I resigned from my job in January this year and it’s been 6 months. I’ll let you know what I’ve learned, experienced, and what I would do different. This is my 6 month check in. Financial independence and retiring early has been a goal of mine for many years. I knew I did not want to work till retirement age and spend my time and energy working. I reached my goal and finally made the decision to quit my job…
If you are pursuing financial independence (FI) you know that debt if not your friend. Debt is owing someone something. In financial terms, it’s typically money. When your goal is financial independence having debt just slows you down. One of the goals to make FI achievable is to eliminate all debt including your mortgage. You do not want to owe anyone anything. Having debt is an anchor just like how it drags a boat. The math is simple. If you…
When you jump into an ice cold bath, lake, or beach, your body goes into some kind of shock. Going from a normal temperature to, all of a sudden, freezing water is a sudden change. Similarly, going from a life of working, getting a salary, and spending to not working, not getting a salary, and not spending as much is also a shock. To help, practice spending less before you dive into early retirement. For decades you had a certain…
One of the strategies I used in my financial independence journey is the “out of sight out of mind” strategy. Things you don’t see you tend to forget about. For example, my son played with certain toys all the time. When I hid a toy, he eventually forgot about it and went on with his life. This is the same strategy I used for my financials. Let’s apply this to different areas Retirement account When you work and hopefully your…
I started doing Roth conversions 5 years ago and I wrote about my first one here. I wanted to create a Roth conversion ladder so that I could have the option of withdrawing from my Roth account penalty free if I needed cash in early retirement. Now that I am not generating any W-2 income, I’m looking to see what my tax filing will look like next year since Roth conversions are considered as income. So for now, I am…
When you think or dream of early retirement, what does it look like? Is it waking up whenever you want, sitting on the couch all day watching television, doom scrolling on your phone, going out to eat, or planning an infinite number of vacations? From personal experience with being early retired for 5 months, I can say that you better have a plan. Is early retirement boring? I thought I had it all planned out. I was going to get…
The journey to financial independence isn’t glamorous. Better yet, it’s more like groundhog day where every day is the same repetitive routine. Go to work, collect a pay check, spend only what you need, delay the things you want, save, invest, and repeat. You will be able to slip in some fun like vacations, road trips, hobbies, and so on. For the majority, though, it’s a consistent cadence you follow and if you are in it for the long run…
The stock market has its ups and downs. Historically, it’s up more than it’s down which means it’s good for you and me if we invest during good opportunities. It’s hard to watch when your portfolio shrinks during downturns due to economic uncertainties. The other mindset is that a stock market drop is an investing opportunity. A stock market drop means that the cost to buy individual stocks and equities is cheaper than it was before. Uncertainties, such as, is…
I’ve never been good at talking with any financial experts, consultants, or advisors. One reason is that it takes time out of your day or time away from work. Plus I felt like it’s constantly a sales pitch trying to get me to buy more services. Most cases it was just that but when I rolled over my entire retirement account to my IRA after I left my employer my financial representative with my brokerage reached out to me asking…
When you leave your job, whether it’s to move onto a new job with a different employer, retire, or just call it quits, what will you do with your retirement plan? I recently resigned and consider myself early retired. I worked 15 years for my last employer and I contributed to my retirement plan to the max limits so there was a sizable balance. I considered all the options I have and here they are. I could either I’ll let…