Financial Independence Archives - Page 9 of 18

March 15, 2021March 18, 2021

Some Fantastic News on Health Insurance Costs

Back in October, after the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I wondered if healthcare was about to get a lot more expensive. Now, health insurance is about to be far more affordable for those of us at lower income levels.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, signed into law on March 11, 2021. And this thing is massive! Tell them Large Marge sent ya! Mainstream media has expectedly latched on to the $1,400 stimulus checks and the very generous extended child tax credit. However, the news bulging my eyeballs is the boost coming to the Affordable Care Act (also lovingly known as Obamacare).

March 8, 2021March 8, 2021

Eliza Marsh: We Can Make This Happen

Good morning. My ankle is doing much better. Sorry to alarm some of you with last week’s post. The photo was bad, but I’m fairly certain it’s only a sprain. Much more importantly, this week I want to welcome Eliza Marsh.

In this week’s interview, we discuss how Eliza has balanced a career with extended travel, and some of her unexpected surprises of life on the road. We examine how she manages full-time remote work, and how she recently stumbled on a new and exciting path towards saving for financial independence, which she rightfully recognizes as a great privilege. Perhaps most importantly, we’ll see how Eliza has completely reframed her mindset around money, her future, and how she plans to use this great gift of financial freedom.

February 22, 2021February 22, 2021

Expense Ratio & Fees: They’ll Hose You Big Time

Expense Ratio and Fees: They'll Hose You Big Time

Fees and expense ratios are some of the most poorly understood and (unfortunately) most impactful elements to long-term investing success. While someone investing at all is ahead of the curve, we must be fully aware of the corrosive impacts of the expense ratio and other fees.

This week we explain common sources of fees and analyze just how much they are costing us. Are you paying a financial advisor? We’ve got you on this one!

Let’s go!

February 15, 2021February 15, 2021

The Frugal Professor: Let’s Get Deep in the Weeds

Alrighty, folks. This week I’m pleased to bring you a low-down-and-dirty financial deep dive with climber, writer, father of five, and lover of personal finance: The Frugal Professor. In this interview, we hold our breath and plunge into complex issues surrounding actually spending all this money we save for periods of no traditional income, meanwhile navigating the treacherous, shark-infested waters of the US healthcare system.

I’ve always said that saving and generating wealth is shockingly simple once some key concepts are understood, implemented, and doggedly followed, through thick and thin. And I’m sticking to my story.

What is not so straight-forward, however, is threading a very fine needle on living off the money we’ve saved. In a period of no traditional income⏤call it “retirement” if you want⏤we shouldn’t be just selling shares and calling it a day. We have to optimize healthcare spending, minimize taxes, and avoid early withdrawal fees and penalties meant for a much more traditional retirement.

But with a little planning, it ain’t no thang.

Let’s roll up our sleeves with the Frugal Professor and get a little dirty, shall we?

February 8, 2021August 9, 2021

Your Questions Answered: Volume One

This week I decided to dig through my emails and finish answering some questions.

In this post we take another look at investing now vs later, the dynamics of financial independence without retiring early, housing and home ownership, more on day trading and investing apps, what the hell I do with my time, and much more.

Here is what is keeping you guys up at night, or at least spurring mild curiosity.

February 2, 2021May 1, 2021

The GameStop Saga: Hedge Funds, Reddit Investors, and Why They’re All Wrong

Well, I wouldn’t normally post two posts in a week, much less two in two days! But by popular demand, I have a few words on this GameStop fiasco. What do you guys think I am, some kind of journalist?!

I hate when news stories like this come out. These sorts of headlines give rise to the kind of stock market talk that promotes the age-old myth: the entire system is run by wealthy Wall Street Fat Cats, the small people can’t get a piece of the pie (or only lose money), and boy wouldn’t it be great if we could tear it all down!

This is flawed thinking. Here’s why:

February 1, 2021February 10, 2021

The Wondrous And Fantastic Power Of Compound Growth

(And Why It Doesn’t Pay to Wait)

It’s so easy to assume that saving, investing, and even considering a retirement is something to do later. Unfortunately, well…no. We don’t need board room salaries or country club memberships to consider a retirement. But we do need an ally. And who can we put on our side of the ring? Compound growth.

Today we delve into the concerning data behind millennial retirement planning, some misconceptions on what retirement should be, and the shocking power of compound growth and how it can, quite possibly, save us from ourselves.

January 18, 2021January 14, 2022

Your 2021 Guide To Actually Saving Real Money

Hey guys. I know that 2020 was a hard year. And 2021 only seems like a continuation of that trend. It’s easy to throw up our hands or hunker in a ball, suck our filthy, calloused thumbs, and wait. But that’s not the solution.

Despite everything that happened in 2020, the S&P 500 returned over 18%. For those of you with money in the market back in the late February and March, I hope you held your breath and squeezed your butt cheeks while the sky was falling. During that time the S&P 500 fell over 30% from its recent highs, with several pucker-inducing drops of 10%+ per day! For those who stuck to the plan and avoided market timing, you did just fine.

For instance, someone with $1 million dollars invested on January 1, 2020 ended the year with approximately $180,000 in gains for doing nothing other than owning an index fund. That’s real, folks. Of course, we have to pay tribute to the inevitable years this will not be the case (where we could lose just as much as we made), but over time, history shows us that the market returns approximately 7-10% per year, on average.

These are the simple little things that we did every year. The result? We were able to walk away from paid work in our 30s.

Does financial freedom appeal to you?

Here’s how we can set the ball rolling in 2021.

December 14, 2020December 19, 2020

And We’re Back to Home Ownership! But Why Now?

After years of planning, overanalyzing, and thinking too much, in July we listed our house in Denver for sale and hit the road. Our goal was to spend up to a year traveling in search of our next home base. Five months later and we are back to the game of home ownership again.

In this post we examine the unexpected location of our new home, the current home buying environment, and a hard look at whether current mortgage interest rates are the final incentive to jump into home ownership. Should you consider home ownership right now?

In our minds, we always assumed we’d end up back in Flagstaff, Arizona, where we both lived a decade ago while I attended graduate school.

Well, it didn’t turn out that way. So, where are you going to come visit us?

November 30, 2020November 29, 2020

Lee Cujes: Super Psyched on the Long Game

This week I’m thrilled to bring you an interview with a pinch of international spice and flavor. Please welcome to the site, the legendary Australian climber Lee Cujes.

In this interview we take a hard look at the long-term aspects of finding a balance on career, lifestyle, relationships, nails-hard climbing, and future prosperity. Lee graciously shares with us how he was able to carve a career niche while climbing at an elite level, how he and his wife Sam made the big move out of the city to a small climbing mecca in the Blue Mountains, and how Lee has used the same, boring and lazy-ass methods of passive investing to build an enduring path to financial freedom. And during some of his darkest days, Lee and Sam embarked on an incredible global climbing trip. Yeah, let’s discuss that too.

Shall we?