Category: Retirement Planning
Preparing for a Recession #1: Improving Your Skillsets
Let me set the stage. In 2024, interest rates are high because inflation has ravaged the American economy. Businesses have cut jobs at record numbers because the price to finance and maintain debt has skyrocketed. The average person is dealing with a home insurance crisis, inflated property taxes, elevated rents, and high gas prices. To…
The Illusion of Freedom: The True Three Paths are Military, College, or Trade School
During my entire 24-year career in the United States Marine Corps, people questioned how I could give up my freedom and liberties. They said it’s better to be able to quit their job whenever they like, travel where they want, or do as many drugs as they deem necessary. For 24 years, I kept my…
Financial Freedom: The True American Dream
Nobody wants to work—or, better stated, nobody wants to be forced to work. We would all love to be “work-optional.” To become work-optional, you must first become financially free. Becoming financially independent isn’t as tough as people think; however, the media does an excellent job of making it seem out of reach. Ultimately, your version…
Don’t Be ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, But Employed
We need jobs for one reason: to buy assets. Somewhere along the way, we started using jobs to pay bills. That’s how we got on the never-ending hamster wheel. They have a new term for this phenomenon—the working class. This means you will always work, grind, and still barely survive. I’m no longer part of…
5 Takeaways from “The Myth of Making It”
“The Myth of Making It” by Samthi Mukhopadhyay is a hands-on account of what it takes to make it in corporate America. I was drawn to the book because I spent 24 years in the Marine Corps trying to “make it.” Becoming successful in America is challenging for everyone, especially if you become a manager…
BCRE: Become Capitalist Retire Early
Do you really want to work until you are 65? At some point in my working life, I thought I would have a 30-year military career followed by 20 years in the civilian workforce. And then I changed my mind. In 2021, I wrote “No Freaking Way I Am Working Another 25 Years.” That was…
The Sacrifice of Retirement: It Won’t Come Easily But Is Possible
When did we start believing that retirement would come easily? Why do we think someone would pay us for our most unproductive years? The concept of retiring is a reasonably new idea. People who owned farms and businesses usually worked until they died. When social security became an entitlement, the government believed people would only…
Count Every Penny: Budgeting Your Way to Financial Independence
Why is it so difficult for us to budget and save? Why do we use scapegoats like inflation, price increases, and wage stagnation to deflect? The simple fact is that we must count every penny that enters and leaves our homes. That’s the only way we will build wealth and retire early. But somewhere along…
The 40-40-40 Plan vs. Happy Cash Flow Retirement
They told us that if we worked hard, were smart with our money, and planned well, we would have a great, exciting retirement. How is that working out for you? The 40-40-40 plan involves working 40 hours a week for 40 years and receiving 40% of your income during retirement. That was the plan they…
Find Happiness Inside of a Budget
I learned many things during middle and high school. However, one thing that I don’t remember learning is budgeting. Budgeting is perhaps the most essential element of building wealth, so why don’t “they” want us to learn how to do it? It’s simply that they want us to spend our money frivolously and without regard…
Reject the 40-40-40 Plan: 40 Hours Per Week, For 40 Years, For 40% Retirement
Most of us are halfway (or more) through our financial journeys, but it’s never too late to change course. The plan the experts sold us was never going to set us free. To become financially independent, especially before 50, we must travel a different path. To obtain assets, we must learn to leverage capital markets…
Become a Capitalist: Retire Early
Pensions are gone, and they are not returning. You cannot depend on Social Security. Your 401K will only provide you enough income if you invest over $2 million. So, how the heck are you supposed to retire? There is only one way to retire early—through passive income. Becoming a capitalist is the only way to…
5 Takeaways from “Work, Retire, Repeat”
“Work, Retire, Repeat” by Teresa Ghilarducci discusses the problems facing older people in the workforce and during retirement. From the outside, working into your 70s or 80s may sound like good financial advice, but it usually does not play out that way. Mrs. Ghilarducci presents an argument that defies the current “work longer” model that…
Happy Cash Flow Retirement 11
It’s time for another journal about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. Welcome to your Happy Cash Flow Retirement; I am glad you are here. But how did we get here? What does it mean to have a Happy Cash Flow Retirement? What steps can you implement today that can guarantee your success tomorrow?…
Use the GI Bill as an Income Stream: Use Your Benefits to Build Wealth
The military retirement system allows people to jump from the lower and middle classes to the upper class. A person with a pension at an early age has the ability to “double dip” as they work a second job. However, a strong argument exists for using your retirement, pension, and benefits to build an empire.…
Hustle Culture Represents the Erosion of the Family Unit: Build Passive Income as a Family
I’ve been watching lots of TikTok videos of people working multiple jobs due to inflation and high cost-of-living requirements. Sadly, working 40 hours at one job doesn’t provide enough income to support a person or family. However, there is still hope for the American Dream; it will just look different than you envision. Letting go…
5 Takeaways from “My Money My Way”
“My Money My Way” by Kumiko Love is a step-by-step guide on how to turn your financial (and emotional) life around. This book does a beautiful job of talking about the psychology of money. Changing money habits without understanding why we developed them is almost impossible. Money is only a tool we use to achieve…
Retirement vs. Financial Freedom: One is Financial; The Other is Spiritual
No one wants to work forever. As much as we love our careers initially, doing something for 30 to 40 years can tax our nervous systems. The idea of having multiple years in retirement is a relatively new concept. Before, people would work until they died. Once we moved into the city and began having…
America Will Never Let You Rest: We Must Achieve a 50% Savings Rate
Do you have the feeling that you are constantly running in place? That every time you make some progress, you have another financial setback? Welcome to America. Welcome to capitalism. The only way to get ahead in America is to become uber-rich. Yes, we can get ahead of bills by living below our means and…
Traveling to Istanbul on Passive Income: #1 Converting to a Passive Income Lifestyle
Turkey will always hold a special place in my heart. Here, I determined that if I wanted to live my dream life, I would have to make some drastic changes. Our first trip to Turkey was in June 2019, when my wife and I struggled financially. In fact, my wife had to quit her job…
