Tag: early retirement

Dividend Investing vs. Indexing – Part 2

This article takes off from the groundwork we established in Part 1.   In writing this series, I have started with the well-supported premise that over the long-term, equities are the best asset class to remain invested in.   In addition to my article on the efficient frontier, there are several excellent books and good resources on […]

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Financial Independence is Mandatory, Retiring Early is Optional

The title is a line I often use with friends and even in comments I leave on other websites.  There is no compulsion that financially independent people must retire early.  In math, there is a concept called ‘necessary’ and ‘sufficient’ condition for a given outcome.  Without getting into math, a real-life example will make the concept […]

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How Honest Is Your Town?

Where we live is a very important decision in our lives.  For those in high cost-of-living areas, it can motivate their FIRE-seeking journey and for others already in low cost-of-living areas, it makes their FIRE real or well within reach.  The world is full of interesting places with a wide variety of living costs. The earth […]

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I Could’ve Retired 10 Years Ago

Really.  And I probably would’ve been posting some bad-ass or irreverent content as a carefree FIRE’d 30’s guy.  But life had different plans for me. Some of you may see this as kinda, sorta, sequel to why FIRE is much harder as a couple.  That article seems to have resonated with many readers.  Apart from the […]

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M.O.N.E.Y. for Nothing

Recovered from election fever yet? As I said before, we will be persistent and will progress forward no matter who gets elected. Can we get back to business and personal finance?  Good. Everybody wants money.  Okay, maybe not these disciplined Buddhist monks going to their prayer hall.    But even the slippers they wear cost […]

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How I Screwed Up My Early Retirement

Don't miss it!

  Don’t miss it!

Opportunities in life are like a train in an impoverished country.  You better get on it whenever you see one going in the direction you want. Otherwise, you don’t know when the next one will come!

This post is a confession of my screw up where I passed on a rare chance to retire early….real early.  Read this tale and avoid the mistake I made, so you can catch the express train to early retirement.  Otherwise, you never know if it will stop by your station again. (more…)

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Right Way To Think About Risk

This is not a topic you hear about much in mainstream finance.   Even if you understood the efficient frontier and also that risk and reward are probability-based, there is a fundamental difference in our approach to risk that mainstream financial planners don’t bother to even ask.   This is about risk tolerance vs. risk affordability.

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FIRE: How Long vs. How Much

1ba929We spend a lot of effort chasing our number or desired passive income to reach our financially independent or retired early (FIRE) dream.  In all the search for ‘how much’, we also need to consider ‘how long’.  With some retiring in early 30’s, the impact of this extreme early retirement should be carefully considered.  If you are like me in 40’s or even in 50’s, there is at least one advantage we have over our 30’s retired brethren – our retirement planning is not as long.   Don’t let that depress you. It’s the life you add to the years, not the years you add to life that matters! As Yoda would say: matter it doesn’t!

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What is Enough?

Even this doesn't come along for the last ride.

Even this doesn’t come along for the last ride.

Even an eye-less needle doesn’t come with you on your last journey”  says an old proverb.  A sewing needle is a trivial item anyone can afford and its essential part is the hole or the ‘eye’ where you pass the sewing thread. If that is broken, the sewing needle is useless. You cannot carry even such a useless item on your final journey, leave alone the nice things and the people you love.  This is the inner meaning of that proverb.  It may be depressing but that’s the stark truth.  (more…)

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