Tag: Financial Independence
Don’t Work Hard for Money 2; Work for Income-Producing Assets
Why do you go to work? Is it to pay bills or provide for your family? Do you go to fund your kid’s college tuition or purchase a home? These things are noble but may not get you the desired results. In fact, there is truly only one reason to work—at least at first. Why…
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…
The Options Wheel vs. Dividends
We need to keep our money working for us at all times—in the safest way possible. Sometimes, this means using a high-yield savings account, investing in dividend stocks, or even trading options. I recently discussed selling covered calls and cash-secured puts versus buying dividend-paying stocks. The conclusion was that trading options can be much riskier…
Selling Cash-Secured Puts vs. Treasury Bills
How much money can you earn in a 30-day cycle? I guess it depends on how you choose to earn your income. You can do it the safe way or add a little spice. Ultimately, it depends on your objectives. If you want to juice your returns to retire earlier, you’ll have to take on…
Cash-Secured Puts vs. Dividends: The Best Passive Strategy
The best way to retire early is through dividend investing—hands down. But that doesn’t mean that dividend investing is the best way to generate income. The goal is to create a Happy Cash Flow Retirement where new money comes in every day. Dividend investing can create lots of cash flow, but you will surrender much…
Selling Covered Calls vs. High Yield Savings: The Best Way to Invest $1,100
I love comparing various financial products against one another, but this one will take the cake. How do you compare the safest option to the riskiest one? So, let’s simplify the comparison: How would I safely grow a small nest egg of $1,100? The easy answer is to put the money into a high-yield savings…
Covered Calls vs. Dividends: The Best Passive Strategy
If you want to retire in America, you must build a stream of passive income. There are many ways to generate income in your sleep; however, understanding these streams is vital to building wealth. Two ways to generate a return on your invested money are selling covered calls and investing in dividend stocks. Both options…
Should You Take a Home Equity Loan? There Will Be a New Gold Rush
The new rush to gold will be home equity loans; mark my words. The average American homeowner is up to their eyeballs in debt, and the federal government has a solution. Instead of teaching people fiscal responsibility, the government wants to support the secondary market for home equity loans (or secondary mortgages). This means the…
Secondary Mortgages for Everyone! The Government wants to get into the Home Equity Loan Business
The US economy is stalling because the average consumer is overburdened with debt. The answer is for everyone to live below their means, pay down debt, and generate passive income from investments. But that sounds boring. The easy answer is to offer everyone the ability to assume more debt. That’s precisely the route the federal…
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…
No Freakin’ Way Am I Working Another 25 Years part 4
I vividly remember my 40th birthday. I was in Okinawa, Japan, on a two-year unaccompanied tour away from my family. I was working hard to establish my writing and book publishing business. I had been in the Marine Corps for 22 years at the time. The last three years were the hardest because stress levels…
Retiring to a Small City and Living on Passive Income 2
Do you want to have the chance to retire in this lifetime? Even better, do you want to retire early, perhaps in your 40s or 50s? There has never been a better time to create a Happy Cash Flow Retirement, but it will take sacrifice. Your company no longer gives you a nice pension with…
Young Income Investors of America
Now is the time for young people of America to unite under something that most people do not understand—income investing. Income investing is vital to your ability to retire early, pay bills, and build wealth. This article will serve as the anthem for all young, aspiring income investors to begin their journey toward financial security…
Beat Housing Inflation with Dividends
The costs of owning or renting a home are rising at unprecedented levels. Everyone who stays inside a shelter feels the effects of economic inflation and corporate greed. There is literally nowhere to hide; all we can do is get better. I want to look closer at what is causing this housing inflation and how…
Homeownership Will Determine Your Child’s Fate: So Buy Them a Home
There has never been a better time to purchase a home; however, you must discover the method you will use to execute your plan. We are entering a recession, interest rates are sky-high, and there is a housing crisis—all things that can hinder our progress toward homeownership. But these are all excuses. The simple answer…
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…
Im Loading Up on 30-Year Treasury Bonds: Before Yields Disappear
It’s an exciting time to be a bond investor. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates to help combat the high inflation that is running rampant throughout the country. I have always said that I am a buyer of 30-year Treasury Bonds that yield over 4%. Lucky for me, now is the best period for purchasing…
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…
