Kids

Another Reason Why Working for Yourself is a Smart Idea...

Another Reason Why Working for Yourself is a Smart Idea…

27 Comments / Self-Employment, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Kids / By /

We all know that working for yourself has a lot of benefits that you can’t get from working for someone else.  The ability to better control your company’s destiny, the independence and freedom you can gain, and the flexibility in hours are just a few of the possibilities that might be gained. However, I was thinking recently about another major benefit that working for yourself can provide.  But what fun would that be to just share it outright with you? A personal anecdote would …

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An Open Letter to My Daughter

An Open Letter to My Daughter

10 Comments / Kids, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / By /

An Open Letter to My Daughter My father passed away when I was around the age my daughter is now.  That’s made me think over the years that, should something ever happen to me, I’d like to know that I was able to pass on some of what I’ve learned. With that, I decided to write a letter to my daughter with some of my thoughts. I consider this a work in progress.  There’s ultimately too much information to share at …

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Saving for Kids - Thoughts to Consider

Saving for Kids – Thoughts to Consider

10 Comments / Kids, Investments, Saving / By /

When it comes to saving for kids, there are a ton of different options out there.  Should you start a separate account for them somewhere and if so where? Mrs. R2R and I have a 6-year-old daughter and we’re starting to think through this whole problem right now. Here’s what we’ve figured out so far…   First things first Before you do anything for your kids, you need to make sure to get your own finances in order.  If you have …

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What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

17 Comments / Kids, Education, General Thoughts / By /

I recently asked my 6-year old daughter “what do you want to be when you grow up?”  She answered back that said she wants to buy duplexes. That’s my girl! Now, before you start chastising me for trying to force my daughter to be something she doesn’t want to when she grows up, let me explain. When I grow up… When I was young, I had my sights set on being an artist for Disney.  I had a pretty good knack for drawing and that just …

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Is It Possible to Reach Financial Independence with Kids?

Is It Possible to Reach Financial Independence with Kids?

33 Comments / Kids, Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE) / By /

When I set out on this journey toward financial independence, I knew I had some work to do.  I started out with around $30k of credit card debt and didn’t know anything worthwhile on how to make it happen. I even bought into one of those late night real estate scams on how to get rich.  I wasted some of my hard-earned money late in my college years thinking that was the way to go… it wasn’t. Eventually, I got on track.  I read as many books as I …

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Is 50¢ Too Much Money for Garbage?

Is 50¢ Too Much Money for Garbage?

6 Comments / Kids, General Thoughts / By /

50 cents…  two quarters. That’s what we pay our daughter every week to gather the trash from all the bedrooms, put new bags in the cans, and bring all the garbage downstairs to stuff in the bag to go out.  50 cents a week for one of her chores. Ah, chores – a subject of great debate. Now, there are a couple different ways to look at this.  Maybe you’re thinking… “Jim, you can’t pay your daughter to do chores!  Aren’t …

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Savings Account - Saving for Kids - Thoughts to Consider

Showing Kids the Path to Financial Freedom

4 Comments / Kids, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / By /

Most of us could probably say that if we knew then what we know now, we’d be in a much better place financially.  So why is it that kids don’t learn the right things from their elders, generation after generation? I think that part of the answer is that a lot of parents never really had that drive to get out the rat race and just consider the day-to-day work-until-you-die part of the circle of life.  Most of the children of these parents will probably …

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Why the Education System is Broke

Why the Education System is Broke

8 Comments / Education, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Kids / By /

So yesterday one of my friends that I currently work with came into my office to talk business (as well as to chit-chat a little bit).  In the midst of our conversation, he mentioned how his young twin boys are starting to understand the general concept of working. As a side note, he’s the only one at my office who really knows about this site (and he reads it)… so he’s probably going to throw a rock at me for bringing him into a …

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Is Retiring Early Selfish??

4 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Kids / By /

Financial freedom… I think about it more and more every day.  I wish I had put more focus on this in my younger years so I could be even closer to the goal than I am today. Part of my desire to retire early is to have more available time to spend with my daughter.  Unfortunately, with my late start, she’s going to be 15 years old when I finally quit my job.  Although that’s still young, it’s going to be a …

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