This past summer I spent some time with Grant Sabatier, the founder of Millennial Money.I must say, I was impressed, something that's not easy to do with me.We chatted about his book that was to come out in February and he gave me a copy.I read it over the next several days and then had to sit on it for a few months until it released -- which is now … [Read more...]
Self-Reflection: A Critical Step Before Really Pursuing Financial Independence
You all know what a fan I am of the book The Millionaire Next Door and the impact it's had on my life (for further info on it see my review and my list of the only five money books anyone needs to read.)You also know that I loved the update to the book, The Next Millionaire Next Door (see my review for details).I've run an excerpt from the latter book (see The … [Read more...]
Suze Orman Can Kiss My Assets
Ok, so the title is a bit over-the-top. :)But "Suze Orman is Not a FIRE Expert" just didn't have the same ring to it. Ha!Anyway, today's post is about a clueless financial "expert", the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) community, some good points about planning for retirement, and an admission of a mistake (for which I give a TON of credit.)But before we … [Read more...]
10 Crucial Qualities You Need to Reach Financial Independence
Sometimes when bloggers want to guest post at ESI Money they send me suggested topics.In other cases, I give them some ideas I've been wanting to cover and just haven't had the time. If they think they can write a post on one of my suggestions then we go with that one.Today's topic is one I've been wanting to cover for a while now, but just haven't gotten around to it … [Read more...]
The One Thing FI Can’t Give You is the Only Thing You Really Want
The following is a guest post from Half Life Theory, a site focused on building wealth through personal development.I wanted to run this article because it brings up some interesting points about striving for financial independence and its relation to happiness, two things that are closely related IMO.I don't agree with all the conclusions below and I think for some … [Read more...]
How I Lost Millions by Retiring Early
I've been thinking about this issue for some time now. And since I had fun digging into my financial independence numbers I thought I'd do a few more math gymnastics to see how much I had "lost" by retiring early.I had considered this idea a while ago, but what prompted me to finally write about it was a conversation with my mom.She and my dad have been working on … [Read more...]
ESI Scale Financial Independence Calculator
Well, here we are again -- I have yet another financial calculator to share with you.And this one is the granddaddy of them all!Just so everyone is on the same page, I've recently introduced two new calculators.One deals with the impact growing your career can have on your finances while the other answers the question, "When can I retire?"I love these … [Read more...]
When Can I Retire? When Will I Be Financially Independent? A Retirement Calculator Guide
I get a lot of questions about retirement.This might not come as a surprise to you since I write so much about the topic.Most of the questions are one of these two: 1) When can I retire? (Yes, literally that simple.) and 2) I don't think I have enough to retire. What do you think? (This is really just another form of the question above.)I have penned several posts … [Read more...]
My Financial Independence Numbers
One of the things (maybe the only thing) I dislike about Mr. Money Mustache and the swarm of like-minded individuals he spawned with his philosophy is that he didn't come around 20 years earlier.If he had, I would have been retired much earlier.But in my generation, retiring early was at 60. Now it's somewhere around 40.If I had known that there was a different way … [Read more...]
Maxing Out a 401k and Early Retirement
In my post titled Three Sentences that Lead to Wealth, I made the following comment: The 401k up to the full match is a no-brainer. After that, it depends what you are trying to accomplish and by when. I maxed out all my tax-advantaged accounts and wish I had put a bit of that money into taxable accounts for easier access. One reader responded to that with the following: In … [Read more...]
