Category: Financial Independence

How to Fast FIRE Your Way to Generational Wealth – Part I

Fast FIRE

Today, we’re talking about Fast FIRE. No, not fatFIRE, although the Semi-Retired MD duo’s Fast FIRE method may very well lead to a cushy fatFIRE lifestyle as it has for them. Drs. Kenji Asakura and Leti Alto share a job and earn an impressive amount of tax-free income via their role as real estate investors. Today, they’re sharing part one of two explaining how this Fast FIRE approach can beat the pants off the more traditional path of investing in […]

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Should You Tithe or Build Your Own Wealth?

should you tithe

I’ll be the first to admit that I do not tithe to our church. Yes, we give, but it’s nowhere near 10% of our income. My personal feeling is that the government has taken on many of the roles and responsibilities that fell on the church in biblical times, and we do pay far more than 10% in taxes annually. This post talks about more than just tithing, though. When you expand from simply tithing to a religious organization to […]

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Top 5 Reasons to Exceed 25 Years of Expenses Before Retiring

Costa Rica Craft Beer

Financial independence is defined as owning assets that will support your intended lifestyle for the remainder of your life. While those assets may include rental properties or cash flowing businesses that provide passive or semi-passive income, the most common scenario, particularly for high-earning professionals, is to accumulate a portfolio consisting primarily of stocks and bonds. A couple of studies in the 1990s showed us that a historically safe withdrawal rate for people wanting their money to last at least 30 […]

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Ether to FI: Part-Time Work. Full-Time Life! And a Net Worth Update

How does one reconcile a drop to part-time work with a race to financial independence? Today, I present the 11th installment in the Ether to FI series. That’s right; this one goes to eleven! However, I do expect to see numbers 12, 13, and many more as we follow the young anesthesiologist and nurse practitioner on this journey to achieve financial independence in ten years. We’re just now early in year three. Personally, I dropped to part-time a while after […]

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As a Business Owner, I Have No Idea Where I Am on My Journey to FIRE (and That’s OK)

camp fi fire

As you might guess from the title, today’s article is a guest post. Personally, I know exactly where I’m at — which I’m happy to say is post-FI and newly RE. There is, however, a growing part of the equation that I’ve never factored into our net worth, and that is the value of my online business. Seeing my friend Steve sell Think Save Retire and witnessing J. Money parting with Budgets are Sexy makes the value of a blog […]

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Camp FI Review: A Weekend with FI-Curious Strangers

Camp_FI_Midwest

Why wouldn’t you want to spend three days in the middle of nowhere among 50 or so people you’ve never met? It sounds so… scary, doesn’t it? I may not be the best person to do the marketing for this gathering of FIRE seekers. I have now attended Camp FI three times, once as an attendee, and two as a guest speaker. I got in on the very first Camp FI near Gainesville, Florida and attended Camp FI Midwest in […]

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8 Things To Do With Financial Independence Besides Retire Early

blow up FIRE

Financial Independence is a wonderful thing, and it’s a worthy goal whether or not you have any interest in retiring early someday. Many a FIRE blogger has realized this, coming up with different acronyms (or different words for the same acronym) when describing their ideal life. For example, F.I.O.R. – Financial Independence Optional Retirement from Mad Money Monster Choose FI over FIRE from The Physician Philosopher Financially Comfortable and Pivot from The Finance Buff Rebranding FIRE from Dr. McFrugal When […]

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Why are Doctors Burning Out? Three Ways Financial Independence Can Save Us

The timing of this post couldn’t have been better. I decided to take a break from practicing medicine, and likely a permanent one, with my last shift ending just a few short days ago. Am I burned out? Maybe a little. Could I continue working in the same capacity? Absolutely. Yet, I have felt compelled for quite some time now to do something different. What spurred the change of pace just a dozen or so years into my anesthesia career? […]

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The 5 Benefits of Financial Freedom

Financial Freedom

Have you heard? Dr. Peter Kim is financially free from medicine. Note that he continues to practice, but by choice and on a less-than-full-time basis. It’s been nearly five years since I realized that I was in a similar position, and like Dr. Kim, I chose to continue practicing for a while, slowing down to part-time for the better part of the last two years. I’m days away from taking full advantage of my financial independence, as I turn in […]

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Searching For Happiness When Financially Independent

