.Don’t Let Early Retirement Box You Into Stupid Corners

Don’t Let Early Retirement Box You Into Stupid Corners

By  Steve Adcock 

How many of you good people have [formally or informally] entered contests to see how little money you can spend during a period of time? Like those “No Spend” months?

If you read enough personal finance material, those money challenges are common. But, I haven’t entered a single one of them.

Not because they’re useless. Not because they are harmful.

It’s because I don’t need to enter a contest to see how much I can scrimp to get by in a certain area of my life.

That’s not the point of early retirement. Or financial independence.

These competitions have a way of “encouraging an assumption” that we need to do certain things or believe in specific philosophies in order to achieve our financial goals.

Things like:

Early retirees don’t spend money on clothes (they do)

Early retirees never spend money at restaurants (they do)

Early retirees never buy new cars (they do)

Early retirees always own instead of rent (they don’t)

In reality, financial independence and early retirement looks different to each and every one of us. We all spend money differently, and I’ve met early retirees who go out to eat regularly, or lease cars, or rent their homes instead of own. Homeownership is overrated.

The rhetoric that you hear isn’t necessarily wrong.

It just doesn’t speak for everyone. If you do things differently than the rest of us, that’s okay. Just because you love going out to eat or buying that Starbucks coffee doesn’t mean that you’ll never retire early.

Early retirement = Quality over Quantity

Here’s the biggest problem with these contests. They make it seem like simply spending less money is a major accomplishment. Like, “Yay, I didn’t spend a dime on such-‘n-such item for a whole month!“.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://thinksaveretire.com/dont-let-early-retirement-box-you-into-stupid-corners/

.Six Simple Money Habits That Changed My Life

Six Simple Money Habits That Changed My Life

By  Jim Wang   28 August 2019

Habits play such an important role in every aspect of your life. And those habits, good or bad, are reflected in your finances.

Some of our habits are small, almost insignificant. Over time, though, they have a large effect. There are little things that I've done over many years that have had outsized results. Individually, they don't move the needle. But they're like little course corrections on the cruise ship of life. A little change early on, repeated and compounded over many years, can have a significant impact.

When you add them together, they can help you achieve things you never thought possible.

Six Simple Money Habits

Small Habits Lead to Big Results

A prime example for me was gaining strength. I made a decision to build muscle but I didn't want to be one of those guys who spent hours in the gym. I learned that there are workout regimens that don't require a ton of time, but which still improve strength with just 20-30 minutes a session. These routines target several muscle groups at once. (The deadlift is a good example.)

Because these sessions only took 20-30 minutes, it was easy to make time for them. As a result, I started going to the gym more regularly. And once I was there, something funny happened.

On some days, I did the workout and left. On others, I felt like I could do more. So, I incorporated other exercises that targeted smaller muscle groups. The promise of a short session got me in the habit of going to the gym. That was the hard part. Once I was there, I often did more than I had planned.

At first, I saw my strength increase until I hit a plateau. I talked with some folks and realized I had two non-obvious weaknesses: insufficient protein intake and grip strength.

For the protein, I added a bit of unflavored protein into my coffee each morning.

For grip strength, I started doing more dumbbell exercises in lieu of barbell exercises. The simple act of carrying the heavy weights to a bench helped increase my grip strength.

Both were small changes that became daily habits, which eventually had a big impact on my exercise regimen. Neither was difficult, I just had to discover them. And today, I'm stronger than I've ever been thanks to these seemingly minor changes.

But you're not here for fitness tips from me. You're here for money tips, right? Here are some simple habits I've developed that might not seem like much at first, but which have had a huge impact on my finances. Maybe they'll help you too.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://www.getrichslowly.org/simple-money-habits/#more-237236

.What My Immigrant Mom Can Teach You About Money

What My Immigrant Mom Can Teach You About Money

September 1, 2017

 How an Immigrant Does Money

My mom thinks that if she had $1,100 a month she’d be able to retire rich. That’s just $13,200 a year. To most people reading this that amount is poverty level. You need millions to retire, right?

My mom and I have this tradition: since she can’t read or write, she puts any unfamiliar mail aside, waits for me to come visit, so I can then read the mail and explain to her what it says.

This last time, she got a letter from Social Security. The letter showed a chart of how much she was eligible for if she retired. I explained that if she retired right now, at 62, she’d get a little over $1,100 a month. But if she waited until she was 65, she’d get $1,500 per month.

“So, what do you think?” I asked.

She thought for a second and said, “If I had the $1,100, then that’s rich enough.” In her mind, that’s $1,100 she wouldn’t have to work for. It’d be enough to cover her basic needs. What else would you need?

