I recently made the decision to retire early. My wife did not. She continues to work the same number of hours at her same job. Our path enables me to be free of a job I was burnt out on, improves family dynamics, and allows us to live with financial abundance. No decision is without …
Deciding to Retire With High Market Valuations And Low Interest Rates
April 16, 2018 By 30 Comments
A combination of high stock valuations and low interest rates creates a challenge for investors contemplating where to deploy their capital. This environment is especially scary for those approaching retirement, worried about retiring at the wrong time. Many contemplate working one more year. Despite recent market volatility, stock valuations sit near all time highs. Higher …
Leaving a Prestigious High-Paying Career in Your Early 40’s
April 9, 2018 By
The following is a guest contribution from blogging friend Physician on FIRE, an anesthesiologist transitioning to early retirement. Physician on FIRE focuses on issues facing high earners looking to retire early. His writing combines technical investing and tax planning insights with an emphasis on living purposefully and giving back. I invited him to share his …
Debugging Your Retirement Calculations
March 5, 2018 By
“When a thing is done and past, even fools are wise at last!” —Homer Hindsight is 20/20. The further you go in life, the easier it is to look back and understand the results of your earlier decisions. Nowhere is this more true than in personal finance. Relatively small changes in your work, your purchases, …
What If You Can’t Retire Yet?
February 12, 2018 By
Can I Retire Yet? It is pretty safe to assume that if you are reading this blog you have an interest in answering that question. There are common themes that cause people to start asking. Many of us feel the tension of never having enough time for the things we want to do while working. …
Launching 2 New Retirement Calculators: Behind the Scenes
February 8, 2018 By
If you’re an Android user, please take a minute to download our new Free retirement calculator from the Google Play Store. This simple, easy app gives you a quick snapshot of your retirement situation. You’ll get answers in minutes. Or, if you’d like a full-blown financial planner in the palm of our hand, try out …
The Fundamental Problem With Retirement Planning
January 22, 2018 By
I recently read “The Personal MBA” by Josh Kaufman. The book describes universal principles that can be applied to any business. As a student of personal finance and retirement planning, I saw many parallels between business principles described in the book and principles of managing my own personal finances. I kept thinking of JD Roth’s …
Hello, I’m Not Mr. Money Mustache
January 8, 2018 By
I recently had the opportunity to sit down to dinner with a group of writers who focus on real estate investing and entrepreneurship. At dinner, I shared that I wrote about early retirement planning. I revealed that, at the time, I was a few weeks away from my own early retirement at the age of 41. After …
How to Hedge Your Retirement Plan
December 4, 2017 By
The following is a guest contribution from blogging friend Stephen Chen, the founder and CEO of NewRetirement, an online retirement planning service focused on helping people prepare for and make the most of their resources in retirement. Steve’s experience spans financial services, education, investing and retirement planning across firms that include Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, …
A Flexible Plan For Health Insurance In Early Retirement
October 16, 2017 By
Health care costs present a major planning challenge for a pending retiree. The earlier one would like to retire, the more daunting the challenge of bridging the gap to Medicare eligibility. America has the most expensive health care system in the world. Costs continue to increase far faster than the overall inflation rate. Retirees buying …
Conquer 3 Critical Early Retirement Challenges by Redefining ‘Retirement’
September 12, 2017 By
For the first decade of my adult life I was saving diligently while coasting through life with vague ideas that someday I could retire early. As my wife and I reached our mid 30’s, we paid off our home and saw our investment balances building. We realized early retirement may actually be a possibility. I …
Getting a Mortgage When You Have Assets But No Income
August 28, 2017 By
Most early retirees have no pension, annuity, or Social Security income. Even if you’re a traditional retiree, you might have only one of those income streams. But what if your lifestyle plans require a home purchase? Even if you have the savings to afford a house, you might not necessarily be able to liquidate enough …
A Strong Marriage in Retirement
March 19, 2017 By
A stable marriage is the bedrock of personal and financial success for many of us. Having recently celebrated my 30th anniversary, maybe I’m entitled to talk just a little bit about what works, and what doesn’t. Though, I know there is no “formula” for human relationships. Each is unique. And each relationship requires effort every …
Retirement Calculator News, and a Mystery Solved…
February 14, 2017 By
It was a blustery winter day, just about a year ago, when I stayed indoors all afternoon to work at my desk. The snowflakes stacked on the railing outside as I broke ground on new software, something I hadn’t done in years. It would be a modeling framework that I could use to research and …
The Downside of Retirement
November 7, 2016 By
Early retirement has been good, in general. I reached my goal of financial independence after years of frugality and hard work. It’s fun being here and writing about the details. But, while I’d like to say I’m so much happier now, in reality, I’m probably not…. Don’t get me wrong: I have a great life. …
Getting Organized for Financial Independence
September 12, 2016 By
You can get to financial independence well enough even if you’re disorganized. As long as you’re also smart and creative. But, you’ll reach financial freedom much faster by being organized about your intentions. Sloppiness with your money is no advantage on the journey to wealth. In my last post I discussed the basic financial tools …
Tools for Financial Independence
August 22, 2016 By
The path to financial freedom involves accumulating and managing assets. You need to have more resources coming into your life than going out. And you need to grow those resources. To accomplish that, it helps to have tools and a system. You’ll reach financial independence faster if you’re organized for the journey. The downfall of …
Is Your Retirement Calculator Designed for Accuracy?
June 12, 2016 By
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled “New Study Questions Retirement Planning Calculators’ Accuracy.” It reported on an academic study of 36 retirement planning tools. The research concluded that “in most cases, the available offerings are extremely misleading.” This wasn’t news to me. My first article on the inaccuracies in retirement …
One Retirement Number You Can’t Afford to Get Wrong
May 3, 2016 By
I’ve long promoted using free retirement calculators, easily available on the web, to get a better handle on your retirement trajectory. These tools give you a sense for how much you need to save to retire, providing much-needed perspective and motivation. I’ve also advocated for ignoring the hideously complex U.S. tax code whenever possible in …
Dealing with Uncertainty in Retirement Calculations
March 20, 2016 By
Remember the game of Telephone? Players whisper a secret message down the line from one to the next. When the message reaches the end of the line, it’s repeated aloud to the group. And, without fail, it’s been mangled beyond recognition! Retirement planning can be like that. Seemingly small differences in input can compound into …
Retirement Health Care: What Are Your Options?
February 22, 2016 By
For years, health insurance in the U.S. was a major roadblock to early retirement. If you dared to leave work before age 65, when Medicare starts, you were on your own for retirement health care. In my case, our assets were closing in on financial independence as I reached my mid-40’s. But pre-existing conditions precluded …
