My First 401(k) Match, An Updated Salary and Inching Closer to Early Retirement

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Investing, Jobs
Visiting the Oregon Coast for the first time on my 29th birthday. A great place to contemplate 401(k) matches!

It finally happened – 7 years out of college and I am finally getting my first 401k match! I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long (yes, I have weird dreams – deal with it). While working at all of my previous jobs, I never qualified for the 401(k) match (if they even had one). If they did have one, you were not eligible for it until you had been there 4 or so years, which is basically unheard of in ad agencies. Well played HR. Well played. Continue reading “My First 401(k) Match, An Updated Salary and Inching Closer to Early Retirement” →

Are Performance Reviews Useless?

by A Purple Life, posted in Jobs, Musings

For the first 5 years of my career – with 5 different companies – I never received a performance review. Not once. Not even after asking and hounding my manager for months. I hounded him because I was told performance reviews were how your manager evaluated you to give you raises and promotions, but as I soon learned, in my industry that’s not exactly the case. Continue reading “Are Performance Reviews Useless?” →

2 Years Until Retirement: The Master Plan

by A Purple Life, posted in Early Retirement, Musings

So you might have noticed that I like planning. It’s literally one of my favorite things. Even when I know that something could change or become moot, such as tax laws, just creating a plan for how I’m going to not pay taxes in retirement for example (since I’ll have no income) is super satisfying to me.

Knowing that, I doubt it will come as a surprise to you that I have a plan for basically every month until the day I retire in 2 years. Creating this kind of schedule has not only made the final year seem filled with things to do so it will feel like it’s going faster, but it also has the benefit of stretching out all the life changes I will make and things I need to do so they feel less overwhelming.

So what’s happening? Here’s a breakdown of what I plan to do before reaching retirement: Continue reading “2 Years Until Retirement: The Master Plan” →

How My Mom Retired At 55

by A Purple Life, posted in Early Retirement, Guest Posts

Today I’m happy to introduce the first guest post on this site with a very special guest: My Mom! As I’ve mentioned a few times on the blog, she was my main inspiration in starting my journey to financial independence. She actually retired the same month I started writing this blog. Hopefully her story can help inspire others and show that it’s never too late to begin your journey. She didn’t start investing in stocks until she was 40 and still retired at 55 with 3 kids and 2 paid off houses. If she can still retire early basically anyone can. Let’s see what she has to say. Continue reading “How My Mom Retired At 55” →

My Longest Job Ever: 1 Year, 11 Months

by A Purple Life, posted in Jobs, Musings

It’s time to celebrate!

Don’t laugh – this is a big deal for me! Quitting and getting laid off is basically a hobby of mine. I’ve had 6 jobs in 7 years. I quit twice and have been laid off 3 times. My shortest stint was 3 weeks. Oh ad agency life! This milestone snuck up on me and I’m a bit shocked it happened. My current job is now officially my longest ever: 1 year, 11 months at the same company! Continue reading “My Longest Job Ever: 1 Year, 11 Months” →

That Time I Laughed In A Financial Advisor’s Face

by A Purple Life, posted in Finance, Investing, Jobs
It was an accident, I swear! As I mentioned in my post detailing my work history in advertising, I had a mentor that I was introduced to through my cousin. Despite us originally meeting to discuss if I should try a new career after the hell that was my first job, she referred me to two other positions later in my career – both of which I was offered and accepted. In the first position I didn’t work directly with this mentor (let’s call her Grace). In the second I did. It was during this job that I had the fateful encounter…And how this happened is also strange and convoluted. Buckle up.

Continue reading “That Time I Laughed In A Financial Advisor’s Face” →

How Have I Changed After 1 Month of Public Blogging?

by A Purple Life, posted in Blogging, Hobbies, Musings

As some of you know, I’ve been writing this blog privately for 3.5 years. It was on the internet, but couldn’t be found or read by others. It served as a way to catalog my journey to financial independence: to show what I was thinking, feeling and what steps I took to accelerate my journey. For those years I found it really helpful to see what Past Me was thinking and feeling in different situations. It’s been great to see how I’ve changed as a person while approaching this goal. Continue reading “How Have I Changed After 1 Month of Public Blogging?” →