I recently completed a six-figure transfer of retirement assets from Vanguard to Fidelity. The transfer is part of an account consolidation effort I put in motion last year to simplify our finances. The need to consolidate accounts became apparent when we started working on our family estate plan. We’re coming close to finally completing our…
Powerful financial maneuvers are meaningful decisions you make with your money and lifestyle that have a significant long-term impact on building wealth. Too often, we focus on the little ways to save money. We used to be a coupon clipping couple before having kids. We had more time back then. Coupons influenced our shopping choices…
Never depend on single income. Make investment to create a second source. – Warren Buffett Buffett quotes are usually more eloquent. My grammar checker hated this one. But it’s one of my favorites because he sounds like a caveman. And it’s one way I like to think about investing, as a secondary source of income. …
On the day I started my first real job in back 1998, I had little ambition for building a successful career. My primary goal was to earn enough money to quit my job and travel, so I did what was necessary to receive decent raises without taking on much more responsibility. Close coworker friends held…
More than five years ago, I started reading an anonymous money blog called 1500 Days. The writer had a similar idea to mine, to escape the rat race early and stop working on his terms instead of what’s traditionally considered normal retirement age. Since the beginning, the 1500 Days blog has hosted an almost weekly…
The concept of early retirement has gained in popularity and legitimacy over the past decade fueled by knowledge sharing over the internet and healthy market returns. Though I’m 12 years away from my retirement goal and have plenty of time to prepare, I still harbor early retirement concerns for the future retired me. Most people…
Hey everybody. This week we’re fortunate to have a guest post talking about retirement income securities that yield above 5%. This article is from Bob Ciura, a writer at Sure Dividend. Today’s article recommends three retirement income securities of three different flavors. The first two you’ve probably never heard of. The third, you most definitely have (but…
If you want to get serious about taking control of your financial life so you can build wealth, it’s time to eliminate car payments. Car payments are a persistent nag on the lives of U.S. consumers. But they don’t have to be, and shouldn’t be even with low interest rates. Because they crush your monthly cash…
This article is about how I measure progress toward financial independence (FI), which I consider a prerequisite to my early retirement goal. The terms financial independence and early retirement are often used interchangeably. I consider them different. Financial independence is a financial milestone. Retirement is when I’ll stop working completely. I plan to reach financial…
Independent landlords who own residential real estate typically own single-family homes, condo units, or maybe a small multifamily real estate property such as a duplex or triplex. Multifamily real estate properties can require substantial capital and significant elbow-grease before being ready to produce positive income. Until recently, single-family and small multifamily properties were the primary…
Should you max out 401(k) in 2024? The short answer is yes. This article explains why, and the limits for maxing out your 401(k) and IRAs in 2024. The department head at my job invited me into his office for a 30-minute chat when I first started. We spent the time getting to know each other and…
I use a simple Excel spreadsheet with pivot tables to track spending. I’ll explain why I started this exercise this year and why I felt the free online tools were inadequate for my purposes. Tracking spending this way is a compliment to tracking net worth and my taxable investment portfolio. With an accurate annual spending number…
One of the top three emails I get from readers is how to come up with ideas to make extra money. I often send readers to other websites for idea lists. But this week’s article has a bunch of suggestions for how to monetize your hobby. Monetizing a hobby is an ideal side gig because…
The Wall Street Journal first reported, it’s official. Amazon HQ2 coming to Crystal City! Bezos confirms. Read on to learn five potential ways to invest based on the Crystal City selection. #1 is Fundrise, a D.C.-based real estate investing platform. Own high-quality D.C.-area real estate assets for a $500 minimum investment. Please note: This is a testimonial…
Update: Four winners have been chosen. Thanks for all your responses! I’m super excited about today’s post because it’s my first book giveaway after more than five years of blogging. The book is a sterling piece of work by my friend Chad Carson of the blog Coach Carson, that is already helping thousands of people…
What’s the difference between investing vs. gambling? The simple answer is math, but there’s more to it than that. In my mid-teens, I went to Atlantic City with my family for an evening on the boardwalk. I was deeply interested in money for someone my age, so gambling intrigued me. You must be over the…
In a recent post about alternative investments, I wrote about how to invest in websites (#7 on the list). There are a few ways to do it and I barely scratched the surface. Another blogger read that post and offered to go further in depth with a guest post, specifically about buying niche websites for…
One mistake that I see people making today is reminiscent of the years leading up to the last big recession of 2008-2009. When economic times are good, people tend to assume it will stay good and do little to prepare for the next recession. A good economy and job market are validation to take risks…
Every week I write about money. Sometimes in a roundabout way. But ultimately, this website is about growing wealth by making better financial decisions. Life is not about money, but money can help us live a better life. When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, unexpected expenses can be extremely stressful. The news of a major home…
In personal finance, excess cash flow is the money that’s left over in your checking account at the end of each month. Your success with money is heavily dependent on creating and doing smart things with it. If you don’t have any excess cash flow, you may need to change shit up. Each of my quarterly…
I’m not one for round numbers. But I had a thought recently. What if I could retire at 50, then live to 100? Is that even possible? If so, which part is the bigger challenge? The whole basis of this blog is my goal to retire by age 55, one year prior to the age…