Motivation

Striving to Let Go and Be a Better Person

Striving to Let Go and Be a Better Person

14 Comments / Motivation, General Thoughts, Life in Early Retirement / /

Well, tomorrow is the big day… we’re finally flying out and moving to Panama!  And with that, I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about change and my plans to be a better person. That’s right – who woulda thunk I could be any more of a better person than I already am?!  Well, guess what – even people like little old me have a little breathing room to improve on in our lives!   Striving to […]

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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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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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FIRE Gives You the Freedom to Fail Miserably

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

Who creates a headline to talk about the “freedom” to fail miserably?  That’s depressing! This guy does – that’s who! Most of you likely read this blog for one of two reasons – you’re striving to reach financial independence or you’re already there. And the reasons you aim for that goal will vary… maybe you want to quit your job because you can’t stand your career anymore.  Or maybe you just want financial security to give you more choices in

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The Path Is Simple, but It’s Not Necessarily Easy

The Path Is Simple, but It’s Not Necessarily Easy

22 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / /

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately… dangerous, right?  Hindsight has me realizing that if you’re hoping to reach financial independence, the path is simple, but it’s not necessarily an easy journey to get there. As I’m typing this, I’m down to four working days until I’m done working at a career I’ve been at for 19½ years – a job I started right after my 24th birthday. At the time, I had just bailed out of retail management. 

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No One's Asked - Here's Why You Should...

No One’s Asked – Here’s Why You Should…

26 Comments / Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), General Thoughts, Motivation / /

No one’s asked.  Not a one.  Not one single person in my entire office. I’m now just days out from my retirement – December 31, 2018, is my last day of work.  I gave my notice in early summer and we kept it low-key in the office for a little bit while we worked out the game plan. However, I officially made the announcement to my engineers in a meeting on August 13.  And as many of you know, the

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You Get What You Get, So Don't Throw a Fit

You Get What You Get, So Don’t Throw a Fit

16 Comments / Travel and Vacation, Financial Independence / Retire Early (FIRE), Motivation / /

You get what you get, so don’t throw a fit. This might be a little bit of an off-topic post, but since cruises are my favorite vacation and that’s the banner on my site, I’m hoping you’ll hang with me on it.  Plus, the point is actually more than the cruise itself – it’s about enjoying life and aiming for more. I started this post while on a cruise ship.  We’ve been on a number of cruises with lines like

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Only You Can Change Your Circumstances

Only You Can Change Your Circumstances

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

Some guys have all the luck.  Things just seem to work out for some people and not for others.  Such is life.  After all, you can’t change your circumstances… can you? Hmm, that’s a question worth digging into – can you change your circumstances in life? I’ve always had this weird fascination about how cool it would be to take someone from the past (like from the 1700’s or 1800’s) and bring them to the present. Yeah, I’m a weirdo –

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Working Toward FIRE is Not About Sacrifice

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

Recently, I was taking a walk with a coworker (something I do on a regular basis now).  While we were walking, we were talking about my plans to retire at the end of the year.  He then said something I thought was interesting… “You guys deserve it – you’ve sacrificed a lot to get where you are.”  Sacrifice? Obviously, his intent was good (he’s a great guy!), but it’s a bit shortsighted.  And unfortunately, it’s a common mindset that many

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