A few financial bloggers that I read regularly have mentioned how in retirement you will most likely accidentally earn money. As an early retiree you’ll have 30+ years of health and energy ahead of you instead of 5 or less. I never quite believed it, but I did just accidentally stumbled onto a side hustle while I am still working, which makes me think they might be onto something. Continue reading “I Accidentally Became a Financial Advisor”
Category: Finance
How I Navigated My Finances
I’ve always been fairly good with money, but I never realized the power of investing and compound interest until I was well into adulthood.
My Prototype
I was more of a “hide it under your mattress” hoarder of money –which I now know is a surefire way to deplete money’s buying power through inflation — but as a young kid I had no idea. At age 7, I tried my luck at money lending to my step-siblings. That didn’t go too well, since I didn’t have debt collectors at my disposal and they had a hard time taking their youngest sibling seriously. Growing up my parents paid us for chores done around the house. When we received the money (usually $1 per chore) we were shocked to discover that we only received $0.33 for every dollar. “Taxes and Social Security” my Mom said.
Continue reading “How I Navigated My Finances”
Funemployment Helped Me Find What’s Important
My 4 months of funemployment in 2016 was the longest I have been funemployed in my career. In previous years I had only been without a job for about a month at a time, which was exactly enough time to network, find another job and do little else. This longer stint originally frustrated me. One company claimed to want to hire me before I even left my previous job, but was then put on hold. Then I went traveling. Despite my schedule rarely having me in Seattle for more than 24 hours another company a few weeks later said they wanted to hire me, but it fell through. I kept traveling. Another company inexplicably worked around my busy travel schedule and let me do several interviews over the phone claimed they wanted to hire me. And this too fell through in the end. There were several less serious disappointments along the way. Continue reading “Funemployment Helped Me Find What’s Important”
Good Bank Review: Navy Federal Credit Union
I wasn’t aware that I was a part of Navy Federal until my mom told me. Since my grandfather was in the military our family is able to join their bank. After becoming annoyed at the annual fee that’s tacked on TD Bank credit cards I explored Navy Federal’s options and found a wonderful 1.5% Cash Back credit card that I’ve been using for a few years. Continue reading “Good Bank Review: Navy Federal Credit Union”
I’m Lucky: I’ve Always Been This Way
When I read about the paths of other financial independence seekers I’ve noticed something about myself. I’ve always been this way. When others were looking to fill their lives with things I’ve mostly always loved hoarding my money. When I was young – maybe 7 – I was even a bank to my step-siblings. I’d lend them money and collect repayments. One of them still owes me $50. With interest :). I doubt I’ll ever see it though. Such is the life of a bank of a 7 year old. Continue reading “I’m Lucky: I’ve Always Been This Way”
2016 Spending
Let’s look at the explosion that was my 2016 spending. Overall I spent $22,518.67 which isn’t bad (compared to the $30,000 spending of 2015) but it’s still not as low as I’d like. A few factors for this level of spending were: Continue reading “2016 Spending”
2016 State of the Union
I did it again – against all odds. I started this year with the goals to:- Max my 401K
- Max my Traditional IRA
- Increase my salary
- Overall contribute $54,000 to investments
$125,000 Net Worth
Despite not having a job for four and a half months I now have $125,000 in net worth. It seems like yesterday when I was anticipating having $100,000 in March and I already have 25% more. I’m starting to see the beauty of compound interest in just that fact. For the time I was funemployed I was making about $30,000 a year and my savings still increased a ridiculous amount. A part of it was market returns (about $10,000), but the other $15,000 was not – and I didn’t save or put any money into the market in that time. It’s just wild. I’m so excited for the next milestone. Bring it.