Summary: Some say that hitting your first million in net worth is harder than hitting subsequent million-dollar milestones. This post examines whether or not this is true. Ever hear the quote "the first million is the hardest" (meaning the first $1 million in net worth is the hardest to achieve)? Is it true? And if so, why? Today we'll discuss this topic and uncover … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2016
My Jobs, Second Job a Winner
I've now shared details on four of my jobs and what I've learned through each of them. If you'd like to re-read any, they are as follows: My Jobs, Pre-College My Jobs, College My Jobs, Graduate School My Jobs, Introduction to the Real World Today we'll continue this series by giving details on the second job I held after graduation. The second job I held … [Read more...]
Retirement Math
Summary: Retirement math is pretty simple. Get the formula right by using the ESI scale to hit financial independence. As I discussed in My Retirement Budget, Income Allocation, and How I Plan to Diversify, there's a basic retirement formula. We'll get into specifics in a minute, but first let's revisit what I've said. Here are the main parts of my … [Read more...]
My Properties Have Appreciated Over a Quarter of a Million Dollars (Over 45%)
A few weeks ago my property manager emailed me to ask if I'd be interested in selling any of my properties. I told him I wasn't but I would be interested in their estimated value. I had heard the market was "hot" for rental units and I assumed mine had gone up in value, but I wanted a better estimate than they had "gone up." He said he'd have his real estate department … [Read more...]
My Retirement Budget, Income Allocation, and How I Plan to Diversify
Today I wanted to give you some insight into the financial process I went through to decide I had enough to retire. We'll review the budget I set up (both income and expenses) and I'll give commentary on where I stand now and some steps I'm planning. We will cover them from a pretty high level (no one wants to go through a line-by-line budget) but give enough information … [Read more...]
Responses to My Retirement
As you might imagine, my retirement caught most people by surprise. I think it's because of a combination of three things: My age (only 52). Most people do not retire this young. My career. Most people who know me see me as a hard-charging executive. How could I stop working? My looks. Believe me, I look nothing like a "rich guy who could retire at 52." I look … [Read more...]
Debt Costs a Fortune
We've all heard the stories of people who have gotten out of debt and how wonderful it is. Dave Ramsey has made the "freeeeeedommmmmm" yell standard for his listeners who have eliminated all their debt. And yet the debate rages -- is it wise to pay off all your debt or not? There are arguments on both sides. This post is designed to address one aspect of the debt issue -- … [Read more...]
What Makes ESI Money Different
As many of you know, you can subscribe to ESI Money by either using an RSS feed or being emailed a post summary each time I post. To do either you can visit my "subscribe" page. When someone subscribes to the email list, I get a note saying I have a new subscriber. Likewise, when someone unsubscribes I also get a notice. In addition, sometimes the unsubscriber leaves a … [Read more...]
How to Cut the Cost of Retirement in Half
How much do you need to retire? Even if you don't have an exact number in mind, just think of an amount you guess would be close. Maybe $1 million or so? Or a bit more or a bit less depending on other sources of income you may have? Whatever your number is, now take half of it. What if this was the amount you really needed to retire? Makes those golden years of rest and … [Read more...]
Update on My Fitness Efforts
It's been a few months since I wrote Physical Fitness and Financial Fitness. In the meantime I posted again on the link between health and wealth (see Being Healthy Can Grow Your Net Worth) and there are additional posts coming on this subject. Before we get to those I thought I'd give you an update on how my fitness plan is going. I'll assume you've read the first post … [Read more...]
