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?
Since we are coming up on the end of June – the mid-point of the calendar year – that makes it a good time to look at market performance and see how our portfolio is performing so far in 2018. In short, it has cooled off significantly from last year, although that’s to be expected given the blazing returns posted in 2017 when the S&P … Continue reading Mid-Year Market Musings
It’s been almost a year since I published this POST about shopping for our next SUV and our “7 rules” to maximize our purchase. Just today, I am finally signing the papers on our next set of wheels. After a few stops & starts, I finally got serious about finding our next SUV last month when we had a $2.8K breakdown. I had kept putting … Continue reading Car Shopping – Patience Pays
We went to dinner at a local taco fast food place recently and they had me sign for my credit card on an iPad – the kind that many small businesses use nowadays. Prior to signing however, there was a screen where you could select a tip amount to add to the bill – $0, 10%, 15%, 20%, or more. The counter-service employee pretends to … Continue reading Are We Becoming A Nation Of Beggars?
I met a friend of my wife’s at the garden center this past Monday morning who retired a few years ago after 30+ years at a local MegaCorp. We were talking about the negative fortunes both our former employers have shown in their stock price. Both companies have seen much better days – down 25-40% from their peak a few years ago. He knew a … Continue reading MegaCorp Stock – Trading on the Familiar
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