Early Retirement Archives - Page 2 of 17

Being a FIRE Millionaire Doesn’t Mean You’re Rich

There’s an interesting mentality that I notice creeps up periodically. It’s the idea that some people think that being a millionaire makes you filthy rich with plenty of money to throw around. Folks who aren’t as entrenched in the personal finance world tend to think that if you’re a millionaire, you actually have $1 million ready to spend. In other words, if you’ve hit that mark, you must be sitting on bushels of cash just ready to be spent. This is probably a common way of thinking if you don’t fully understand how early retirement works. I know I thought the same thing before we continued to grow our finances. However, that’s really not true, particularly with those who are

Finding Balance in Early Retirement with Kids

Finding balance in life is tough. Between your regular job, chores, time with spouses or people you’re dating, and going out to play with friends and family, time is limited. The fact is that we all only have 24 hours per day… 168 hours each week. Then you throw a kid into the mix… ha! Good luck! It’s like a turbulent hurricane of confusion every day. And the frenzied mess doesn’t scale well either. With each additional child you have, it gets even more chaotic. So finding balance between everything in life is tough enough, but with kids, you’re almost out of luck until you quit your job or your kids grow up. At least, that’s what I thought. I

FIRE Gives You the Freedom to Fail Miserably

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 life. Perhaps you want to cut your hours back so you can spend more time with your kids. Whatever your reason, financial independence is obviously a good answer to get the ball rolling. However, there’s another benefit financial freedom can

What Did We Just Do?!! Thoughts from a New Retiree

So, I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out what I wanted to talk about for my first post as a new retiree. I have all these things on my mind, but I’ve been struggling to figure out just the right topic. And that’s when it hit me… why not just talk about some of the random thoughts that have been floating around my head this week? Maybe some of what’s going on in this noggin of mine could be helpful for the next guy or gal planning an early retirement. One of those thoughts is that even though you may already know it, the transition from working a 9-5 full-time job to not working is impactful in your

What I’ve Learned Throughout My Final Year of Work

Well, that does it… I’m officially FIRE (financially independent / retired early). 12/31/18 was my last day of “working for the man” hopefully for the rest of my life. Whoa. Hang on – I just need a second to process that. Damn, that feels good to think about! Woo-hoo!!!! Ok, thanks for that – I really needed to get it out of my system. The idea is still a little surreal and will probably take a while to make it feel like more than a normal vacation. Let’s get back to why we’re here today though. I thought it would be interesting to talk about what I’ve learned throughout my last year of work. Some of the things that transpired

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

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. I was an assistant store manager at Walmart. I didn’t hate retail, but I didn’t love it either. It’s a job where you’re needed most at all the worst times – evenings, weekends, and holidays. It was also a job