Aside from social security, my mom has saved up a high five-figure sum in 401k funds, plus five-figure amounts set aside for both my sister and me. And yet. She has never made more than $14 an hour. She was the breadwinner, and worked to support a family of four.

When I was little, my dad got fired from his job one day and never went back to work. Then he passed away when I was a teenager.

Still, us kids never wanted for much of anything. We lived a life of amazing privilege: a steady roof over our heads, full bellies, and parents who wondered about us when we went out at night.

You’ve seen the startling headlines. That nearly half of Americans don’t have an extra $400 laying around in case of an emergency. And most Americans have little saved for retirement. In my mom’s age group, the median amount saved is a paltry $17,000.

So, how is it that an illiterate, low-wage earning immigrant has managed to surpass these Americans?

Let’s start from the beginning.

 Coming to America

Most people would say my parents came to America with the most unfortunate circumstances: they didn’t speak any English, were uneducated, and didn’t have a penny to their name. Coming from a tropical country, also unfortunate was the cold, snowy area they landed in: a small, working-class, predominantly white city, because the local church folks brought them there, and my parents didn’t know any better.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

http://www.theluxestrategist.com/immigrant-mom-can-teach-money/

.The Important Thing About Money

The Important Thing About Money That Has Nothing To Do With Money

June 25, 2019   The Luxe Strategist

 Values: The Overlooked Part About Money You Need to Get Right

Recently on Instagram I saw a group of friends clinking drinks on a trip and felt a pang–I wish I could do that. Not the traveling part. It’s the traveling with the multiple people part that I suck at.

You see, I’m a Vacation Ruiner. The larger the group, the greater the damage.

If you invite me on your trip I can guarantee that there will be a tempo mismatch–what everyone wants to do at a relaxed pace I’ll want to fly through. And when people want to go to a museum I’ll undoubtedly show up in waders ready to go fishing.

My presence will create an unmistakable tension that will ensure you have a terrible time on a trip you’ve spent thousands of dollars on and hours planning.

On my first group trip, one of my friends quietly cancelled the rest of the trips we had planned.

And on the second trip, nobody said a word the entire three-hour car ride home.

It didn’t take long before I realized I was the common denominator.

In case you think I’m a jerk for no reason, let me explain: Everyone’s got something that drives their behavior. Later I realized what it was about the trips that turned me into an awful travel companion.

Group trips stifled things that I value very very much: independence, exploration and the opportunity to problem solve on my own. Being able to do things how I want and when I want.

When you think about it that way, six people on a trip with only one car was a disaster in the making. And when I look back even to my childhood, it’s crazy how my values have driven so many of my decisions:

From getting mad at a teacher for trying to help me pick out a holiday card. To being banned from field trips in high school, because I ran off from the rest of the group. Then after college avoiding a full-time job for three years. (Like really, who does that?)

Have you noticed something like that in yourself? A value that you hold so strongly to the core, that it steers everything you do?

 The Hard Part About Money

If you have a hard time thinking of an example, you’re probably in good company.

In personal finance we all focus way too much on tactics. While spending less than you earn, learning how to invest, and opening up a 2% interest savings account are important, the results will mostly vary depending on who you are.

But one thing I can guarantee is that money will always be hard unless you’ve got the touchy-feely stuff down.

That means understanding what drives you to do things. Your core values.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

http://www.theluxestrategist.com/the-important-thing-about-money-that-has-nothing-to-do-with-money/

.Here’s A Dirty Secret Few People Know About Gold

Notes From The Field   By Simon Black

August 26, 2019   San Juan, Puerto Rico

Here’s A Dirty Secret Few People Know About Gold

In 1962 in a picturesque setting in Santa Barbara, California, two local entrepreneurs opened a low-cost, roadside inn where the nightly room rate was just $6.

They called it Motel 6.

And today the chain has grown to over 1,400 locations.

If you want the most straightforward explanation for why you should own gold, consider your local Motel 6.

It’s noteworthy that, today, the very same Santa Barbara location now rents its rooms for nearly $90 per night.

That’s a 15x increase in 57 years, an average increase of roughly 5% per year.

Are the rooms 15x bigger, or 15x nicer? Not really.

The reason the price has increased so much is because of inflation-- the gradual erosion of the US dollar’s purchasing power over the past several decades.

This is why it’s important to have a conversation about gold.

Unlike paper currencies, gold has a 5,000 year track record of keeping up with inflation.

In fact, when priced in gold, a room at the Motel 6 has actually gotten cheaper.

