Screw Living Paycheck To Paycheck
Are you living paycheck to paycheck? Screw that! If your monthly budget is tight now, just wait until the next recession. You’re gonna be screwed much worse. Now is the time to break the paycheck to paycheck cycle and start building wealth. For years, I’ve assumed most of my readers don’t live month to month. […]
The Changing Realities Of An Ideal Retirement
I can describe my ideal retirement in three words. Long and healthy. If my retirement is long and healthy, I’ll have very little to complain about. Beyond that, everything else is icing on top of the cupcake. But like my four-year-old sugar-crazed daughter, I spend a lot of time thinking about the icing. A Healthy […]
7 Smart Money Habits To Build Long-Term Wealth
Most of us aren’t looking for extravagant wealth. We simply want sustainable and long-lasting wealth that provides financial security for our families and enough money to fund the lifestyle we desire. That kind of wealth is more attainable than most people think. But there are no shortcuts. By consistently following a tried and true strategy over […]
LendingClub Investor Review 2018 – Five Years Of Solid Returns
Google announced its purchase of a minority stake in LendingClub in May 2013. That event opened my eyes to the potential of earning passive income via peer lending. Five years after making my first note investment, my LendingClub holdings are back to providing reliable returns after some turbulence over the past 18 months. This LendingClub investor review shares […]
No Shortcuts For Bricklayers
A New York-based company called Construction Robotics has designed and built a bricklaying robot called SAM (Semi-Automated Mason) that can place up to 3,000 bricks during an 8-hour day. That’s about three times the number of bricks that the fastest human bricklayers can set. The machine requires at least two humans to load materials and finish […]
Does A High Insurability Score Help You Save Money On Premiums?
One of my goals for the year is to simplify my finances. I’ve made progress and I’m on track to consolidate most of the accounts I’ve targeted. While looking over my various accounts during this process, I realized it’s been a while since I’ve evaluated some recurring expenses to see if our family can save […]
Craft A Better Life Than Your Parents
Having your first child is a truly life-altering event. Far more-so than marriage, a new job, or a trip around the world. Parents make extraordinary sacrifices for their children. But few realize the extent of those sacrifices until becoming a parent themselves. When I think back to my life before kids, I still can’t get […]
A Three-Pronged Approach To Funding Your Child’s College Education
Today’s post is in coordination with #FinHealthMatters Day, an awareness campaign spearheaded by the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI). CFSI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to improve the financial health of Americans, especially the under-served, by shaping a robust and innovative financial services marketplace with increased access to higher quality products and practices. See […]
Teach Kids Money Management Skills With These 9 Awesome Tools
This week’s article is a guest post featuring Beau Mueller. Beau is from Hawaii and a proud father of two young boys. He is also the founder of The Moneywise Teacher, a site where educators can find useful information, advice, insights, resources, and inspiration to help them make and save more money. I’m personally looking […]
Liquor, Ladies, and Leverage: How Smart People Go Broke
In 2002, a nineteen-year-old garbage man in the U.K. named Michael Carroll won a lottery jackpot worth $14 million dollars. Instead of making smart money moves with his winnings, he spent his fortune on jewelry and a mansion where he threw lavish parties with drugs and prostitutes. A decade later, he was broke and working […]
6 Stocks And ETFs I Bought Last Quarter
The Portfolio page on my blog has been updated as of March 31st, 2018. This page outlines my portfolio of taxable investments and the income generated on a yearly and average monthly basis. Click here to see all previous updates. This quarterly update contains a summary of my personal investment activity for the past quarter. I’ve shared the investment income (aka passive […]
The Importance Of Job Satisfaction In Pursuit Of Early Retirement
Some people are driven to the idea of early retirement because they lack job satisfaction in their career. Working into their 60’s isn’t sustainable. Unhappiness at work comes in many forms. It could be a negative coworker that makes you dread going to the office. Or the job pays a low salary with few opportunities […]
The #1 Reason To Simplify Your Finances (And What I’m Doing About It This Year)
My latest article on U.S. News & World Report recommends tips to simplify your finances in retirement. Retirement isn’t the only time to simplify. Anytime is a good time to simplify. But I’m a bad role model for simplifying finances because I’m on the far side of the spectrum with multiple personal investment accounts and bank […]
Individual Stocks vs. Index Funds – Why I Choose Both
I’ve never joined the debate about individual stocks vs. index funds because I’ve never chosen one side or another. I invest in dividend growth stocks, index funds, and even a few growth stocks. In surprising proportions. I’ve invested in individual stocks since 1995. That year, my uncle gifted me one share of Chevron stock and […]