Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 5

November 4, 2019November 4, 2019

Walking the Walk and Other Tales by Foot

I really like to walk. Or maybe I really loathe sitting still. Ask my wife or any of my family members. If you invite me over and expect the bulk of the experience to be shared on a couch, you will find me pacing like a deranged man on his third rail of cocaine. YEAH! LET’S DO THIS!

This = moving around your living room aimlessly and without purpose, probably chewing my fingernails.

The Fitbit craze of late has people obsessed with the seemingly arbitrary 10,000 steps. And although counting steps carries an essence of the bizarre to me, I’m glad there’s incentive to get out of the chairs and sofas and start moving. But perhaps one of the best benefits of walking has less to do with fitness and more to do with the mind. What are we missing when we’re not out on our own two feet?

October 28, 2019October 28, 2019

Obsession and Performance Don’t Always Mix

This website certainly should fall more in the “personal finance” category than any sort of typical rock climbing website. But I will remind you that I’ve carried a full-tilt obsession with climbing for over nine years. So good.

My number one goal for nearly a decade has been to be a better climber than yesterday. And in doing so, I’ve kinda/sorta/accidentally wrapped my self-worth into a sticky web of climbing performance, often to my own detriment. But in the last year I’ve found a balance, taken a step back, and incidentally improved my performance. Just dumb luck? I don’t think so.

October 21, 2019October 21, 2019

Retirement? Don’t Worry, I’ll Be Fine!

I’m assuming roughly 100% of people reading this post envision some sort of eventual retirement. You might view this as a subject only worthy of future consideration, but it will happen. There’s no way you could be making a living wage in your 70s and 80s, right? In this post we’ll examine why you might be out of a job sooner than you think, and perhaps without a safety net. But this isn’t all dark clouds and cold rain my friend, for we can solve this dilemma with such little effort. And we can start today. Let’s go!

October 7, 2019October 7, 2019

Choose FI Book Review: A Blueprint Indeed

Alright, alright, I get it: not a product review! Gross! Folks, I’m with you. Any website I see that reviews almost anything, I close the page. So when I was offered an advance copy of the brand new book from the creators of the Choose FI podcast and author Chris Mamula (Can I Retire Yet website), I was…well…a little hesitant.

September 30, 2019October 1, 2019

Paige Claassen: Making a Difference

I’m very pleased to bring you an interview with one of my favorite climbers, Paige Claassen. Paige is an absolute crusher in the world of sport climbing, having climbed a number of notable nails-hard 5.14+ test-piece routes (Necessary Evil, VRG; Just Do It, Smith Rock), capped with her recent send of Algorithm (5.14c/d) in the Fins, Idaho.

But as usual, this isn’t really a climbing website and we’re not really here to talk about Paige’s climbing (don’t worry, we will a bit).

September 23, 2019September 23, 2019

Financial Advisor: Who Needs One?

The stock market is scary. I completely understand; there was once a time when I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. In fact, according to Ally Invest, 65% of survey respondents are intimidated by investing. It seems like a Wild West proposition, and surely only well-trained professionals are equipped to predict the future success of individual companies. You realize the potential of investing, but you wouldn’t know how to start. It’s probably best to pay a financial advisor for this service, right?

Some say the answer to whether you need a financial advisor is “maybe,” but I’m more strongly in the “no” camp. Here’s why.

September 9, 2019August 31, 2020

Should I Buy a Home? Part 2: Opportunity Cost

Howdy! Last week on Should I Buy a Home (Part 1), we established that home ownership isn’t really a good “investment.” Make sure you go back and take a gander at that post first. But, when compared to the cost of renting all along, is home ownership still a better long-term financial decision, especially for early retirement? Or did we pay the biggest expense of all…opportunity cost?

Stick with me here. This sort of stuff was never my forte years ago, but I’ve grown to love this like Mrs. CC grew to love sushi. We can all learn to love raw fish, seaweed, rice, and investment return analysis.

August 19, 2019August 18, 2019

Do You Deserve a Life You Can’t Afford?

This is a tough subject, brimming with unspoken taboos. The more I’ve researched, read, and written about personal finance, the more deeply I’ve come to understand a fundamental truth: many people want a certain lifestyle, and they are going to live that life regardless of whether there is money to support it. Do you deserve a life you can’t afford?

August 12, 2019August 12, 2019

Fear: Here’s How It’s Holding You Back

Do you ever pass on requesting vacation because you fear your work ethic will be called into question?

Do you avoid international travel because everything seems so different?

Are you convinced that crime is getting worse, so you should take more drastic measures to protect yourself and your family? Crime has in fact fallen sharply.

Above are just a few examples of how fear dictates our actions and inactions on a daily basis. Frankly, every week I fear that you, dear reader, won’t like what I write here. Boy, I sure hope you do. But are we letting our lives pass us by because we fear the unknown?

August 5, 2019August 5, 2019

Taking Action: Moving Beyond Inspiration

This week I’m reposting a guest post previously published over at Collecting Wisdom on the pitfalls of not taking action. The site is now restructured and the guest posts were removed, so I wanted to host this one here. I liked it the first time, and after a re-read, still do. I hope you enjoy.