years Of Work Would A Luxury Vehicle Cost You?
One of the things I enjoyed about working was coming in every morning and looking at the sales & volume numbers of the businesses I worked on. Each day, we would get a Daily Volume Report that showed how many cases of cookies, canned soup, frozen pizzas, or yogurt cups had been ordered by our grocery customers and every Monday morning we would see how … Continue reading Lifestyle Change By The Numbers
It’s now been a full year-and-a-half since I left MegaCorp and early retired. I drive by the corporate campus on the freeway almost daily and always give a quick wave or salute to my former colleagues that are still in the main buildings we used to work together in. Before I announced I was leaving MegaCorp, I wanted to make sure that I was on … Continue reading Have A Great Day, MegaCorp!
More than anything after returning from our vacation last month, everyone wanted to know what it was like to drive on the ‘wrong side’ of the road when we were in Great Britain. All together, we drove almost 20 hours from London to Bath, the Cotswolds to York, from Edinburgh to Inverness. Like many Americans, I had never piloted a right-hand drive car and driven … Continue reading FIRE Travel – Driving On The Wrong Side
At the beginning of the year – when we have our Financial Round-Up Day – I put down my assumptions for what I think the financial markets and economy will return for the year. I try to be conservative in my expectations, but use it to set investing goals and create a spending plan for the year. With autumn now in full bloom, I thought … Continue reading 2017 Market Predictions – Autumn Review
Today we are heading home from our trip to England & Scotland over the last few weeks. It was a terrific trip that took us from the Roman Baths of Bath, to the halls of Downton Abbey’s Highclere Castle, to Old Town York, and into Scotland for a full week – all the way up to Inverness. My wife’s Dad’s family is from Scotland, so … Continue reading FIRE Travel – Edinburgh, Royal Scotland
We are traveling in Scotland this morning, so just a quick post on the personal finance of traveling. Like most people, we charge almost everything we can when we travel. We keep a small amount of cash for small expenses, but otherwise charge away. One of the questions you inevitably get when you are paying for things with a card is “do you want to … Continue reading When In Rome, PAY As The Romans Do
We dropped our son off at college yesterday to start his sophomore year. Naturally, I am reflective this morning about him and his adventures. He really had a productive summer. He worked part-time at a retail store and took three summer classes to get ahead on his Bachelor’s degree. My wife an I were astounded at how responsible he is. We met when we were … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Back To Campus
