Category: Retirement Planning
Using Credit Cards 102: Intermediates Growing Their Lives
You are about to enter the most expensive time of your life. Between the age of 25-45, you will be responsible for buying a home, having children, and saving for retirement. It is a near-impossible task to make it out of this timeframe without debt. However, if we set a high enough goal, we will…
Using Credit Cards 101: Beginners Building Credit
I remember getting my first credit card at age 22. I knew nothing of credit cards, but they were an excellent way to purchase things online. The year was 2005, and Amazon was becoming a big deal for online shopping. I stayed on top of my credit card for many years until I got married…
Inflation Ate My Paycheck 109: How to Beat Insane Gas Prices
I just paid $6.30 per gallon to fill up my car in California. That’s almost $7 per gallon just for the luxury of driving to work. I’ve been warning of a new financial crisis, and we are seeing evidence of it now. Welcome back to the Inflaton Ate My Paycheck series (101, 102, 103, 104,…
My Recession Investing Plan
Halloween (and October) is a great time to re-access our spending. It’s good to have a crystal clear picture of our finances going into the New Year. I recently moved from Japan to San Diego, which means that my budget, spending, and saving habits had to change. The impending recession and bear (stock) market add…
What is Your Dream Retirement?
Times are getting tough, so it’s the season for some daydreaming. The only way to stay motivated through this impending recession is to focus on the outcomes. Your dream retirement is a vital part of keeping you on the path. Now, more than ever, people will attempt to get you off your purpose. So let’s…
Your 401K is NOT Enough
This article will hit some people hard. They led us to believe that our 401Ks were the end-all-be-all for retirement. If we just saved enough in our 401K, plus maybe a small pension and social security, we would be alright until the end of life. Unfortunately, the world changes faster than we do as humans.…
Trade School vs. College vs. The Military
This article brings me back many years to when I was in high school. I graduated high school in 1999 and went directly into the military. I am still in the Marines Corps, and now my son is in high school. The roles of these different education opportunities have changed considerably. Before, a college education…
Just Rewards: Credit Cards vs. Debit Cards
Today I am going to discuss the ultimate grudge match between credit cards and debit cards. Many people are out to get the best rewards; however, this is a comparison between two mindsets at its core. The credit card camp likes to talk about points for travel and cashback rewards. There are truly some great…
Inflation Ate My Paycheck 108: What is Your Recession Budget?
The Federal Reserve needs to send America into a recession. Why? Because a recession is the best way to combat high inflation quickly. What does a recession mean for the average person? It means we will struggle with our livelihoods if we do not adjust our mindsets. Today, I want to review our budgets to…
Happy Cash Flow Retirement 8
Today is a great day. I woke up understanding my purpose, my goal, and my mission. I also wake up every day richer than the day before. Welcome back to the Happy Cash Flow Retirement Series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 6, Part 7) My life consists of the magic of cash flow. I understand…
Is Budget a Bad Word?
Looking through social media, I always wonder how people budget. I make a decent amount of money (over $150,000/year), as does my wife (over $50,000), but we live on a budget. I see people going to Mexico, Hawaii, and the Dominican Republic and putting kids through private school. I see friends driving monster trucks and…
Passive Income Road Trip #2: Retirement Planning
I woke up today in San Antonio, Texas. I decided to split Texas into three days and two nights of driving. If you didn’t know, Texas is a massive piece of Earth. My friend called me and said I should have driven the 900 miles of Texas in one day. To that, I replied that…
Debt Snowball vs. Debt Avalanche
Over the last two years, I have consistently talked about paying off debt. Living a debt-free life is perhaps the greatest gift to your financial well-being. I wrote an entire series about Staying Debt-Free at Any Age (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s), and you can download all the books for free on my website.…
Inflation Ate My Paycheck 107: Cellphone Upgrade vs. Dividends
I’ve had the same cellphone for five years, and I will probably attempt to keep it one more year. Why? It still works fine. I bought my Samsung Galaxy S8+ in July 2017 when my family and I left mainland Japan. I kept it through my tour in Pensacola, FL, and then for two years…
Your Retirement Planning Guide 3
It’s your retirement, so you’ll have to make it great yourself. No one is going to prepare for your retirement better than you. This dynamic is a good and bad thing. On the one hand, you’re in complete control. You can either accept your fate and take it seriously or depend on your employer or…
Debt-Free Society: Beat Wedding Debt
Your wedding day is a time to celebrate with the love of your life. Hopefully, both of your families can party together and send you off to a great marriage. The problem with weddings is that they start you off with tons of consumer debt. When you get married, there are many new expenses you…
Retirement Planning for the Average Person 4
The average person needs to have a plan for retirement. Yes, this means that you actually need to formulate a path towards getting older and surviving. Retirement is coming for all of us, and no one is coming to save us. Social security is NOT a retirement plan. It’s a questionable backup resource—at best. I…
5 Takeaways from “Wedding Hacks”
“Wedding Hacks” by Maddie Eisenhart gives us 540 wedding tips to reduce our costs and prevent drama. Everyone preparing for a wedding should read this book because there is solid guidance inside. I am doing a deep dive into why Americans are broke. Weddings are a massive part of the equation, so reducing these expenses…
The Bait Resignation: Should You Quit Your Job?
Since the 2020 pandemic, we have heard the chatter about “The Great Resignation.” This is a movement where people quit their jobs because they are unfulfilled. I have never, never, never thought about quitting my job because of my satisfaction level. I have no idea when people started to believe that their job should make…
Join Up! Time to Sign Up for the Military
The military is a great place to beat a recession. I have been in the military during the recessions of 2000, 2008, 2020, and now 2022. But, the military offers so much more. I joined the United States Marine Corps in June 1999 and haven’t looked back. I am currently at 23 years and will…