FI happiness

Some people spend years and years plodding along to hopefully someday become financially independent. For some lucky other folks, which include me and today’s guest author, you realize at some point in your late thirties that you actually have this thing called financial independence, and the biggest challenge is figuring out what to do with it. I met the man behind Life Outside the Maze over tacos in Denver with Mr. & Mrs. 1500 earlier this year. It turns out […]

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Ether to FI: Waste Not Want Not & a Net Worth Update

Taco Taco Taco

Ether to FI is back! The anesthesiologist with a keen eye on FI is back with his second update of the year and 10th overall in the nearly two years since he finished residency and got on the fast track to financial freedom. Today’s post is all about waste. I’ll be honest. Having the luxury to “waste time” is one thing I really look forward to in my upcoming retirement. Waste may not be the best word, but doing as […]

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Are Actuaries the FIRE Superheroes?

FIRE_Superheroes

Who would pose such a question? I don’t suppose it would be… an actuary, perhaps? If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, we’d both be right. Today’s guest post is, in fact, written by an actuary with an uncommon wit and a penchant for pensions, among other things. I’ve had the pleasure of clinking pint glasses with the Actuary on FIRE when I happened to be in his neck of the woods a couple of years ago. We spoke of kids, […]

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Top 5 Factors that Make Financial Independence Easier to Achieve

locums_paystub

How easy or difficult will your quest to achieve financial independence be? The math doesn’t much vary from person to person. You’re going to want at least 25x your future expenses saved up or passive income that exceeds your spending. If you don’t have either, or some combination of both capital and passive income, that can be expected to cover your future expenses indefinitely, you’d be hard pressed to call yourself financially independent. If you feel like financial independence is […]

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What’s Keeping You from Financial Freedom?

Havana Club Mojito

Dr. Peter Kim poses a simple question in today’s Saturday Selection. It’s a great question to ask, and an important question to ponder. If you’re not making good progress towards financial independence or financial freedom, what’s holding you back? Most people reading this website have the income to make it happen in a couple of decades or less. Live on half your takehome pay, use the rest to retire debts and invest, and you’ll be FI about 15 years after […]

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Financial Independence Should Be Part of the Medical Trainee’s Curriculum

Physician Ledger

What were you taught about money in school? How about after school? How did you learn about money? If you answered “next to nothing,” “next to nothing,” and “I learned from my own mistakes,” you’re in excellent company. That’s the route many of us have taken, and I think our financial education is in need of an overhaul. The Physician Philosopher agrees with me, and he goes a step further to state that not only financial literacy, but also financial […]

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Would You Quit Your Job as a Lottery Winner? How Financial Independence is Like Winning the Lottery

lottery winner

She watches with anticipation as the numbers pop up on the screen. 3. Her daughter’s age 12, 16. She was born on December 16th! 26. Her age when she graduated medical school and got married. 33. Her current age and the fifth of her lucky numbers. This is really happening. Just one number to go… 11! This one goes to eleven! She figured if she didn’t win the lottery, she could live on half her takehome pay and be financially […]

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Ether to FI: “I hate it. I hate it. I hate it!” Learning from Those You Disagree With & a Net Worth Update

ETF9

We last heard from Ether to FI in December when he talked about having a frugal spouse makes early FI all the more likely. Today, he returns with his ninth installment more than a year and a half after he finished his anesthesia residency and introduced himself to the world. The initial plan was to reach FI with $3.3 Million within 10 years but continue working indefinitely. A few posts back, he and his wife were thinking more seriously about […]

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Financial Freedom for Generation X

A week ago, I delved into a couple of great books penned by millennials, and largely for millennials, detailing the path the financial freedom. Today, I’d like to review a couple more financial freedom books. Today’s selections were written by a couple of my cohorts in Generation X, a generation loosely defined as being born between the early 1960s and early 1980s. I’m a Generation Xer. Many of your favorite FIRE bloggers are, too, like Mr. Money Mustache, Justin @ […]

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Financial Freedom for Millennials

It’s a great time to be alive, and it’s a great time to become aware of the role your money will play in your life. The number of resources available to you is growing by the day. Today, I’ll be highlighting two excellent resources for millennials with an interest in financial freedom. The first is a playbook to guide you to financial independence from a millennial who has achieved it. The second is a play-by-play memoir from a millennial who […]

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