Back in 1962, an ounce of gold would buy you about 6 nights at the motel. Now, despite the 12-fold increase in the price of a room, one ounce of gold will buy you 21 nights there.

That’s because the price of gold has largely outpaced the rate of inflation and the decline in the purchasing power of the US dollar.

Gold is a fantastic long-term store of value. It’s also an insurance policy-- a hedge against paper currency, systemic risk, and uncertainty.

And there’s plenty of those in the world.

But there’s also a number of catalysts emerging right now that could send gold prices substantially higher in the near future, so it may be worth considering gold right now as a speculation.

There have been several times in history where gold has experienced wild swings in value against paper currency. And some people got very rich from it.

In the coming days and weeks, I’ll be writing a series of articles on different ways to own gold.

And it’s my hope that you’ll use the information to as part of your Plan B, not only to hedge against looming risks, but also to potentially profit from uncertainty in the system.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/heres-a-dirty-secret-few-people-know-about-gold-25505/

To your freedom, Simon Black,  Founder,  SovereignMan.com

.Preparing For A Snowbird Lifestyle

Preparing For A Snowbird Lifestyle

By Harriet Edleson, AARP

Before you migrate to a warmer climate for the winter, take these steps:

Visual:  Couple in beach chairs, holding hands, smiling 

When Richard and Betty Ann Smith retired 15 years ago, they moved from East Brunswick, N.J., to Easton, Pa., and decided to start spending the winter months along the Gulf Coast of Alabama.

From January through March, temperatures there are in the 60s and 70s — a climate the Smiths find much better for staying active than the winter weather in Pennsylvania.

“We go for golf, we go for fishing and we go for socializing with our winter friends,” says Richard Smith, 79, a retired Presbyterian pastor. “All along the coast, the snowbirds migrate, and they fill up the coast area in the winter.”

The Smiths, like others who have retired, found a new freedom as snowbirds — people who migrate to warmer climates each year usually sometime between December and January. As temperatures dip throughout the U.S., snowbirds head south to escape the winter wind, ice and snow of northern states.

Health reasons such as pulmonary issues motivate some, while others simply prefer warm weather. And according to yearlong residents of those sunnier climates, the snowbirds who used to come just for winter are now starting to stick around longer.

Along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, for example, the unofficial snowbird season used to be mostly January and February but now has extended from early November until March, says Kay Maghan, a spokesperson for Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism. “We are seeing a much longer stay from our snowbirds in the last four years,” she says.

“There is a growing number of people who are becoming snowbirds and who are staying longer,” says John F. Brady, founder of TopRetirements.com, a website that focuses on retirement issues. “Boomers – a large segment – are tired of winter and the hassles that come with it.”

In addition to Alabama, other states that have been popular snowbird destinations are Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina and Texas, according to Homeaway.

Picking a snowbird destination — and deciding how long to stay there each year — depends largely on finances and tastes. Brady and his wife, Roberta, 65, who is a mystery writer, split their time between Madison, Conn., and Key West, Fla., which has become their primary residence.

Others, like Washington, D.C., attorney Alan Tawshunsky, 64, continue to live most of the year in their home in the colder climate. Tawshunsky has spent the past three winters in South Florida, where he works remotely in his own law practice. “I prefer the milder weather in Florida to D.C. in the winter,” he says.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://www.aarp.org/retirement/planning-for-retirement/info-2018/how-to-snowbird.html?intcmp=AE-RET-SAV-R1C1

.10 Habits Of Financially Successful People

10 Habits of Financially Successful People

By: Beverly Bird

 Can You Get Ahead Just By Changing Your Habits?

We’ve all done it: ogling massive homes and estates while we’re driving, wondering how the owners achieved all that success and wishing for a little of it ourselves. Or maybe your neighbor just bought a brand new Ferrari. How did he become so financially successful?

Here’s a hint: He might not be. He might just appear to be successful. In fact, the world’s most successful people generally don’t spend wildly. They’ve developed good fiscal habits and they’re exactly that – habits. They’re consistent.

A Penny Saved…

Successful people routinely save. This doesn’t necessarily mean dropping their change into a jar every night before bed, although this is certainly beneficial, too. It means never spending more than they have to.

Think of it this way: Every time single time you use that credit card or write a check, you have less money than you had a minute before. The equation only works if you spend less than you earn. It’s that simple.

You might have heard about Warren Buffett’s house, the one he bought for cash decades ago and continues to live in. It’s not a mansion. In fact, it’s a little on the small side. There’s no doubt in the world that Buffett can afford a lot more, but he’s lived with the habit of deferring instant and copious gratification in exchange for long-term wealth and security.

