Route to Retire ...the path to financial independence

Property Management Companies – Why I’m Firing Mine

Ah, property management companies – the answer to anyone wanting to get into real estate without the headaches, right? The thought makes sense. Rental properties are a great way to help diversify your investment portfolio and earn a solid cash flow. The only problem… managing the properties. Now, some folks like the idea of running the operation and handling any repairs themselves. The good news is that they tend to make more money on their properties every month since they’re doing all the work. However, not all of us want to do this. The other side of the coin has the masses that just want the investment for the returns it can provide. These folks want someone else to handle

The 10 Commandments for Kids and Money

When it comes to kids and money, we all want to ensure that they’ve got the greatest chance to succeed in life. We can push our kids to be smart and learn in school. We can teach them to be good to other kids and to share. We can help them to understand that they should respect others. We can show them good manners and how to be polite. But what about the money side of the formula? Isn’t that important? I spend a lot of my time staring at Quicken and Personal Capital trying to plan for financial independence and early retirement. I feel very blessed that we’re in a solid position to make this happen. However, another part

You’re Doing It Wrong! Your Personal Savings Rate

Here’s the problem with calculating your personal savings rate… you’re doing it wrong! Ok, maybe you’re not, but I sure was! First off, let’s talk about what your personal savings rate is. In essence, it’s a metric to be able to determine what percentage you’re putting away in relation to your income. In other words, it provides a good way to tell at a glance how well you’re saving. Someone might make a ton of money at his or her job, but if that person’s spending it all, it’s really all for nothing in the long run. However, someone else might not be bringing home a large salary, but if she’s stashing away a good percentage of it, she’s going

The 10 Best Financial Podcasts

The 10 Best Financial Podcasts??? Aren’t podcasts for nerds? Who in the heck would listen to people droning on and on for an hour talk show?! A couple years ago, that’s what I was thinking. Then about a year ago, I canceled my Sirius XM radio subscription and learned something… local radio sucks. Maybe that’s not the case for all areas, but where I live in Ohio, it’s horrendous. So I was stuck. Fine, I decided, I’ll give these “podcasts” a try. And guess what – I’m glad I did. Now that’s all I listen to during my commute to and from work every day. But I don’t just listen to any podcasts – I listen, almost exclusively to personal

Business Opportunities are Everywhere!

When I was younger, I used to think that a lot of the business opportunities out there weren’t for me. Maybe they weren’t worth the effort or they would take too much money to start. As I’ve gotten older (and a little smarter), I’ve realized that’s not the case. It’s simply a matter of just opening your eyes and then plucking out those opportunities. A number of years ago, I started playing FreeCell on my phone when I get a few minutes of time here and there. Since most games take me under 5 minutes, it’s a perfect filler for me. I found an awesome solitaire suite years ago and have carried my stats with me from phone to phone.

If Tomorrow Never Comes…

I’ve been thinking a lot about tomorrow lately and any regrets I would have if that day never arrived. There was a touchy-feely show on back in the 80’s called Highway to Heaven. I was only a kid back then, but I used to watch it all the time and I loved it. I’ll wait while you laugh at me. Yeah, well, it gets worse. I was pretty excited to see that it showed up on Netflix at some point so now I’ve been watching the series all over again. Um, yeah, I have problems. For some reason, I decided to look up Michael Landon and find out some of his background. If you aren’t familiar with him, he, unfortunately,

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