Category: Finance

Lessons Learned from My Mom

by A Purple Life, posted in Musings, Spending

When I look around I can tell that I’m different from other people. Some have even told me so. I’m not sure if they meant it as an insult, but I didn’t take it that way. When I look around even a less consumer city (compared to NYC) like Seattle I see people in name brand coats with name brand bags wearing the same name brand boots. They like to talk about the other name brand things they are planning to buy while decked out daily in jewelry and make up. Continue reading “Lessons Learned from My Mom” →

I Don’t Want To Be A Financial Adviser

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Musings

After hearing that I want to retire early several people have tried to talk me out of it – saying that I just haven’t found the right career or job. “What do you like to do?” they ask. “Personal finance” I respond. “Why don’t you become a financial adviser?” they say. My original response was that I do not like the idea of my pay being linked to giving biased or bad advice. Continue reading “I Don’t Want To Be A Financial Adviser” →

The Power of an Emergency Fund

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Jobs, Musings
“I heard there might be layoffs” my colleague said to me, her eyes wide. “Cool” I replied while turning back to my computer. She looked at me in shock. Apparently that wasn’t the normal response. I’ve worked in ad agencies all of my career and I have been laid off three times in five years. The shortest time I’ve been at a company is two weeks. The ad world is extremely turbulent. We are at the whims of other companies (our clients) and their budget. It’s a service industry and if big companies are tightening their belts in response to a recession, for example, there is a lot less ad money and agencies have almost yearly layoffs as a result. And who gets laid off? The newest, youngest hires AKA me 🙂 .

Continue reading “The Power of an Emergency Fund” →

Maxing 401K in 4 Months

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Investing

I seem to always inspire weird looks in my HR departments :). Apparently they see 62% contribution to 401K and think I forgot a decimal point. At my new company I’ve been asked I believe 3 times in a 2 month period if my election was correct. Yes it is :). When I started at my new company on November 15, 2016 I calculated what election percentage I needed to max my 401K by December 31 despite being funemployed for 4 months. And that was 62% so I made it happen and I maxed it (within a few hundred that the no decimal point awarded me). Continue reading “Maxing 401K in 4 Months” →

I Accidentally Became a Financial Advisor

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Hobbies

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” →

How I Navigated My Finances

by A Purple Life, posted in Early Retirement, Finance

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” →