It’s been fun to have our family & friends out of school and work over the last week, but of course many will be back at the grind next Monday. Not us – since early retiring last April, we’ve been on one long extended weekend. It truly has been a complete lifestyle change! While it’s been well noted that 2016 has been an unusual … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – New Year!
I guess the day after Christmas is as good a time as any day of the year to hit one’s annual fitness goal. Today marks the day that I’ve reached 4,000,000 steps since New Year’s Day. Health and fitness were one of 8 areas I outlined for focus following my retirement on April Fool’s Day. My goal was to reach 12,000 steps a day and … Continue reading Stepping Through The Holidays
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. As Jay Leno once said, for guys it is “The Official Start of the Christmas Shopping Season”. It’s true that quite a few guys (and I’m sure gals too) leave a significant share of their Christmas shopping until the day before Christmas. My brother and I used to make an annual event of going out on Christmas Eve and shopping for … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Christmas Shopping
This is the third book that I am recommending to folks that are interested in a great personal finance book to get someone for the holidays. It’s another book on my bookshelf that I consider to be a classic – and probably the last book I’ll have the chance to write about before Christmas this weekend. Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is Killing Us And How To … Continue reading Holiday Gift Book Recommendation – Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is Killing Us
The next book that I wanted to suggest as part of my holiday gift series for people looking to buy something for someone interested in personal finance or reaching FIRE, is The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. It is definitely one of the top books on my personal finance bookshelf, which probably has more than 30 books on it in all. … Continue reading Holiday Gift Book Recommendation – The Millionaire Next Door
Since it is the holidays and some people are looking for gift ideas, I thought I would write a couple of short recommendations on personal finance books that really helped us on our way to financial independence and retiring early (FIRE). Don’t worry, this isn’t some online scam to have you click through to Amazon and line my pockets. I just wanted to share some … Continue reading Holiday Gift Book Recommendation: Making The Most Of Your Money
We had a neighborhood Christmas party last week and somehow the conversation turned to the color of my hair. At age 50, it is hanging in there pretty well – hardly any gray right now – and has become an interesting microcosm of my early retirement so far. I’ve read that most people’s hair turns gray 10-20% for each five years after they turn 25 … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Turning Back The Gray
How do you decide when you are ready to retire? For some, it is when you reach a certain number of dollars – your ‘F-Off’ number that represents financial independence. For others, it is a specific date, Come hell-or-high water, they are going to walk off the job on the date they’ve always planned – age 55, age 60, or any age they want, regardless … Continue reading FIRE Milestones – Dollar Number or Date?
I wasn’t sure how many ‘parts’ there may be to our health insurance open enrollment this year, but we got it sorted out pretty quickly. While the cost increases are dramatic, the fact that there are actually less options to look at makes the shopping process relatively quick. Not painless, but quick. You’ll remember from our earlier post that our incumbent health insurance provider was … Continue reading Early Retiree Health Insurance – Open Enrollment (Part 2)
With the Presidential election behind us and a new one-party led government in Washington DC, it is likely we will see much more change on economic policies than we seen in almost a decade. I’m excited to see if the new President and Congress take action on some of the four areas outlined in my pre-election post earlier this week. I included this quote from … Continue reading Free To Choose – Economist Milton Friedman
