Over the life of this blog, I’ve recommended books and blog posts by an author named Joshua Becker. Joshua is the founder and primary writer of the website Becoming Minimalist, one of the leading minimalism blogs. Joshua defines minimalism as the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that…
After two years of COVID-19 apprehension, our family is going on a real vacation — airplanes, amusements, and sit-down restaurants. Planning for upcoming trips reminds me of the kind of retirement travel that I’m ultimately working toward — month-long+ excursions on and off the beaten path — and how I’m getting closer to that kind…
Our family spent the dog days of COVID at home. No travels, no visitors, and zero breaks from each other. By the end of 2020, we’d had it with school and working at home. So we booked a beach house for Spring Break in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. And to treat ourselves, we…
A young reader reached out to me about how investing and finance are underserved topics in high school. He was eager to share that he earned 20%+ returns from day trading in just a few months because he’s spent a lot of time learning how to invest and perfecting his trading strategy. Day trading returns…
On September 13th, 2021, my nine-year-old son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes. A diabetes diagnosis has immediate impacts. Here are a few for starters: Insulin injections at least four times a day for the rest of his life Dozens of doctor, nurse educator, and specialist appointments Finger pricks and…
Crises come around every so often — personal crises, family crises, national crises, political crises, market crises, and global. The events are often predictable, but their timing is not. Scientists predicted a virus such as COVID-19 could infect humans and cause severe health and economic consequences. But no one knew the specific date, where it…
I spent 2008 getting to know my future spouse. In the late summer, we had a pragmatic discussion about how each of us wanted our futures to look. There was a lot of overlap, which was a relief at that point in our relationship. The future Mrs. RBD earned a Master’s degree and had a…
Perfect grass seemed like the ultimate suburban pursuit. I’ve always envied lush green lawns and sharply trimmed edges — the kind you fear stepping on at wealthy over-55 communities. But after ten years of living on a quarter-acre lot, my lawn is mediocre. A diverse patchwork of weeds and crabgrass decorate our front yard. Each…
Smart money habits will help you reach your financial goals, with patience. Most of us aren’t looking for extravagant wealth. We want sustainable and long-lasting wealth that provides financial security for our families and enough money to fund our desired lifestyle. That kind of wealth is more attainable than most people think. But there are…
The U.S. government is borrowing $1.9 trillion to provide pandemic relief and stimulate the economy. A big chunk of that will be direct payments to Americans. I won’t get into the details of who gets what; you can find that here. Long story short, many Americans will get more than a thousand dollars deposited to…
I’m obsessed with money. I think about earning, saving, and growing money most of the day. I’ve written about money for more than seven years. Saying someone is obsessed with money might conjure to mind words like greed, fame, power, influence, and opulence. Picture a celebrity flashing fancy clothes and jewelry on Instagram and their…
In a recent article published at CNN.com, author Tami Luhby writes that only half of Millennials earn more than their parents did at age 30 — an all-time low (see chart in the article). That means the other half may be worse off than the previous generation. This reminded me of an article I wrote…
A former manager was into office gift-giving. Most of the team was over 50. As a joke, she gave everyone a pocket guide to texting acronyms. The “older folks” were still learning about terms like LOL, TL;DR, LMFAO, OMG, and WTF. This was around 2014 before we had our third child. Flipping through the pages,…
A few years ago, somebody asked how much money is enough for me to retire. I used a back of the napkin estimation based on the financial independence number and answered. This was 2015-ish. At the time, I thought the number would be more than enough to live comfortably for the rest of our lives,…