Are you stretching your budget to accommodate a lifestyle you can’t easily afford? Do you find yourself juggling your finances every month because you don’t quite earn enough to make all ends meet? This might be a habit you want to get out of.

And It’s About How You Save

About that change jar you toss your coins into every night. Get your money out of there and put it in some type of a financial account, even if it’s just a run-of-the-mill bank savings account, where it can earn some interest and grow.

Financial experts tout the 10 percent rule – you should regularly and methodically tuck aside this much of your income. Financially successful people tend to make it a habit to do more than that. Think 15 percent or even 20 percent if you can manage it.

If you’re not that disciplined – although most successful people are – set up automatic transfers to your savings so you don’t even have to think about it.

Put It in Writing

Another habit that can bear fruit involves writing it all down. Commit your budget to something black and white, whether it’s a file in your computer, a smartphone app or good old pen and paper. Financially successful people like to literally see where their money is going and coming from.

Sure, you can go online and view your bank balance at a glance. But do you really want to take someone else’s word for how much money you have? Banks aren’t infallible, and financially successful people know that. They keep track of their own money as well.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

 https://pocketsense.com/15-quotes-from-successful-investors-that-will-change-your-life-13708277.html

.What Are You Willing To Do For Financial Independence?

What Are You Willing To Do For Financial Independence?

By Barry Choi

 I’m honestly getting really tired of all the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) blogs, articles, and people out there. Don’t get me wrong, I think FIRE is amazing, and if you can achieve it, that’s great.

My problem is that in the last little while, FIRE has been making headlines because of people who have unique situations.

It’s easy to achieve FIRE if you have a high income and reside in an area where there’s a low cost of living, but for most people, that may not be the case.If you want to achieve FIRE, you can take a few steps to help you get there. You may not retire in your 30’s or 40’s, but I would say if you can retire a few years early without having to worry about money, you’re probably doing alright.

Full disclosure, I’m looking to retire early myself, but there’s just no way I’m doing what some people did to get there. What are You Willing to do for Financial Independence?

When FIRE Gets Out Of Hand

A couple years back the CBC featured Millennial Revolution, a couple in their early 30’s who retired with a $1,000,000 portfolio. There was so much online hate that they followed up with another story loosely explaining how they managed to achieve FIRE.

Basically, the couple graduated as computer engineers and had high paying jobs while living in an apartment that cost them $800 a month. They saved $500K and invested their money which happened to coincide with one of the biggest market rallies in history.

When their portfolio hit a million dollars, they called it quits and have been travelling since. This is a great story, but that’s some pretty unique circumstances.

Business Insider recently featured Physician on FIRE who is a part-time doctor earning $250,000 a year and plans to retire in a year at the age of 43. When I first read the headline, I was wondering why it took so long for a guy who earns a quarter of a million U.S. dollars working part-time to retire.

 Well, it turns out he was never really formally planning to do so but realized that with his current situation, it made sense to achieve FIRE. It’s clear that Physician on FIRE worked his butt off to get to where he’s at, but how many people make $250K working part-time?

Then there’s Sean Cooper who paid off his mortgage in just three years. Sean gets a lot of hate online since he sacrificed just about everything to achieve his goal.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://www.moneywehave.com/what-are-you-willing-to-do-for-financial-independence/

.When Money Makes You Miserable

More Money, Less Happiness: When Money Makes You Miserable

By  Michael Laurence — August 14 2019

More money, less happiness: When money makes you miserable

Money, the conventional wisdom says, doesn't buy happiness. Modern psychology seems to back this up, with studies suggesting that beyond an income of $75,000, money doesn't make you any happier.

This conclusion is simultaneously obvious and counter-intuitive.

As an abstract principle, most us acknowledge that money doesn't buy happiness. But, at the same time, we all want more of something material — a nicer house, nicer vacations, the ability to live in a certain neighborhood or eat at fancier restaurants — that we think would make us happier. (If you're J.D., you think maybe season tickets to your favorite team might make you happier.)

So, we're left with a conundrum. Or, rather, a series of conundrums: Does income in excess of $75,000 make us happier? And if not, why not?

When Money Makes You Happier

In answer to the first question, I believe that all else equal — and as we'll see below, this is a huge qualifier, as things are rarely equal — more money generally makes you happier.

To be clear, money won't solve every problem. If you're lonely or bitter or angry, for instance, more money won't make you any happier. But just because money doesn't solve every problem doesn't mean that money won't solve any problems.

Money can make many things easier, or better. With more money you can:

Build a nest-egg.

