Now that we've had time to hash out the meaning of financial independence, I want to get to the topic I originally was going to write about: how to reach financial independence (FI). As you'll see below, there are many paths to FI and ultimately it comes down to working out a basic math formula. Let's review the key parts of the formula one by one. Financial Independence … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2016
Blog Update: ESI Money 1 Year Anniversary and the Business of Blogging
One year ago today I published my first post. What else would it be called other than Welcome to ESI Money? I thought I'd share an update with you on what's happened since and my plans for the future. I'll dive into the business side of blogging as I hope to make this site a decent post-retirement income stream. I thought you'd be interested in seeing if I can do it! … [Read more...]
My Jobs, Promotion, Success, and Failure
We are now six jobs into the series on my job. Here's the list so far: My Jobs, Pre-College My Jobs, College My Jobs, Graduate School My Jobs, Introduction to the Real World My Jobs, Second Job a Winner My Jobs, Working for a Maniac If you recall, in the last post there were two major players (other than me) including: Maniac -- The crazed boss I … [Read more...]
Happy Thanksgiving
Just wanted to wish all ESI Money readers a blessed and happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are enjoying a day full of family, food, fun, and football. I know I am! I'll have a post tomorrow for those of you who aren't heading out to shop with the hordes. I gave that up myself many years ago. I'll just concentrate on relaxing and cruising Amazon. Have an AWESOME … [Read more...]
College to Career Cycle of Success
While I was at my college reunion I ran into an old friend who was a year behind me in school. She's now a business professor at the school and teaches all aspects of business from marketing to accounting (about as far apart as you can get on the business spectrum). During the visit she had me step into one of her classrooms and tell the students a bit about my career. I … [Read more...]
My Worst Money Mistakes
Reading ESI Money you might think I'm a financial genius who has always had everything money-related figured out. That's far from true. I do write mostly about the positive sides of what I've done because 1) much of it has been positive and 2) I think people want to try and emulate what has worked well. That said, there are obviously learnings to be learned from failures, … [Read more...]
What are Your Money Milestones?
I was having lunch with a friend the other day and the subject of my retirement came up (which it always does these days). His response to my retirement was similar to others but he asked me a unique question: "What things happened in your life that allowed you to become wealthy and retire early?" At first I was tempted to list the basics of retiring early/becoming … [Read more...]
How to Ask for a Raise
We've talked a good bit about how valuable your career is and that if you manage it correctly you can make it worth millions more. Sometimes you do everything right and that raise, promotion, or bonus just doesn't come. Employers aren't in the habit of handing out money and offering salary increases when they don't have to. They want to pay the least amount possible to make … [Read more...]
Millionaire Interview 2
Here's our second interview with a millionaire as we seek to learn from those who have grown their wealth to high heights. If you'd like to be considered for an interview, drop me a note and we can chat about what interview works best for you. My questions are in bold italics and their responses follow in black. At the end, I add some comments after the … [Read more...]
The Ten Best Money Moves Anyone Can Make
Summary: Of the many different financial moves anyone could make, these are the ten best. It's been awhile since I shared what I believe to be the ten worst money mistakes anyone can make so I thought it was time to discuss the other side of the coin and list the ten best money moves anyone can make. Of course the two are linked closely together -- if doing something is … [Read more...]
