Category: Retirement Planning
The Golden Handcuffs of Lifestyle Inflation
Being rich is a fantastic feeling and an underrated experience. I never thought I would go into a department store and buy almost anything I want—with cash. Here is my favorite quote on what being wealthy is. Wealth is having excess income vs. expenses. Simple enough. So it is not necessarily the amount of money…
I Live Paycheck to Paycheck 2….So I Created a New Income Stream
Living paycheck to paycheck is not fun. Nothing about running out of money during the middle of the month is gratifying. It also is not a time where you can think ahead for the long term. When you live paycheck to paycheck, you are usually trying your hardest to get your life under control. People…
Retire Early as a Well-Rounded Millionaire
On my path to becoming a millionaire, I have been learning a lot about what the concept of being a millionaire means. Honestly, anyone can become a millionaire—there is nothing inherently special about achieving this milestone. But, yet there is something extraordinary about reaching a million dollars. I define a millionaire as someone having $1…
How Much Do You Need for Retirement? Part I: Introduction
How much money do you need to retire comfortably? In typical American retirement language, they would give you some random lump sum amount of cash that you would need. Usually, they take 70% of your current income and multiply it by 25. For example, if I make $100,000/year, I would (by their standards) want to…
Cash Flow 105: Diversify Your Passive Income
“Variety is the spice of life,” or so they say. And why getting rich to be any different. Currently, the crypto market is down, the stock market is flat, the rental market is up, and my royalties are doing very well. So which one do I have to focus on to be successful in today’s…
Retirement Planning at Any Age
Why is planning for retirement important at every age? Because you cannot move forward until you know where you are going. When you get in a car and have never been to the destination, what do you do? You enter the address into Google Maps and ensure you have a path before you get started.…
Planning for Retirement in Your 70s
Our 70s can either be a nightmare or some of the best years of our lives. If we have been doing it right, we have more than enough money to last our lifetimes and our children’s lifetimes as well. As the book “Who’s Stole My Pension” states, we are now 100% in charge of building…
Planning for Retirement in Your 60s
Ah, our 60s are upon us, and times have never been better. In America, most workers focus on their 60s to retire, concentrate on themselves, and live the good life. I am built differently. If you have read my previous articles in the series (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s), you will know that in our 40s,…
Planning for Retirement In Your 50s
In our 50s, we should be beginning our descent into a slower life. However, I do not mean a life of less money. No, the goal is to have even more money. That’s why it is called passive income because we do the work upfront. Hopefully, we have been doing the work upfront in our…
Planning for Retirement in Your 40s
Hopefully, we will come into our 40s with an excellent financial game plan. If done correctly, we should already be debt-free and have cash flow going into investments. But let’s rewind and talk about how the 40s fit into our overall lifetimes. I am roughly four months into my 40s, and I feel great. I…
Planning for Retirement in Your 20s
Another day, another series. I love starting and finishing these mini-series because it gives me a sense of accomplishment. Today, we are beginning the Planning for Retirement Series. This series aims to help people to learn exactly what they need to focus on at a particular age bracket. The world is a busy place, and…
Planning for Retirement In Your 30s
As much as I would love for people in their 20s to get ahead and start investing, chances are they will begin to take retirement seriously in their 30s. My wife and I began to get our act together in our 30s and become debt-free before turning 40. There are many reasons for people to…
I Live Paycheck to Paycheck…So I have 300+ Paychecks a Month
Living paycheck to paycheck sucks in most instances. You usually have two paychecks a month, and a couple of days after payday, the money dries up. This scenario leads to a lot of waiting around and tension. There are two ways to change the habit of living paycheck to paycheck: save and budget your money…
Military Success 105: Financial Fitness
Now, for the moment I have been waiting for—I am writing the article that I wish I read before I joined the military. When I joined the Marine Corps in 1999, I had no concept of money. I didn’t know the value of reinvesting your money to make more money. In fact, it took me…
Military Success 104: Family Fitness
Thus far, we have covered many diverse topics throughout the military success series; physical fitness in 101, mental fitness in 102, and educational fitness in 103. Now, I want to talk about something we rarely discuss before joining the military, family fitness. That’s right; family is one of the most important aspects of having a…
Should You Consolidate Debt?
Most of us gather debt during our younger days—cars, credit cards, student loans, etc. So the question becomes, should we consolidate debt to assist in the repayment process? There are a few positives to consolidating debt and one giant negative. Let’s jump into this significant decision. A huge reason why Kris and I could get…
Hustle in Your 20s and 30s, Enjoy Your 40s and 50s
This topic is going to be a tough sell to most people, especially young people. Somewhere along the lines, we started convincing young people that they shouldn’t even attempt to get their act together until age 25. By my calculations, that leaves seven years of wasted time between ages 18-25. I chose this topic specifically…
Good Debt vs. Bad Debt
Being debt-free is one of the best feelings in the world, especially as a family of four. Any family person knows that running a household, especially in America, can be super expensive. It is a blessing to be able to manage our home on cash flow alone. By the way, we have $800,000 of real…
How We Plan to Retire on Dividends part 1
Retiring on dividends is a dream come true for many people. On the other hand, many have never heard of dividends. I never heard of dividends until I was the age of 38 years old. I became fascinated with the words passive income when I was overseas, and the idea of living off investments was…
From -$77,000 to +$150,000 in 22 Months
The following is a tale that I hope will inspire you to make changes in your life. As I wrote in “Living a Middle-Class Life is Stressful,” trying to keep up with life in America can be one of the worst choices you can make. Why is living middle class so draining? One word: Debt.…
