I have been thinking about the ever-blurring line between Needs and Wants and how that plays into Financial Independence. What wants should we sacrifice, which ones are non-negotiable, can we afford to mix in a little luxury, why do we own 4 car seats for 1 child For a long time, I felt we had struck […]
Financial Independence
Your Employer Carries the Bigger Stick
I have written about my disdain for the power/control dynamic between employer and employee before but I was recently reminded (Twice, unfortunately) just how jacked up this relationship can be. Employers speak softly until the bottom line is threatened, then it’s time for the bigger stick. It doesn’t seem to matter if… You are a […]
3,000 Bus Rides
A common question that kept coming up at FinCon is “Why am I pursuing the FIRE lifestyle.” Great question, tough answer. There is the easy answer of “I don’t want to go to work anymore” but that doesn’t quite do my thoughts on the matter justice. I have a Hate/Love/Hate relationship with work Hate letting someone […]
5 Things We Won’t Give Up To Retire Early
Today we have a guest post from Ember who blogs at An Intentional Lifestyle. Ember is an extreme optimist who writes about finding joy and enjoying the journey each day. She, along with her husband and 3 kids, work towards FI on a single income, dishing out frugal and financial tips along the way. With a dose […]
FIRE Meets Water: Sharing our Early Retirement Plans
I have been known to drop the line “We aren’t going to work forever” around my family and friends, but they definitely don’t take that as we are going to exit full-time work in the next 25 years. They think we are on a pretty typical path right now – the infamous Earn More to […]
Remember this when the inevitable happens
3 times in the last few weeks I felt like a podcast was speaking directly to me. I don’t remember the quotes exactly, but it was along the lines of “A lot of these Millennials preaching index fund investing and “long-term” investing have only invested in a bull market, we will see what they are […]
How long will it take us to reach Financial Independence
In my previous post, First Shot at our FI Number, we looked at how much money Mrs. AE and I will need to declare Financial Independence. In this post, we are going to look at how long it could take us. Queue anxiety now. I have mentioned this before, but we are not passionate about […]