Pay off your house or car.

Go on more vacations.

Have more kids.

Be a stay at home parent.

Eat better food.

Retire early.

With more money, you can do any number of other things that people enjoy and that make them happier. And if you're a victim of systemic poverty, more money can change your world.

As much as we pay lip-service to the idea of money not making us happy, it often does, and it's okay to admit this. It doesn't make us materialistic or greedy to want retirement savings, a nicer home, a paid-off car, or a trip to Europe.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://www.getrichslowly.org/more-money-less-happiness/

.Which Financial Advice Should You Trust?

Which Financial Advice Should You Trust?

By  J.D. Roth — published 19 August 2019 (updated 22 August 2019)

Commenting on a recent article, Carmine Red asked an excellent question:

How do you evaluate the financial advice you get from other sources? Specifically, how do you decide if some piece of advice is for you, or if you should discard some adjacent advice. Is there an amount of pick-and-choose?

GRS definitely doesn’t seem like a dogmatic 100% one-way-of-doing things site, so I’d love to hear about the critical thinking you employ, and that I’m sure we can all use a little of since we’re getting bombarded by financial “do this!” or “don’t do this” instructions from so many different dimensions.

Carmine is right: GRS is not dogmatic. From the start, my top admonition has been “do what works for you”. By this I mean that you should test financial advice to see if it works for you and your situation. There's little (if any) advice that applies to 100% of people in 100% of cases. Life is messy. Money is messy.

So, how can you decide whom to trust? How can you evaluate a piece of financial advice to decide whether it has merit? And if the financial advice does have merit, how can you tell if it's right for your life?

Today, let's take a deep dive into this question. Let's explore how to evaluate all of the financial advice you get — from the internet, from television, and in real life.

Which Financial Advice Should You Trust?

 How to Evaluate Financial Advice

Before I answer Carmine's question directly, I want to approach it obliquely. If you find this section boring, please skip to the next one. I won't hold it against you!

In 1940, Mortimer J. Adler published How to Read a Book, which contained 400 pages of advice on doing something that most people would argue needs no instruction. In 1967, he revised the book and turned it into a little masterpiece.

In the revised edition, Adler argues that there are four levels of reading:

Elementary Reading.   At this basic level, the reader is able to answer the question, “What does the sentence say?” But reading at this stage is a mechanical act.

Inspectional Reading.   At this level, a reader's aim is to get the most from a book (or article) in a minimum of time. “Inspectional reading is the art of skimming systematically,” Adler writes. Your aim is to get a surface understanding of the book, to answer the question, “What is this book about?”

Analytical Reading.   At this level, you're doing the best, most complete and thorough reading of a book that you can do. Inspectional reading is done quickly. Analytical reading is done without a time limit. Its aim is understanding. This is the sort of reading that most of us do most of the time.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://www.getrichslowly.org/financial-advice/#more-237516

.7 Golden Rules of Successful Investments

7 Golden Rules of Successful Investments

Golden Rules for Every Investor, or Major Mistakes Newbie Investors Make

The number of those who’re new to our business increases every day. Many of them face a number of typical mistakes (step on a rake) of a young investor.

You need to know everything about mistakes to avoid them. Maybe we should start with a start-up capital.

7 Golden Rules of Successful Investments

Rule #1   Constantly Build up Your Investment Capital

Investing requires money, which total amount must constantly grow; otherwise, it cannot be called investing. The source of growth may include both the funds saved up from base wages and the profit from already invested funds (investments).

The figure of 10% of base wages that should be saved up is common in many information sources, but every case is different. Everyone decides how much money he/she can put aside without negatively affecting the quality of life – read more about that in the next paragraph. 

Rule #2   Don’t Invest the Last of Your Money 

Any kind of investment involves increased risks, so when you invest the last money, you run the risk of ending up with nothing. However, there is something worse than losing the last of your savings (see the next paragraph).

Rule #3   Don’t Invest Other People's Money

There's nothing worse than being in debt to someone, especially when you're a decent person. Investing debt capital is twice the risk, because if you lose it, you’ll have to look for money to repay your debt to the creditor.

 Rule #4   Having an Investment Strategy

An investor having no strategy is not an investor anymore, but a gambler. You must have a plan of action (preferably set down on paper) for any possible situation. At that, you unreservedly must stick to it and make adjustments only when the market is closed. Adjusting your strategy “on the go” or in the course of making investment decisions is often caused by various emotions or gambling excitement of an investor.

To continue reading, please go to the original article at

https://fxssi.com/golden-rules-for-every-investor