WELCOME!

This site is focused on the personal finance needs of anyone who is thinking about retirement or early retirement. Anyone who is interested in financial independence and financial freedom will find value here.

I’m Darrow Kirkpatrick, the founder, and I’m glad you’re here. 

I began serious saving and investing in my mid-30’s, and retired at age 50. I did it the traditional way: hard work, frugality, prudent investing, and patience. I’m an engineer, not a salesperson or a financial advisor. When it comes to personal finance, my top priorities are simplicity, reliability, and safety. Now my mission is to help others become financially independent, as I did, through my writing about personal finance.

I’m Chris Mamula. I documented my path to financial independence at Eat the Financial Elephant for several years before leaving my career as a physical therapist in 2017 at age 41. Shortly after, I became a partner on Can I Retire Yet?. Here, I continue to follow my calling of helping people live their best lives.

I was initially a reader of this website, drawn by Darrow’s attention to details, practical advice, and lack of dogma that dominates the personal finance space. My mission is to continue to spread the life-changing message of financial independence to a broader audience while staying true to the blog’s core principles.

WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?

We each have actually saved, invested, and retired early. The ideas covered here aren’t speculation, future plans, or wishful thinking. They are a firsthand experience.

Understand that we don’t dispense professional investing or retirement advice. This is an educational or entertainment channel. What you get here is our own experiences of the early retirement process, integrated with our reading of new research from some of the true experts. 

We don’t spend time on extreme viewpoints. This blog is for regular people, with busy lives, trying to manage their money, achieve financial independence and retire securely. We won’t waste your time debating financial minutiae, discussing politics, pointing fingers, and speculating about the future. We’d rather stay focused on the present financial reality we are all living in.

The web is wonderful because there are forums for discussion of every imaginable topic, and everybody can have their own space as well. This blog is primarily our personal publishing platform for finance topics that interest us and that we believe are of value to others.

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