I’ll leave the “bigger is better” jokes up to you guys. But, if you’ve been around the personal finance blogosphere long enough, you’re bound to hear things like that or “less is more” or some other variations of the phrase. To me that just seemed obvious – sure, if you want to cut your costs, eliminate your cable or drive a used car and **poof** you’ve saved a few bucks. Frugality at its best. However, I’ve learned that spending less […]
Last week, I talked about money throughout my life. I’ve had my ups and downs with it just like most folks. What I didn’t talk about though is my hate for budgeting. I’m probably one of the most organized people with a good old case of OCD you’d love to know. I need structure in order to operate. For me, everything has its place and making a plan is always the smartest way to do something. It’s actually soothing for
For Those Who Hate Budgeting, Try Reverse Budgeting Read More »
Everyone likes a secret, but a secret formula? Even better! Now that we’re only a few months out from me quitting my job, we’re starting to share the news more with friends and family. A lot of them seem to be a little confused, but then we talk about our planned move to Panama and it takes most folks to a level beyond comprehension. Eventually, though, we tend to get past that initial shock. And then the “bold” ones out there
There is a Secret Formula to FI, But It Ain’t No Secret! Read More »
3 years. That’s what this blog post marks… three years of blogging on Route to Retire. For new bloggers, this might sound like a long time. However, I look at some of the others out there who have been doing this for over a decade – like J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly or J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy. It’s then that I realize I’m still somewhat of a rookie in the blogosphere. I’ve consistently posted a minimum of once a
The Three-Year Blog Post… Finance Lessons Learned Read More »
You’ve heard it before – be sure that you track your expenses! But why would you want to do that? And is there an easy way to make it happen? When most of the mainstream media in the financial space talks, they want to push you toward using your income as a gauge on how prepared you are for retirement. You’ll hear various numbers thrown around such as that you’ll need 80% of your pre-retirement income to make it through retirement.
Rule 72(t). The name sounds as boring as 401(k). And it should because it’s from the same place – the Internal Revenue Code. Both are part of the tax law that the IRS gets to govern. Coincidentally, both Rule 72(t) and 401(k) plans are pertinent to this post. I recently wrote a post about our FIRE plans titled The Roth IRA Conversion Ladder Dilemma. I talked about how we plan on using the ladder to access our tax-deferred accounts earlier than
I’ve been a bit moody the past couple of weeks. I’ve been focusing a lot on trying to pinpoint our exact retirement date and I’ve been struggling. The problem all stems from the Roth IRA Conversion Ladder we plan to do. First off, if you’re on the path to FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) and you’re not familiar with how a Roth IRA Conversion Ladder works, this could be important to you. It’s not the end-all-be-all solution, but the ladder is
Here’s the problem with calculating your personal savings rate… you’re doing it wrong! Ok, maybe you’re not, but I sure was! First off, let’s talk about what your personal savings rate is. In essence, it’s a metric to be able to determine what percentage you’re putting away in relation to your income. In other words, it provides a good way to tell at a glance how well you’re saving. Someone might make a ton of money at his or her
You’re Doing It Wrong! Your Personal Savings Rate Read More »
Well, Amazon Prime Day happened. I told my wife to stay away from Amazon for the day and not to get sucked in. I warned her about it. Unfortunately, nobody warned me and somehow I ended up in the vortex and bought a $35 sleeping pad before the day was over. I debated it while it sat in my cart and the 15-minute countdown clock was ticking away. I even deleted it out of my cart and re-added it just
I Just Spent $35 on a Sleeping Pad and Feel Guilty as Shit Read More »
In general, we seem to have a tendency to focus a lot of our time and money on the things that don’t really matter. It’s time to stop it and instead concentrate on what does matter… So far this summer we’ve taken a fantastic trip to Panama and spent a few days at a cottage on Kelleys Island on Lake Erie. We’re starting to pack for a week-long vacation trip to Tennessee we have coming up in the next couple
