Best of the Web 8/15/2022
Before diving into the selections, I want to take a moment to thank all of the readers who left such thoughtful and respectful comments the past two weeks. I normally try to respond to every comment on the blog.
The number and depth of the comments these past couple of weeks has simply been overwhelming. So I want to acknowledge you all for taking the time to read and share your stories, experiences, and wisdom. I’m fortunate to have you as readers.
I start the selections with wisdom from a few of my favorite financial writers. We’ll examine how we spend our money and our time after our financial needs have been met, and consider if financial independence can be lost.
I close with a few audio gems to listen to as you squeeze in those end of summer road trips. Enjoy!
Selections From a Few of My Favorites
We’ll open with a piece about wealth from Morgan Housel that is both timely and timeless, Wealth vs. Getting Wealthier.
Christine Benz says There’s More to Investing Than Just Risk and Return.
I’ve read Jonathan Clements work for years, but never knew much about the man behind the words. He gets personal, sharing the highs and lows of his personal and financial journey in Now and Then. It’s fascinating, and makes me respect him even more than I already had. Kudos!
How Are You Spending Your Money?
Spending money in retirement is a challenge for many of us.
Maddie Burton writes What Do You Spend Money On? Lessons From Our Clients About Spending That Brings True Joy. She offers great suggestions to help you spend more intentionally.
Fritz Gilbert examines How Real People Manage Their Money In Retirement. One of the key findings is that many people often underspend in retirement.
Being afraid to spend down assets in retirement is a common challenge. That doesn’t mean we should just spend wildly either. Mike Piper reminds us of The Third Reason To Use a Conservative Spending Rate in Retirement.
And How About Your Time?
Many people get caught in the all or none dichotomy of financial independence and especially retirement.
The Money Flamingo uses a fantastic analogy to explain why this way of thinking is The FIRE Community’s Greatest Flaw.
Jillian Johnsrud suggests using your financial independence as an opportunity to reconsider The Roads Not Taken.
Audio Gems
Wade Pfau is one of, if not the, preeminent retirement researcher. However, as an academic, his writing is often dense and difficult to digest. Christine Benz and Jeff Ptak did a fantastic job having him explain a number of important retirement issues in a concise and applicable way when they interviewed Pfau on Morningstar Longview Podcast.
Rick Ferri interviewed Rob Berger on the Bogleheads on Investing Podcast. Readers who found this blog via Darrow’s popular calculator reviews will likely enjoy hearing Berger’s breakdown of the best calculators and financial tools available today. But, the portion of the interview I found most interesting was listening to two thriving and productive guys acknowledge early signs of slowing down with age and discuss how they plan to manage their finances into old age.
* * *
Valuable Resources
- The Best Retirement Calculators can help you perform detailed retirement simulations including modeling withdrawal strategies, federal and state income taxes, healthcare expenses, and more. Can I Retire Yet? partners with two of the best.
- Boldin (formerly New Retirement): Web Based High Fidelity Modeling Tool
- Pralana Gold: Microsoft Excel Based High Fidelity Modeling Tool
- Free Travel or Cash Back with credit card rewards and sign up bonuses.
- Monitor Your Investment Portfolio
- Sign up for a free Empower account to gain access to track your asset allocation, investment performance, individual account balances, net worth, cash flow, and investment expenses.
- Our Books
- Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence
- Can I Retire Yet: How To Make the Biggest Financial Decision of the Rest of Your Life
- Retiring Sooner: How to Accelerate Your Financial Independence
* * *
[Chris Mamula used principles of traditional retirement planning, combined with creative lifestyle design, to retire from a career as a physical therapist at age 41. After poor experiences with the financial industry early in his professional life, he educated himself on investing and tax planning. After achieving financial independence, Chris began writing about wealth building, DIY investing, financial planning, early retirement, and lifestyle design at Can I Retire Yet? He is also the primary author of the book Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence. Chris also does financial planning with individuals and couples at Abundo Wealth, a low-cost, advice-only financial planning firm with the mission of making quality financial advice available to populations for whom it was previously inaccessible. Chris has been featured on MarketWatch, Morningstar, U.S. News & World Report, and Business Insider. He has spoken at events including the Bogleheads and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants annual conferences. Blog inquiries can be sent to chris@caniretireyet.com. Financial planning inquiries can be sent to chris@abundowealth.com]
* * *
Disclosure: Can I Retire Yet? has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Can I Retire Yet? and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Other links on this site, like the Amazon, NewRetirement, Pralana, and Personal Capital links are also affiliate links. As an affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click on one of these links and buy from the affiliated company, then we receive some compensation. The income helps to keep this blog going. Affiliate links do not increase your cost, and we only use them for products or services that we're familiar with and that we feel may deliver value to you. By contrast, we have limited control over most of the display ads on this site. Though we do attempt to block objectionable content. Buyer beware.