Yes, I’m a chess nerd.
But in the worst sort of way. I love chess but am terrible at it. At least compared to most people who consider it a hobby. That’s because I usually only play blitz chess, a quick version where the time allowed to move is severely limited. The long version just takes too much time for me. Which makes me not a great player as I’m not a deep, strategic thinker (at least when I play chess).
That said, I still love it. And because I’m retired, I get the chance to think about it and play frequently.
I’m also thinking about money frequently (you have to as a financial blogger). Combine the two and we get yet ANOTHER post on how chess and personal finances are similar. (My first one was Playing Financial Chess in case you missed it).
Three Phases of Chess
For those of you who don’t know, there are three phases to every chess game. Here’s a good summary of them:
- The Opening — The opening consists of the first moves of the game. There are three main aims in the opening: 1) Develop pieces, 2) Control the center, and 3) Shelter the King (usually by castling)
- The Middlegame — The middlegame occurs in between the opening and the endgame. This is a time when players begin to coordinate pieces and attack their opponent’s fortifications. The middlegame is usually considered to begin once the pieces have been developed, and the Kings castled.
- The Endgame — The endgame occurs when there are few pieces left on the board. The exact line between the middlegame and endgame is blurred. However, there are two main themes that usually distinguish this phase: 1) Promotion of a pawn and 2) Bringing the King into the action.
I know. You are salivating at this newly found knowledge that you probably care very little about. But stick with me. 🙂
Three Phases of Wealth
As I was considering the above it struck me that there are three phases of wealth as well. I’d list them as:
- The Opening — This stage is early in a person’s working career. They are focused on their job, trying to buy a house, paying down debt (usually from college), and so forth. They are using their income to become established financially and there’s not much left over after the basics are covered. Unfortunately many people have a broad view of the “basics” and thus spend much of their lives in this phase. IMO, you should be in it for five years at the most.
- The Middlegame — Over time, a person gets a handle on his expenses/debts (hopefully) and his income starts to climb. He begins seeing a bit left over and works on growing his gap. He saves and invests more and more each year, growing his net worth over decades until he has created significant wealth for himself. This is the bulk of a person’s lifetime — perhaps 40 years or more in length.
- The Endgame — Once a person has accumulated enough wealth and wants to retire, his challenge is to transfer this wealth into income, at least in part. He will need to spend part of his wealth as well as income that wealth generates in order to provide for himself in retirement. Or, if he has done well at saving/investing his wealth might produce enough for him to live without him ever having to spend any principal.
See! Money and chess do mirror each other! 😉
My Three Phases
The three phases of my financial life have happened this way:
- I started out with an MBA which gave me a huge headstart. From there I worked to grow my career while keeping expenses relatively low (it helped that I lived in low cost of living cities).
- Doing the above gave me a large gap between income and expenses. I was able to pay off all my debt, including my mortgage and start investing in a big way. I maxed out my 401k and saved a ton in taxable accounts to boot, putting all my money in index funds. Eventually I invested in real estate as I started to eye phase 3.
- I’m just beginning this phase, beginning with retiring not that long ago. As for the rest of the steps in this phase, that’s what this blog is about! I’ll be sharing all the issues, decisions, etc. along the way.
How about you? What phase are you in and what are you doing there to get to the next phase?
Phase two for me but I’m still very focused on my career. I don’t have any desire to buy a house at this time even though I have the means to do so. I’d rather invest that capital into real estate since I’m not fully settled in a particular location yet. I’ve doubled my income over the last ~5 years, am targeting a 50% after-tax savings rate, and wrapping up a major career milestone for me early next year (I wanted to work and live abroad). I think the combination of these three put me in the Middlegame. I had been working really hard towards working abroad and I haven’t figured out what’s next for me when I return to the US. I want to double my income again in a similar amount of time (ideally sooner!!) but I’m not sure how to do that at my current company or if it’s possible. It might be time to start considering what other opportunities are available. I think I’d benefit greatly from having a mentor to help me find a way to get to the next level.
I’m a fan of chess but never have really gotten into the strategy much. I usually only play when I get together with my brothers and we tend to be competitive. Good times!
I like the way you’ve broken three phases of wealth down similarly. I’m probably right in the middle of the middlegame. I still have a few more years of work before I’m fully in the income generation mode for my retirement accounts.
Played chess in college and was married to a chess “nerd”. Good analogy.
I like the analogy! Early middle game here. The financial side of things is on track for the past 8 years, but I changed careers and now have one job that has two distinct areas. So essentially I’ve started over re: career. And I actually make more than 10% less than I was making before I started all this! But I’m a lot happier. I’m trying to decide which one to pursue heavier, as I’m starting to see the distinct career paths develop and it is hard to have time to do both! I think one would grow my income more than the other, but it is so similar to my old technical career that I’m not sure I am eager to get on that train.
I agree with the three phases. Personally we probably spent more time in the 1 phase but that is life. I would say we are in hyper savings mode in saving as much as we can seeing that the third phase will be here before we know it.
Like the chess analogy. I think about moves that are years from now. Like replacing a car, house maintenance, vacations. From this point how do I get there.
I’m unfortunately still probably in that opening phase. Finished crushing my own student loan debt earlier this year and am aggressively saving. Will be easier for sure once my fiance has completed her residency and we crush her student loans, then really aggressively save!