Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE)

Flexible Travel Can Yield Huge Benefits

Flexible Travel Can Yield Huge Benefits

16 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Spending / /

One of the facets of early retirement I was looking forward to the most was flexible travel.  I knew that we’d be able to save some money by not having to be so rigid in our plans. I didn’t realize the extent of how beneficial it could be though.  We’ve been retired for less than eight months now and what we’re already experiencing is awesome! Between cheaper flights, hotels, and cruises, the price is definitely right. Then you throw in […]

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Did These Flip-Flops Lead Us to Financial Freedom?

Did These Flip-Flops Lead Us to Financial Freedom?

18 Comments / Spending, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Saving / /

People hear that my flip-flops are now over 12 years old and love to say, “No wonder you were able to retire!”  But are my old shoes the reason we were able to reach financial freedom? You might decisively be thinking that’s silly, but let’s talk about this a little more before you jump to a conclusion. I think we all know that my shoes aren’t going to be the reason we were able to retire early. But, I can

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Retirement Problems: My 2 Biggest Fears Since Retiring

14 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Spending / /

Having retirement problems when you’re early retired can sometimes sound petty.  It’s like winning the lottery and then complaining about the amount you have to pay in taxes. So, don’t get me wrong – I’m having the time of my life since I left my job in 2018.  Gaining freedom and more time are two facets of life that only a small percentage of people can fully realize and I’m loving every minute of it. We’ve been enjoying time together

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How to Get a Million Dollars for Your Nest Egg

How to Get a Million Dollars for Your Nest Egg

14 Comments / Saving, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Motivation, Real Estate / /

By early 2017, we had finally built our net worth up to over a million dollars.  It was a great feeling to reach that milestone, but it didn’t really change things for us – we just continued to follow our plan. When I left my job at the end of 2018, we had a net worth of about $1.1 million and, thanks to the bull market still pushing ahead, it’s roughly $1.2 million right now. I’ve written a few posts

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Why Not Keep Working and Saving? Are You Stupid?

42 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Saving, Spending / /

I’m only 43 years old right now (Ok, fine – I’m pushing 44!).  But this is still prime time to continue on with my career.  If I were to keep working, I could build up an even bigger and more secure nest egg. So why don’t you do that?  Why did you leave your job and retire early?  Are you stupid or just lazy? Haha, talk about cutting to the chase! I actually love when others ask me questions about

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8 Financial Tips I Wish I Knew When I Was in My 20’s

16 Comments / General Thoughts, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Health and Fitness, Investments, Kids, Life in Early Retirement, Motivation, Real Estate, Saving, Self-Employment, Spending / /

My nephew recently started reading this blog and it got me thinking.  What would be valuable information for him as a reader?  What do I wish I knew when I was younger? He’s almost 20 years old and he just started a career in construction probably close to a couple of years ago.  At his age, I know I wasn’t very smart financially.  Don’t get me wrong – I thought I was, but looking back, I made some stupid decisions.

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FOMO is the Cancer of FIRE

FOMO is the Cancer of FIRE

14 Comments / Spending, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement, Motivation / /

Scary title, right?  Using a word like “cancer” is not something to take lightly and saying that FOMO is the cancer of FIRE is something that should make you raise an eyebrow. But here’s the thing… that’s exactly what it is.  And it has the power to destroy your journey to FIRE. Today I’m going to explain why this and how to avoid it. But first, let’s define a couple of words:   FOMO (or FoMO) FOMO stands for Fear

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It Takes More than Money – My Interview on Retire By 40

3 Comments / Guest Posts, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Life in Early Retirement / /

A lot of you already know that Joe from Retire By 40 was my inspiration for heading down the path to FIRE.  He gave me the kick in the pants I needed to realize that early retirement was possible. I took a week off of work when my daughter was born in 2010.  When I had to go back to work after that and couldn’t be with her throughout the days after, it crushed me.  I struggled, but I thought

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Early Retirement = Healthier Lifestyle

15 Comments / Health and Fitness, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

Living a healthier lifestyle is something we all want.  We know we’ll feel better.  We know we’ll likely live longer.  Heck, we’ll probably even look better! And it’s not like reaching a healthier lifestyle is some complex formula that we just can’t understand.  It’s a simple process and we’re all familiar with the gist of what needs to be done: Eat foods that are better for you Get off your butt and exercise more Drink less beer (it hurts just to

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The Importance of Balance - Frugality vs. Overspending

The Importance of Balance – Frugality vs. Overspending

10 Comments / Guest Posts, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Saving, Spending / /

Saving every penny and pushing frugality to its limit or spending every penny to live for today.  How does the Route to Retire family handle their spending? Good news!  After a lot of prodding, I think I might have been able to convince Mrs. R2R to do some occasional guest posting. Hopefully, you’ll see some more of these in the mix.  She told me she’s hoping to write a post on the process she’s gone through in figuring out homeschooling

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