Tag: retirement
Santa’s Bringing Closed-End Funds for Christmas
It’s a jolly good time of the year to have a bank account full of income. How could you use an extra $500, $1,000, or $1,500 per month in revenue? Would receiving an extra $500 monthly in guilt-free dividends change your life? I know that it has changed mine in spectacular ways. Often, we ask…
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…
How to Raise Financially Intelligent Kids: Staying Debt-Free or Becoming Capitalists?
We all want to raise children who understand how to give, save, and invest; however, this is more challenging than it sounds. The world wants our children to become horrible money managers; many entities (banks, companies, lenders) can take advantage of adults with no financial intelligence. As we raise our kids, there are two predominant…
Thanksgiving: A Time for Grace and Passive Income
What a wonderful time to be alive and enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday season. What are you thankful for this year? I am blessed to have retired from the Marine Corps this year—24 years later. After many years of being away, I finally came home for good. I am also thankful to have learned the ways…
5 Takeaways from “Rich Kid Smart Kid”
“Rich Kid Smart Kid” by Robert Kiyosaki is a masterclass on how parents can raise financially literate kids who can thrive in the information age. It’s no secret that Robert Kiyosaki is my favorite author, so it was my destiny to love this book from the start. It also happens that my kids are presently…
Spicy Dividends for a Bland Life: Make More Money for Doing Less Work
I remember my life as an employee. The military paid me twice a month for over 24 years. They used to call it “three hots and a cot.” For the first 20 years, my only income derived from those two monthly paychecks. They increased yearly, but my expenses increased more than my pay raises. Soon, the…
Tired of Being Broke, Behind, and Bullied? It’s Time to Become a Capitalist
I remember when I first made $100,000 in a year. I believed all my financial problems would disappear after hitting that magical number. However, in reality, my financial issues were worse than ever. I had $70,000+ in credit card and automobile debt, and I couldn’t take my family out to eat without using my credit…
The Pros & Cons of Homeownership #3: Inflation Protection
My generation (40s) didn’t honestly know about inflation a few years ago because we had never felt it. However, 2022 changed that for all of us. Suddenly, food, gas, and housing costs rose faster than our wages. Those who had locked in 2-3% mortgages on lower-priced homes were sitting pretty. Those in the market who…
Building Generational Wealth: Via Dividends
Should our kids have to start from scratch? People say how wonderful it is to become a self-made individual, but is that what we want from our kids? My parents didn’t give me a head start financially, so I spent years treading water. I could have spent these years building upon what they created—if they…
Why Series “I”? The Benefits of Investing in Savings Bonds
With the Federal Funds rate hovering around 5%, there are many places to park your cash and receive a good deal of interest. Some of these investments include high-yield savings, certificates of deposit, treasury bills, and treasury notes. With so many choices, how is a saver to choose? How to invest is a deeply personal…
The Perks of Becoming a Capitalist
I spent over twenty years thinking like a government employee. There is nothing wrong with working for the government and providing for your family. However, although the wages were reasonable, my financial situation stayed the same from age 18 to 38; I always seemed to be in debt or broke. My wife and I are…
How to Control Your Spending 104: Implementing a Daily Budget
We don’t realize how much marketing we receive throughout one day. Even worse, social media has helped average people market to one another—no evil corporations required. Therefore, it’s not a question of whether we spend money but how much we spend. With that in mind, let’s find a way to spend but remain under control.…
Retirement Planning for the Average Person 6
It finally happened; my wife and I retired. I am 42, and she is 39, and life couldn’t be better. We both started with below-average resources, but we still arrived at this momentous occasion. So, what’s the secret sauce to retiring when you want, having a great income, and living your dream life? The secret…
5 Takeaways from “Smart Money Smart Kids”
“Smart Money Smart Kids” by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze is a masterclass in raising smart money kids. My boys are 17 and 12, so this book is what I need to help my family learn good money habits at this crucial age. Raising money-smart kids isn’t about perfection from parents or children. It is…
Trading Long Strangles for Passive Income
Trading options on the stock market is not for the faint of heart. However, you have come to the right place if you want big returns (for taking big risks). Trading options can be a very emotional experience because the stock market can make you feel like an idiot sometimes. Therefore, finding the options strategy…
How to Control Your Spending 103: Developing a Hardcore Budget
There are only two ways to become rich: lower expenses or increase income. If you can reduce your costs as you add more cash flow to your bottom line, you have a good chance of becoming wealthy. But how do we lower our expenses when inflation wreaks havoc on our budgets? The answer is to…
The Pros & Cons of Homeownership #2: Wealth Destruction
The more I watch HGTV, the more I believe the housing industry created it to get people to spend money on their homes. Owning a home can be the most expensive experience of your life if you let it. Unfortunately, many people have destroyed any chance of building wealth by focusing their wallets on their…
How to Control Your Spending 102: Using the Envelope System
We kids teach kids how to spend using the envelope system; however, adults can use this system as well. The envelope system gives us a better way to visualize our spending and income than debit cards and online banking. But who should use the envelope method, and how will it benefit them in the long…
The Pros & Cons of Homeownership 1: Wealth Creation
There has never been a more challenging time to purchase a home than in 2023. Interest rates are soaring, and home prices haven’t decreased to reduce the monthly payments. Therefore, first-time home buyers need more money for a down payment and higher incomes for bigger mortgage payments. The burning question is if buying and owning…
How to Control Your Spending 101: Cutting Up Your Credit Cards
There comes a time in most people’s lives when they grow sick and tired of carrying credit card debt. It usually happens when they have maxed out most of their credit cards—it’s the end of the road. At this point, they usually ask how they got here. The answer is quite simple: we learn to…
