Here’s our latest interview with a millionaire as we seek to learn from those who have grown their wealth to high heights. You're going to love this one for several reasons, but mainly because 1) this interviewee has become wealthy on a low/average income and 2) he's actually implemented the "buy one house a year for 20 years" investment idea. My questions are in bold … [Read more...]
Archives for May 2017
Stop Making Money Excuses
Well, it's been awhile since I've had a good rant here, so let's fire one up today. ;) I've been blogging on one site or another for over 12 years now. It doesn't take nearly that long -- in fact it takes about two minutes -- to realize that people like to make excuses about why they aren't wealthy. No matter how simple the topic or suggestion might be, there's someone … [Read more...]
Skills that Can Grow Your Career and Earnings
After writing about how to grow your career earnings by learning to speak in public. I began thinking: what are the other skills that people can acquire that will grow their careers and help them earn more? After all, if public speaking increases your income potential by 50%, why not add a few others with pay bumps here and there? Sounds like a recipe for high earnings, … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Generate Retirement Income
In How to Retire on $1 Million or Less we discussed the 4% rule and whether or not it is a worthwhile guide for withdrawing assets in retirement. I also noted that people who have other sources of retirement income don't need to rely on drawing down assets as much as those who don't. What are those potential sources? I'm glad you asked! :) In this post I'll detail ten … [Read more...]
What Makes Someone a Financial Expert?
As you know, I'm a big fan of pointing out people who claim to be financial experts but aren't really. But doing that several times got me to thinking: Just what is an expert? What defines one? How would I know an expert when I saw one? So I thought I'd do a little research and put down some thoughts. Then you can add your two cents and we'll chat about it. With all the … [Read more...]
Examples of How to Get Rich on a Small Income
In my post titled You Can Become Wealthy with a Lower Income, one reader commented: I agree with your original commenter, and would personally like to see more stories of people who make AVERAGE incomes because they love teaching elementary school, or working as a substance abuse counselor, or massage therapist or whatever. There are millions out there to whom even a $50k or … [Read more...]
Millionaire Interview 9
Here’s our latest 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 specifics. My questions are in bold italics and his responses follow in black. Let's get started... How old are you (and spouse if applicable, plus how long … [Read more...]
We Spent 17% of Our Income
The other day I was listening to a podcast where the person being interviewed was talking about living on 25% of her family's income. The implication was they saved 75% of what they made. But I don't think that's the entire story. She said her percentages were based on "take home pay". Immediately I started doing the numbers in my head -- what did that really mean? I … [Read more...]
Key to Early Retirement: Margin of Safety
One of the things I worry about for extreme early financial independence retirees is that they play the numbers too close. In other words, I think some would be in trouble if something unexpected and costly pops up. And as we know, we should expect the unexpected when it comes to money emergencies. For example, let's say a 30-year-old has $1 million saved. Using the 4% … [Read more...]
How to Retire on $1 Million or Less
Summary: This post tells how to retire on one million dollars or less at age 35 or lower. I've noted from time to time that I read a ton of money blogs. One popular sub-group is the FIRE bloggers. In case you don't know, FIRE is an acronym for "Financial Independence Retire Early". These blogs focus on reaching financial independence and retiring at a very young age -- … [Read more...]