Category: Financial Independence

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Shades of Grey: How to Enjoy Life and Have Money

So many of us in the outdoor world choose a life and career path guided by a seemingly unavoidable fork in the road. Do we choose a safe path, paved with a steady paycheck and a retirement plan? Or do we cobble together whatever it takes to make it work, focusing on experience and patching the inevitable cracks as we go? Today we examine the completely accessible and exciting grey area between these two black and white choices. We can have money and still enjoy life.

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Sustainable Investing: Five Important Considerations

So…are you perhaps interested in investing but want to do right by the world? How do we weigh the obvious benefits of investing against the hypocritical feeling that we are funding the dark side of the capitalist system? Many choose a path of sustainable investing, choosing to forego certain companies or industries from their portfolio altogether. But are we accomplishing anything with this approach?

Today we take a wide-ranging view on the ethics of investing, the fundamentals of consumerism, human behavior, and the efficiency of economies to adapt to changes in consumer sentiment. In doing so, we examine five key considerations with sustainable investing.

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How to Have Negative Health Insurance Costs

One of the chief concerns for those considering leaving a job is the prospect of health insurance costs. I’ve met many climbers who choose to not insure, and many other concerned corporate employees who are convinced that insurance in the private marketplace will cost tens of thousands of dollars per year. As of this month, I’m pleased to announce that we are officially getting paid to have health insurance.

No joke! Let’s examine the wild and crazy ride of our health insurance budgeting. Strap in.

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EP 3: Chris Mamula: One Bite at a Time

Today I’m excited to bring you an interview with writer and outdoor enthusiast Chris Mamula. Chris is a well-known figure in the personal finance community, particularly the Financial Independence community.

Chris worked as a physical therapist before achieving financial independence and leaving his career in 2017 at age 41. Shortly thereafter, Chris—along with his wife and daughter—moved across the country from Pennsylvania to Ogden, UT, where they now reside.

While Chris and his family yearned for an adventurous life out west, he’s been candid about the challenges of changing too much too soon. We discuss those challenges and how he’s worked through them. We also discuss financial and lifestyle choices that are unique to the outdoor community. Finally, we address the importance of options and flexibility for an unknown future.

Plus much more!

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EP 2: Value Spending: A Damn Good Start

In this podcast episode, it’s just little ole’ me. Today we begin where financial strength nearly always begins: with value spending. Here we discover why value spending habits, not unsustainable frugality, really impact the bottom line.

In this episode we cover:

  • The Pareto Principle and how to apply to personal finances
  • Identifying our spending “weaknesses”
  • “The Big Three” spending categories and cost saving solutions
  • Help with one-off expenses and compulsive spending
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EP 1 🎙: Mike Tritt: Rocking in the Free World

Today I’m very happy to bring you a live, in-the-flesh interview with Mike Tritt, a Denver-based climber who achieved financial independence and retired from his mechanical engineering job at age 35.

Mike now climbs full-time and supports his fiancée Suzanna in her career, which she has chosen to continue pursuing. In this interview we discuss how Mike juggled climbing with a career and then walked away from mandatory work in his 30s. We address how Mike is striking a balance between a home-based relationship and the desire for long trips on the road. Finally, we take on the subject of purpose in life without traditional work. Plus, so much more!

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Housing Affordability: This Isn’t Normal

I want to check back in on a topic near and dear to many: housing affordability. We’ve witnessed soaring real estate prices nationwide, with many cities exceeding a 20% year-over-year growth in sales prices of homes. Is income growth keeping up? For those looking to get into the housing market for the first time, can you expect better future prices or less competition?

Well, let’s see…

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The Happiness Curve: Beware of Expectations

The grass is always greener on the other side. No truer words were ever uttered. Get it? Utter? Cows? Grass? Anyway, it’s our expectations that lead us in search of new experiences, but do they always pay off?

This concept of something better on the horizon has governed my existence for as long as I can recall. Under the constant glare of incandescent lights in a corporate office, I dreamed of selling my house and living on the road. But once I was living that reality, I discovered the very real contrasts of life on the road that I already knew existed.

When I was surrounded by all the nature, I just really wanted to lay on my living room rug with air conditioning, a lacrosse ball under my lower back, watching The Great British Baking Show.

It didn’t take long for us to decide that some sort of hybrid life was our best option. We opted to buy a house in St. George, Utah, intent on nesting here for the majority of the year, like Roland’s Rock House. For the rest of the year, particularly the hateful summer, we planned to travel and perhaps rent out our home.

So, how is that going?

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