Investments

Can VUSXX Replace Our Savings Account? I’m Putting It to the Test

Can VUSXX Replace Our Savings Account? I’m Putting It to the Test

15 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Saving, Taxes and Financial Planning / /

When I first moved our savings to an online bank (Ally Bank) back in 2013, I was blown away by how much interest we got on our first statement. It was unfathomable to me at the time. It just didn’t make sense that there really wasn’t much difference moving to an online bank and it actually paid so much more. We’ve been with Ally Bank since then, and I’ve been very happy with everything from their website to their customer […]

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Protecting Your Investment Accounts: 4 Critical Steps I've Taken

Protecting Your Investment Accounts: 4 Critical Steps I’ve Taken

6 Comments / Investments, Consumer Protection, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

When you first start putting money into the stock market, your investment accounts may not seem to be that valuable. But over time, those accounts may very well be the lifeblood of your entire financial life. That’s the case for us nowadays. We’ve been fortunate enough to build up a solid net worth over the years that now funds our early retirement. That’s all well and good, but that makes it a little scarier that if one of those investment

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The Huge Blind Spot in Empower's Asset Allocation

The Huge Blind Spot in Empower’s Asset Allocation

10 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / /

I love using the Empower dashboard to manage our investment portfolio. Not only is it worth its weight in gold, but the price of $0 is something worthwhile, too! They’re hoping you decide to use their investment services, but it’s not a requirement. I don’t use their services, but I have heard good things about them. So, if you want an easy way to aggregate all your financial life into one dashboard with amazing retirement and investment tools, sign up

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Leveraging AI Made Filing My Taxes Surprisingly Less Stressful

Leveraging AI Made Filing My Taxes Surprisingly Less Stressful

8 Comments / Taxes and Financial Planning, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments / /

I’ve got mixed feelings about the power of AI (artificial intelligence). Privacy can start blurring quickly and the bad guys will continue leveraging AI to be exponentially worse than before. But… AI is helping to do some amazing things. The one area that keeps me fascinated is the world of medicine. AI is helping to detect cancer better, provide better risk prevention, and improve surgical outcomes. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about cures for diseases that seemed like they

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An Exciting Net Worth Milestone and Some Other Ramblings

An Exciting Net Worth Milestone and Some Other Ramblings

14 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Blogging, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Investments, Road Trip, Travel and Vacation / /

It’s been a few weeks since my last post. I think I’m starting to get into a nice cadence that I’m enjoying a little more. I still really love writing for Route to Retire, but after 10 years, I decided earlier this year that it was time for a lighter rhythm. It didn’t make sense to keep holding myself to some self-imposed, arbitrary schedule, especially with all the other fun things I’ve been keeping myself busy with lately. So although

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The Surprising FAFSA/SAI and Roth IRA Conflict that Almost Sabotaged Our Financial Aid Plan

The Surprising FAFSA/SAI and Roth IRA Conflict that Almost Sabotaged Our Financial Aid Plan

24 Comments / Taxes and Financial Planning, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Kids / /

Updated: 08/27/25 We’re closing in on the end of my 7th year of early retirement. I was fortunate enough to run my last day on the hamster wheel on December 31, 2018. At the time, I had a plan and was confident it would work (though there’s always that tiny bit of self-doubt!). Fortunately, it’s worked better than we could have expected, thanks in part to retiring at a time when the stock market has continued to climb with only

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The Funny Thing About Sequence of Returns Risk…

The Funny Thing About Sequence of Returns Risk…

21 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Spending, Taxes and Financial Planning / /

If someone decides to retire and live off of their investment portfolio, an important detail called the sequence of returns risk can be one of the most critical components to comprehend. You might have an understanding or at least a notion of the 4% rule that helps give you some direction in retirement planning. The idea is that you likely can take out 4% from a given portfolio every year and never run out of money. There are several caveats

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Why a Part-Time Job Might Be the Next Chapter in My Early Retirement

Why a Part-Time Job Might Be the Next Chapter in My Early Retirement

42 Comments / Life in Early Retirement, Blogging, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments, Motivation, Self-Employment, Taxes and Financial Planning / /

Life is interesting. And that’s a good thing. How boring would it be if every day on this planet was the same? For about a decade now, we’ve made some choices that have swung our days into some crazy adventures. There’s no doubt this took us out of the realm of monotony. Between retiring at the age of 43 at the end of 2018 and then moving to Panama for a few years starting in 2019, we got a lot

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Roth IRA Withdrawals for Early Retirees: Tracking What's Accessible Now

Roth IRA Withdrawals for Early Retirees: Tracking What’s Accessible Now

8 Comments / Taxes and Financial Planning, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Investments / /

I retired at the age of 43 at the end of 2018 so I could spend more time with my family and choose how I want to spend each day. It’s been amazing so far and I’m looking forward to the years to come. Strangely, you need this thing called “money” to be able to pay for your expenses in life. They getcha coming and they getcha going, don’t they?! 😉 Fortunately, we were prepared for that and socked away

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Investment Risk: Rebalance Your Way to Peace of Mind

Investment Risk: Rebalance Your Way to Peace of Mind

12 Comments / Investments, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Taxes and Financial Planning / /

Another day, another dollar… hopefully. Aside from some small hiccups along the way, the stock market has continued its way upward since 2009 after the 2007-2008 financial crisis. As an early retiree, I’m happy to see that happen as our portfolio easily continues to outpace our spending. When I retired at the end of 2018, our net worth was not quite $1.1 million. Currently, we’re floating at a little over $1.75 million even while it pays our living expenses No

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