Recently a good ‘friend-in-law’ posted this interesting chart on where Americans spend their money. The chart is not just for this year, but for the past 75 years (all numbers adjusted for inflation) using a single data source. Take a look at how amazing this chart (from howmuch.net – a cost information web site. It really causes me to reflect on our lifestyle today. How the way … Continue reading Over 75 Years, Consumer Spending Starts At Home
I have had a couple of friends in the last week try to explain to me how ‘exciting’ their jobs are and how they ‘wouldn’t ever think of retiring’. Their explanations often come with an amazing picture of some far-flung location that they traveled to. Beyond the travel, they work hard to explain how the projects they are leading new breakthrough in their company or … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Passing Time
I find that regardless of your political leanings, people continually frustrated by wasted government spending and what it means for the national debt. The debt, which was a trillion dollars in Reagan’s time, is now about $20T (it has risen at a shocking 8.4% annual clip). Despite today’s quote, Reagan himself substantially overspent during his 8 years in office. Fast forward to today and our … Continue reading US Government’s Wasteful Spending Problem
Many people are familiar with the 2010 Princeton study that reported that there is a diminishing return to the impact of money on one’s happiness that tops out at about $75K a year. People were surprised that the threshold was very in line with the average household income in the USA at $73K. It is often cited as evidence that money doesn’t buy happiness. I … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Love Of Money
I think today’s quote captures most people’s quest toward a life of financial independence and retiring early (FIRE) as well as anyone could. I jotted it down several years ago on a Post-it note and had it stuck to my calendar in my office at work. People solve for their success in life in different ways. For me, it was working for MegaCorp for 27 … Continue reading FIRE Station Fun – Live Free
Friday was my last day at WORK. My last day EVER. Just short of 10,000 days since I first started my professional career (about 6,300 work days). The day had a range of emotions and activities that spanned excitement & ordinary. The highlight was BLASTING out of the MegaCorp parking garage toward freedom! People have been quite interested on what specifically I am going to … Continue reading FIRE Milestone – Final Day: Blasting Into Retirement
Like anything, reaching the goal of early retirement starts with a choice to start seriously planning toward it. In sequence, picking a retirement age to shoot for is the first of one’s MILESTONES toward a life of financial independence and retiring early. This is the starting point at which you start hatching a financial plan and start making decisions to focus on it. For us, … Continue reading FIRE Milestones – Picking An Early Retirement Age
I recently wrote about possible ways to countdown my last year to early retirement. I had gotten a lot of great ideas online and shared them in this post. Since it’s a couple of weeks later, I thought I would share a couple of the approaches I adopted. First, I made 52 tags out of Post-it Flags and hung them up in a colorful way … Continue reading Countdown to Early Retirement – Post-it Flags
The EarlyRetireent.org forum recently had a post called “Early Retirement Inspiring Quotes“. Some of the quotes were really outstanding, so I wanted to post some of them here (along with some other favorites) … “The goal isn’t more money. The goal is living life on your own terms.” Chris Brogan “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t … Continue reading Time To Retire Early? – 12 Quotes That Inspire Action
“You’ll be bored.” More than anything, that’s the response I expect from friends & family that when I retire early next year. The plan is that it will be just a few weeks short of my fiftieth birthday (‘FIRE by 50’). It’s a worry that increasingly dominates my thoughts. Will I think myself a clever genius for making an early exit from the workforce, or … Continue reading Pre-FIRE Escape – “Not Bored” List
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