The 4% Rule is Not for Everyone, Use this Calculator Instead
The first time I heard about “safe withdrawal,” I thought it was a family planning method. I was like, “I’m an expert!” Well, it turns out it’s for a different kind of planning— your retirement. Specifically, it answers the question, “How much can I safely withdraw from my retirement accounts?” …
Being in a “Position of F— You” Gave Me the Power to Say No
What is the best thing about being financially independent? It puts you in a “Position of Fuck You.” Once you have enough money, you don’t need a boss— nobody can tell you what to do. Or, if you wish to remain employed, nobody can tell you where to do your …
Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk, Be Thankful For What You Have
Do you often wonder what your life would be if it spun the other direction? What if those failures suddenly become successes? If you think that you’d automatically become the highly successful person you’ve always aspired for, you’re absolutely mistaken.
Net Worth Update: Five Years Later
If you’re one of the smart ones who follow my blog, you’re probably aware I share our household net worth, for the past four or five years, on Labor Day. This tradition has symbolic importance. Never mind if you have a desk job sitting comfortably in front of a computer. …
The Benefits and Perils of DIYing a Basketball Court
If you happen to have a spacious backyard and want to utilize the space to maintain an active lifestyle for you and your, otherwise Xbox-obsessed kid to enjoy, one option is to build a pool. But the maintenance cost has the potential to suck your discretionary income dry. The last …
What Turning 50 Means to Your Finances
If you’re wondering why you haven’t seen a new post in weeks, it’s because I was extremely busy. For starters, I’ve built a mini-basketball court in my backyard, moving 20 tons of gravel using a wheelbarrow in the process. My employer also demanded that we start working in the office, …
Calculating Warren Buffett’s Rate of Return (and what you can learn from it)
In a 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting, Warren Buffett stated that if someone invested $10,000 in a stock index fund back in 1942, it would have been worth $51 million. An index fund is a type of mutual fund designed to match the performance of the overall market. For …
Top Careers That Could Make You a Millionaire (and tips on how to maximize ROI)
Here’s a list of top careers where you could sock away a million by the time you retire— many of them don’t even require advanced degrees!
The True Cost of Luxury (or why the Joneses suck)
My wife and I had a small money argument the other day. I opened a newly delivered Amazon box in my name, and it turned out to be a hiking bag she bought and already owns. We’ve been spending many of our weekends and holidays in the Appalachians lately. “Didn’t …
Impact Investing: the Economy is Moving Away From Profit and Toward Purpose
In life, there are two main ways you can achieve financial freedom: you could get rich at all costs and not care about anything else, which could also put you in trouble and make enemies along the way, or you could become a conscious investor with a purpose. The first …