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...]
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...]
Post-Retirement Career and Activity Thoughts
On my post titled 7 Steps to Millions More: Continue Learning and Developing Skills, one reader left the following comment: This could maybe even be its own post but how do you feel you apply this concept into your life now that you are retired? For instance: 1. Do you still try to learn and grow in your career field perhaps because you are still interested and just enjoy … [Read more...]
Explaining Early Retirement to Strangers
Last fall I shared responses I received from people when I told them about my early retirement. These were family members and friends -- people I know well (of course.) They know me and our family and while they may have been surprised, it wasn't a total shock given what they know about us. But there's an entirely different dynamic when you explain early retirement to … [Read more...]
My Current Money Management and Investment Plans
It's been some time since I shared my asset allocation. In fact, my last update was just after I retired. Now that I've been retired some time and am getting used to it, I'm looking at my assets with new purposes in mind. Given this plus the fact that one of my 2017 financial resolutions is to review my investments, I thought I could kill two birds with one post. … [Read more...]
Monday is the Best Day in Retirement
To most of the world, the best day of the week is Friday (because the weekend is coming), Saturday (because there's no work), or Sunday (because there's no work). Here and there you might see other days make it into the "best day" discussion, but those three definitely lead the pack. I know they were my favorite days when I was working. You know what never gets … [Read more...]
Retirement Six Month Update
Can you believe it's been SIX MONTHS since I retired? In some ways it seems like yesterday but mostly it seems like eons ago...in a good way. My last retirement update was at 100 days. Here's what I've been doing since then: I'm still busy!!! How did I ever find time to work and do all the stuff I'm doing now? The days pass quickly and there's always more left to … [Read more...]
Big Tax Savings due to Early Retirement
Now that I'm retired, lots of things have changed, of course. One of them I have been expecting is the taxes I will pay. Not only am I earning about one-third of my former income each year, but I'm not doing it from earned income. On the tax-paying side, I won't have a job deducting income taxes for me, so there are implications there as well. To get a head start on … [Read more...]
2016 Net Worth and Retirement Budget Update
Here's an update on how our net worth performed in 2016. For background on my net worth status and results, see 2015 Net Worth Review and The First Million is the Hardest. In addition to the net worth update, I'll detail how our retirement budget has performed so far (five months into retirement) so you will be all caught up. :) 2016 Net Worth Summary Here are my net … [Read more...]
