Traveling the world in my 20s was my top priority after college. I ended up visiting more than 40 countries before turning 30, carrying with me a small Eagle Creek Backpack and no more than six pairs of underwear at any time. Now that I’m over forty, I look back on my days of full-time…
Have you ever declined a work opportunity because you didn’t want the hassle of learning something new? Maybe it was a chance to enhance your skills or get promoted, but it required leaving your cushy job. You declined because the job would have taken more effort and initiative on your part. Or it might have cut…
The tax filing season starts on January 28th for 2019. You’ll have until April 15th to complete them. In preparation for the tax season, it is imperative that you have a strategy to complete your taxes quickly, accurately, and with as little hassle as possible… all while keeping the cost down. With those things in…
Nobody likes a rent increase. Except for the landlord. For too long, my rental property has been squeaking by on meager cash flow. Check out my monthly investment income updates and you’ll see the regular income it generates is about $70 per month. That’s a positive number so I can’t complain too much. But in the…
Saving for college is no easy task. If parents decide to pay for their kids’ undergrad education, it’s potentially a 22-year commitment from birth until graduation. Yet, saving for college is often a minor component of an overall financial plan. Not in our family. For our three kids to each attend four years of in-state…
At age 27, I was broke, unemployed, and living at home with my parents. Not surprisingly, I was single too. Sounds depressing, right? Not so. I had recently returned from an epic 14-month backpacking trip to Asia and Latin America, spending just $10,000 on the entire journey, then completed a three-month, 8,000-mile road trip throughout the U.S and…
Long before I had my driver’s license, my Dad instilled an important financial concept into my head that I still abide by today. A car is nothing more than a tool to get from point A to point B. A car isn’t meant for prestige or to help score babes, although they’re often marketed that way. Cars…
For my birthday in 1995, my uncle gifted me one share of Chevron (CVX) stock out of his dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). He was an employee at the time. He instructed me to regularly invest small amounts of money into the program and automatically reinvest the dividends I received. Eventually, he said, the quarterly dividend would…
College graduation season will be here in no time. Graduates and their families will celebrate at an uplifting commencement ceremony, complete with speeches by inspirational alumni, business leaders and political figures, followed by a triumphant dinner at Applebees. Business Insider and other Twitter feeds will surely remind us that Steve Jobs gave a cool commencement…
Throughout all of my adventures, only three times I’ve been a target for crime because I was a traveler. That’s not bad considering I’ve visited 40+ countries over the past two decades. For the most part, using common sense and traveling with a friend or group is enough to avoid travel scams and danger. But…
More than a decade ago when my Dad retired from his teaching career at age 56, I told him my retirement goal was to beat him and stop working at age 55. It seemed natural to me that in order to live better off than my parents, I should retire before them. I reject the notion that…
Should I sell my rental property? It’s a question I ask myself every month. Maybe you do too. Update 12/05/2018: I still own the property and decided to rent it out again. I worked with a CPA to understand the exact tax consequences of selling and met with 3-4 agents to determine a value. It’s…
Reading this on your work computer? I suggest switching over to your smart phone. You may not want HR to know what you’re reading about here. There’s No Team In I If you’ve made it to this website, you’re probably devising a plan similar to mine. You work a full-time a job. You live below…
Years ago I went to Ireland with a friend. We rented a car and drove from Galway to Kilkenny via the southwest peninsular route. Ireland is awash with beautiful landscapes and scenic drives lined with intricately built stone walls. The roads, however, can be narrow and tricky to navigate at times. One morning in…