In September 2018 I sat in the audience of FinCon, the financial media conference, and watched an interview with Pete from Mr. Money Moustache. He's a very interesting character, quite down-to-earth and prone to saying things so full of common sense that you have to laugh because no one has said them before. Towards the end the audience was invited to approach a … [Read more...]
Why the Rich are Getting Richer
Shortly after I wrote How the Rich Get Richer I started reading Why the Rich Are Getting Richer by Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad. The author says the following about both books: If Rich Dad Poor Dad was elementary school, this book (Why the Rich Are Getting Richer) is graduate school. That sounded good to me. I'm always up for a higher-level money … [Read more...]
Living Like Old Money
I'm not sure where I saw it, but someone I follow online mentioned that they were reading The Old Money Book and recommended it to others. Always on the lookout for a good money book, I went to my library's website to see if they had it. Nope. I then hopped on Amazon to check it out. I liked the fact that it had two (not just one) subtitles. They are: "How to … [Read more...]
How the Rich Get Richer
You've probably heard the phrase "the rich get richer". There's (surprisingly) even a Wikipedia page on it with background and details. Here are some of the highlights: "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer" is an aphorism due to Percy Bysshe Shelley. In A Defence of Poetry (1821, not published until 1840) Shelley remarked that the promoters of utility had … [Read more...]
The Difference 1% Makes
Over the years I've received many comments from people saying how insignificant some of my tips are. They say that people need to focus their financial efforts on big-ticket items (like homes, cars, etc.) and the rest can be virtually ignored. As with most things, I think there's a balance. Of course you should pay attention to the big expenses in life. But you should … [Read more...]
The ESI (Earn, Save, and Invest) Manifesto
It still happens on a regular basis -- even after three years of retirement. I meet someone new, they ask what I do for a living, I say I'm retired, and they look at me like I just stepped off a ship from Mars. I can see in their faces that their minds are trying to compute what they just heard. They are seeing a guy (who looks like he's forty -- or so I've been told) who … [Read more...]
The Crossover Point: The Original Measure of Financial Independence
Back in 1992 I 1) was married for less than a year, 2) had just started to grow my career, and 3) knew virtually nothing about managing money. The terms "FIRE", "financial independence", and "financial freedom" were nowhere to be found, at least compared to how they are today. And they idea of financial independence/retiring early was certainly not as widespread. In fact, … [Read more...]
Three Ways to Play Good Financial Offense and Defense
As most of you know, one of my favorite personal finance books is The Millionaire Next Door. In fact, it's one of only five money books I think people need to read. The Millionaire Next Door was the first money book I took to heart and applied to my life. It's one of the main reasons I was able to achieve financial independence and retire at 52. One of the book's … [Read more...]
Top 10 Money Mistakes I Made on the Way to FIRE
Now that we've detailed the money mistakes millionaires make, I thought it was time to share another round of my money mistakes. I do this from time to time to 1) keep myself humble, 2) interrupt what can seem like a never-ending list of "I'm so great" posts, and 3) demonstrate that you don't have to be perfect to achieve financial independence (FI). It's the last of … [Read more...]
Multiple Streams of Income: Helping You Get to Financial Independence and Beyond
You've probably heard the phrase "multiple streams of income". I'm not sure if he started it or not, but I first heard the term in a book written by author Robert Allen many years ago. The idea of multiple streams of income is that you earn money from a variety of sources. Money is flowing into your life from the left and the right, from up and down, from the north and the … [Read more...]
