I had my first experience living with an electric vehicle last week when my son and I were in Los Angeles to fly on the Goodyear Blimp. It was a Jeep Wrangler 4Xe that we rented through Avis for the same price as a regular rental car. My friend Jeff has been ‘mentoring’ me through the dollars & sense of going electric, but it was … Continue reading The Dollar & Sense of Driving A Hybrid EV
Sometime this afternoon, my old Jeep might meet my new Jeep. I’d like to get that picture if the two of them end up parked next to each other at the same time. Since they are the same color, it really feels like my old Jeep is just morphing into the new one! The switcheroo came about quickly. Soon after selling the my 2-door Jeep … Continue reading Jeep Switcheroo …
As I mentioned last week, I put my Jeep Wrangler up for sale. It was the first time I’ve ever tried to sell a vehicle on the open market. I wasn’t prepared for what happened when my ads went live on Craig’s List and Facebook Marketplace. Nothing, that is. I was prepared for about everything, but not at all prepared for nothing. After more than … Continue reading Quiet Sale
In the world of personal finance and saving for the future, there’s always a new trend that is said to be making waves. The latest one is called “soft saving” – I just heard about it. In “soft saving,” the traditional wisdom of working hard, saving diligently, and retiring early is being challenged by a generation that values experiences and personal growth over accumulating wealth. … Continue reading Soft Saving Approach
Debt is a four-letter word for anyone looking to retire early. In fact, it should be for everyone. Still, despite our relative prosperity, Americans are more in debt than ever. It looks like total consumer debt is 15% higher than it was before the pandemic. All of the stimulus money had only a temporary impact on debt levels … It’s one thing to be sitting … Continue reading Debt Getting Very Expensive
I drove my Jeep home from a 1,700 mile ‘Circle Tour’ of Lake Superior yesterday. I took the little Jeep from Minnesota’s North Shore into Ontario, Canada, across the great locks in Sault St. Marie, west along Michigan’s ‘Yooperland’, and through a small corner of Northern Wisconsin that leads back to Minnesota. It was a charity road rally with 30+ vehicles cruising as a colorful … Continue reading Jeep Off To Market
The media keep telling me that inflation is moderating, yet the 4 bags of groceries we bought at SuperTarget today cost $189. What’s going on with inflation?? I’m not the world’s savviest investor, but I’ve done all right. I’ve always looked to the 10 Year Treasury Yield as a decent indicator of what is expected with inflation over the longer term. As you can see … Continue reading What’s Really Going On With Inflation?
We got to Europe last week and on the first day had a great lunch with another American couple we were paired up with at a garden table. Alex was an accountant from Albuquerque who was often in Europe, with an American client in Germany. Before the bill came, I asked him to remind me what the tipping custom was. He said to simply round … Continue reading The American Tipping Contagion
There’s increasing pressure on raising retirement ages in the world. Many countries are moving in the direction of raising the retirement age used for their national pensions. Other countries are pretending that their national programs are robust & funded appropriately just the way things are, but they math isn’t in their favor. In the USA, Republican candidate, Nikki Haley, is calling for Social Security reforms … Continue reading Where Are We Heading With National Retirement Ages?
One thing I don’t write a lot about in this blog is how I write this blog. I started it back in January 2015, when I was 15 months from executing my FIRE Escape. I began sharing since I didn’t see a lot of detailed, first-hand accounts of people that had reached financial independence & retired early and was craving information like that for myself. … Continue reading Blog Milestone …
