The economy is performing about as well as one could hope at this point in time, but you wouldn’t know it to watch political ads on TV. Despite quarterly GDP growth reaching 4%, the S&P 500 up +30% over the last two years, the unemployment rate at 3.9%, and consumer confidence approaching all-time highs – every political ad is full of gloom & doom. Despite … Continue reading Mid-Term Elections – Plan For More Inflation?
Are you saving enough? It’s the most basic of questions. Yet, I’m always so disappointed when I see an article showing how low the US savings rate is. A recent study by Fidelity showed that the average American is saving about 8.5% of their after-tax income – including the value of any employer matches. Even though 8.5% savings is far less than is typically suggested … Continue reading Savings Rates & Reaching FIRE
Someone posted an interesting question on Early-Retirement.org recently that caught my attention. Just a few months from reaching FIRE (financial independence & retiring early), a person asked the collective wisdom of the ‘Life After FIRE’ forum if their early retirement was what they had planned on, or something different. The post generated a lot of response with over eight pages of people sharing their experience. … Continue reading Should You Expect the Unexpected?
A couple months ago, I did a 45 minute phone interview with a reporter writing for Kiplinger’s on health insurance for early retirees. She said that she had read our FIRE story on this blog and in particular a post called “Health Insurance – The Biggest Worry For Early Retirees” caught her attention. She appreciated that we had included the dollars & cents in the … Continue reading Bam! My Interview with Kiplinger’s
BankRate.com recently published the results of a survey where they asked people about what the “ideal age” was for certain personal finance milestones. I thought it was interesting to look at the results and compare to our experience (and our son’s) in reaching FIRE (financial independence & retiring early). Here are some of the milestones: FIRST CREDIT CARD – My son is 21 right now … Continue reading Personal Finance Milestones – What’s Ideal?
What MegaCorp Perks will you miss when you stop working and which ones will you seek to replace on your own dime? The forum early-retirement.org had a thread recently where people were listing some of the corporate perks and benefits they used to enjoy. They were fun to read through, running that gamut from typical perks like airline miles, sports tickets, fitness club memberships, and … Continue reading Irreplaceable MegaPerks from MegaCorp?
We recently returned from our big overseas trip of the year and I was amazed by the growing scale of ‘Duty Free Shopping’ in the Tel Aviv airport we returned from. In the enormous, circular airport concourse – big enough to hold a World Cup football game, it would seem – there were some of the biggest ‘Duty Free’ stores I had ever seen. They … Continue reading Duty Free Shopping Deals?
We had the pleasure to go to the Paul Simon concert last month when his tour came through our city. We like to go to concerts and have gone out to a lot more since we stopped working two years ago. It’s amazing how many acts are touring now a days. Like many musicians of his era, this tour was themed as Simon’s “Farewell Tour”. … Continue reading Still Working After All These Years?
You would think the last thing an early retiree might need is time saving technology. After all, if I don’t have the time to get things done, who would? That said, I’ve recently fallen in love with the convenience of restaurant ordering apps. I’ve always had one for ordering pizza, but in the last week, I’ve added four more to my phone: Five Guys, Chipotle, … Continue reading Speedy Service or Expensive Convenience?
How far should you go to save $1,000? How about almost twice that amount? For us, the answer is at least 2,130 miles, or 30.5 hours of driving. That’s how far my son and I are currently going to pick up the SUV that I bought. We live in Minnesota, and yesterday we drove through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and into Asheville, North Carolina. … Continue reading How Far Would You Go To Save $1,000?
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