Early Retirement Archives - Page 2 of 18

Striving to Be (Somewhat) Lazy in Early Retirement

“Lazy” is a word I sometimes struggle with. I like to be doing something productive or I feel guilty. That productivity might have been something most of us are familiar with like mowing the lawn or staining the deck. It also might be something smaller like organizing and sharing photos with friends and family on Google Photos.* Regardless of what it is, I have a hard time sitting still and doing nothing. I can’t seem to just say, “You know what – I’m going to take a break and just watch a movie right now.” The exception to this guilt is when we have something scheduled in our plans like a night out or a vacation. When I’m taking time

6 Months of Early Retirement… We’re Now Homeless

I left my management job in IT at the end of 2018 at the age of 43. The goal was to reach early retirement with my family so we could live a life of freedom and adventure… and now we’re homeless. This might sound unexpected, but here’s the thing – that was exactly the plan. Being homeless is something we’ve been working toward for a long time now. For those of you familiar with our path, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. But for my new readers, you might be a cringing a little bit. No need to fear though, we’re not homeless in the sense of sleeping on the streets. We’ve just decided to spend about a month and

Guest Appearance on the ChooseFI Podcast

I’ve been wanting to be a part of the ChooseFI podcast shortly after it began. Jonathan and Brad launched the show at the end of 2016 and quickly took the FIRE community by storm! It’s a fantastic podcast helping to discuss the path to financial independence. They bring on various guests to examine different aspects and strategies of reaching FI. What’s really great though is that they also focus quite a bit on enjoying the journey along the way. I fell trap to missing that important piece for a little while during our route to retirement. The discussion tends to be very insightful and honest. Brad and Jonathan are open and talk not just about the positives but also the

Why Not Keep Working and Saving? Are You Stupid?

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 our plans because it gets the conversation going about financial independence. Personally, I don’t feel like everyone needs to retire early from their jobs. If you enjoy what you do, more power to you. But I do feel that financial

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

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. So, like any old man, I almost feel obligated to pass along some of the knowledge I wish I knew back then to help him out. And yeah, 43’s not that old, but I’m not getting any younger! Do you

FOMO is the Cancer of FIRE

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 of Missing Out. The idea is just like it sounds – if there’s some type of event or get-together going on and you don’t attend (by choice or not), you feel some sort of social anxiety. Maybe a few weeks