There is a noticeable gap from this post to the previous one. That gap can only be explained by what I call the REI vacuum (REI = real estate investing). As I wrote here, I discovered REI in the summer of 2019. One of the folks at Chautauqua gave me a primer, along with blogs, websites and resources to research. One thing led to another and all of a sudden I got … [Read more...] about The REI Vacuum
Ready for 2020!
2019 was a year of traveling, learning and taking action! It was a year where I took big steps toward achieving real independence. Not just financial independence, but the whole package. In thinking about a "2019 year in review post", I figured I would focus on the slightly crooked path I took to get to this point. I'm hoping that this will be more inspiring if not … [Read more...] about Ready for 2020!
Four Types of Debt and How to Use Them (…or not!)
In my principles post I stated my stance on debt. This stance hasn’t changed but I thought I’d expand on it further. I also weave in some of (…actually a lot of) Ray Dalio’s ideas on debt. I think he articulates debt better than anyone else in the media. In short, I think debt is an advanced finance tool. It’s not for 18-year olds … [Read more...] about Four Types of Debt and How to Use Them (…or not!)
Saturday Morning Finance
I can’t remember when it happened but was several years ago. Every Saturday morning my wife and I make a big breakfast. Scrambled eggs, sausage, homemade bread or blueberry pancakes, and lots of coffee. We’ll eat this big breakfast and then sit on the couch and drink coffee. At some point, I began to break out my laptop and start updating our financial … [Read more...] about Saturday Morning Finance
Popular Financial Advice, with an FI Perspective
Save 10 percent of your pay Spend no more than 25 or 28 percent of your take home pay on housing Spend no more than 10 percent of your take home pay for a car lease, or 15 percent for a car loan These are some readily available tid bits of advice if you’re doing some Google research. I’d even go so far to say that they are ‘industry standard’. It’s as though … [Read more...] about Popular Financial Advice, with an FI Perspective