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Before we dive into this month’s best of the web, we need to take care of a little blog business. First, Can I Retire Yet? was featured in several audio formats this past month.

I had the chance to sit down with Todd Tresidder for a rare episode of his Financial Mentor Podcast. I’ve gotten great value from Todd’s work since I got on the path to financial independence. Todd is an incredibly smart and insightful person. I learned things about myself after talking to him for an hour that I hadn’t figured out in 40+ years of life. Check out the interview here.

We also started a relationship to allow some of our content to be shared on the Optimal Living Daily Podcast. Our first feature was Darrow’s Luxury or Essential? Check them out and keep an eye out for future content from us alongside other top bloggers.

Over the next few weeks, my family will be packing up and making a cross country move from western Pennsylvania where my wife and I were raised, went to college, and built our careers. We’ll be moving to the mountains of Utah where we anticipate spending the next phase of life focused on slower living, with more time to be part of our daughter’s life and seek outdoor adventure.

An emphasis on simplicity enabling a lifestyle of adventure is what drew me to this blog. Darrow has stepped away from the blog for the next month as he continues his tradition of spending the summer seeking adventure in the mountains.

I enjoy interacting with readers and apologize for my slow or limited responses to emails and comments on the blog during this busy time. I’ll apologize in advance as I anticipate more of the same until we get settled in to our new routine and Darrow returns.

With that, it’s time to share the best items Darrow and I have found around the internet in the last month to help you save more, invest smarter, and retire sooner.

This month’s selections focus on finding the best strategy for claiming social security and the value of simplicity in finance and life. Selections also explore what really matters when developing a retirement withdrawal plan, determining your investment outcomes, and finding happiness and fulfillment in retirement.

We’ll finish with a selection that provides perspective on wealth, success, and what really matters in life.

Optimizing Social Security

Mike Piper released a New Free, Open-Source Social Security Calculator that we encourage you to try.

Steve Chen interviewed Mary Beth Franklin on Avoiding Big Social Security Claiming Mistakes.

Understanding What Matters

Jim Dahle wrote The Most Important Factor in Retirement Withdrawal Plans.

Barry Ritholtz shared What Helps or Hurts Investment Returns? Here’s a Ranking.

Tanja Hester wrote What Early Retirement Has and Hasn’t “Fixed.”

Simple is Better

JL Collins wrote about a key trait for those following his “Simple Path” for building wealth and investing: Optimism.

Christine Benz is yet another seasoned voice who says when it comes to investing, simpler is better. She wrote Lessons From the Past 25 Years.

Behavioral Finance

One piece of personal finance that matters a lot and is not simple for most investors is managing their own behavior. Morgan Housel masterfully wrote The Psychology of Money.

How to Be Wealthy and Successful

One of my favorite contemporary writers is everyman adventurer Brendan Leonard, whose writing always delivers perspective, motivation, or humor. He delivered all three simultaneously when he had the opportunity to give a commencement talk recently. Check it out here: Dream Big, Work Hard, Be Kind: A Message for 2018.

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