The Sunday Best is a collection of articles I’ve curated from the furthest reaches of the internet for your reading pleasure.
Every week, I scan hundreds of headlines, read dozens of posts, and bring you the best of the best to save you time and mental energy.
Financial Independence (FI) is a primary focus, but it’s an awfully broad topic. I tend to approach FI and early retirement from a fatFIRE perspective and through the lens of a physician, so expect to see those biases in the selected articles.
Related topics that have become recurrent themes include early retirement, selective frugality, tax issues, travel, physician issues, and of course, investing.
For more great articles, take a peek at The Sunday Best Archives. Now let’s get to the best… The Sunday Best!
The Sunday Best
What do you when you’re retired early with plenty of time on your hands? Venture out in search of Forrest Fenn’s treasure, of course. Life Outside the Maze wanders way, way outside the maze. Finding Treasure in The Rocky Mountains.
Mr. Fenn gifted his chest of treasures to a clever and adventurous stranger who solved the riddle. Others will be more traditional and leave their treasures to their next of kin. Are you expecting to be the recipient of someone’s gold and rubies? If so, here’s What to Do With an Inheritance according to The White Coat Investor.
Not expecting an inheritance? No worries. Follow one of these 5 paths and you won’t need one. 5 Ways to Retire With $5 Million by Age 55
What you will need is a system of some sort to keep you on track to reach your money goals. Desirae Odjick of Half Banked shares The Best Way to Build a Personal Money System (It’s Not Spreadsheets).
A high savings rate can leave some feeling deprived. The physician and entrepreneur behind You Be Three shows you different ways to enjoy luxury without the high price tag. Upgrade Your Lifestyle Without Giving In To Lifestyle Inflation.
Josh from Money Life Wax knows all about that creep — lifeystyle creep, that is. How to Not Be Boujeee – Avoid Lifestyle Creep. p.s. I learned a new word with that one — the bougie I’m familiar with slides between the vocal cords in difficult intubations.
I could probably come up with a list of 10 fun things to do that wouldn’t cost much of anything. Radical FIRE is more than 10x better at this game than me. 105 Wonderful Things to Do With No Money.
Dr. Jordan Frey, the Prudent Plastic Surgeon, had his money epiphany early in his career. Before that he had made plenty of mistakes, but at least he did a few things right. (Before My Financial Education) I Only Did 3 Things Right…Here They Are.
Burnout is often the catalyst that convinces a physician it’s time to get one’s finances in order. Dr. Jimmy Turner of The Physician Philosopher fame talks about the role of coaching in all of this at his new site, Life Coach Doctor. Physician Life Coaching: Reducing Burnout and Improving Lives.
When you have your finances in order, you can afford to take time away. When you’ve got a son finishing cancer treatment and a job that no longer feels safe, as is the case for That Frugal Pharmacist, there is great comfort in having that ability. My COVID-19 Leave of Absence.
Dr. Dawn Baker of Practice Balance took a leave of absence from her job last year and recently decided to make it a permanent one. That will give her and her family more time to enjoy their current RV (they’ve had several). RVs: Which Type Is Right For You?
p.s. We just graduated from tent camping to a 29′ travel trailer!
A regular reader reached out, wanting to share the epiphany he had as his 2019 taxes were prepared. They’re due this week, you know! How Low is Your Passive Income Tax Rate? The Taxes on Passive Income Streams.
- Estimate your federal income taxes under different active and passive income scenarios with TaxCaster.
Real estate syndications take advantage of a number of tax benefits that are passed on to the investors. Read about them in Passive Income MD‘s 5 Tax Benefits of Investing in a Syndication.
To learn much more about doing due diligence on and investing in real estate syndications, real estate funds, and other passive and semi-passive real estate investments, check out PIMD’s Passive Real Estate Academy. Enrollment opens up again at the end of the month, and those on the waitlist (sign up here) will receive an exclusive discount.
Camping in Style
Our plan for the upcoming fall, winter, and spring included a cruise boat to Shanghai, about 5 months of travel throughout Asia and possibly Australasia, with another cruise taking us from Japan to Russia to Vancouver.
I don’t see any of that happening during a pandemic.
Not only that, but we decided to pursue another round of orthodontic treatment for our older son since our slow travel plans are on hold. That will keep us closer to home, but we will have the ability to travel for 4 to 6 weeks at a time.
If it’s safe to travel around the country a few months from now, I can definitely see us pulling an RV and now we’ve got one of our very own. It’s a pre-owned 2012 “25” foot model that actually measures just shy of 29 feet.
We’ve got a queen bed in the front, bunk beds in the back, and a little bathroom and kitchenette. The entertainment system has three sets of speakers (one pair on the exterior) and a TV / DVD combo that can swivel to face the dinette or the queen bed. It’s a pretty slick setup!
We spent about the same amount of money on it as we did the two cruises for our family of four. I could give you a tour, but someone already put one up on Youtube and it looks identical to ours, so I’ll let him show you around if you’re curious as to what we got.
I set it up in the driveway and plan to put it in the side yard to learn more about the inner workings, including the plumbing, electric, and propane gas appliances. By the time we’re ready to travel, we should have a good handle on how all of it works.
Last Call for a Free Course and 10% Discount!
The White Coat Investor has made both Fire Your Financial Advisor and Continuing Financial Education 2020 10% off AND he’ll throw in the videos from WCICon18 as a free added bonus.
If you’ve ever considered enrolling, now is a great time to do so — the sale ends tomorrow, 7/13. These courses change lives and also help feed our charitable mission.
Here are two examples of couples who have taken the course and shared their complete financial plans for you to see.
- Create Your Own Comprehensive Financial Plan
- WCI’s Fire Your Financial Advisor Course in Action: A Couple Creates Their Financial Plan
The Sunday Best Has a Theme Song, Apparently
A polarizing, but kind of catchy tune. My wife’s not a fan, but my kids enjoy it. I like the swanky cocktail lounge vibe of the music, not unlike that of Rex Orange County (who is actually British, but got the nickname O.C. from his last name O’Connor).
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Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
The Sunday Best
11 thoughts on “The Sunday Best (7/12/2020)”
Hey, congrats on the RV! I guess that’s what people are doing this summer — road tripping!
We’re doing some of that ourselves, but I haven’t gone so far as to buy an RV yet!
Enjoy your trip! Cheers!
Thanks!
We’re excited for some upcoming adventures. Perhaps we’ll head west when the pandemic subsides.
Cheers!
-PoF
Sweet trailer! What are you pulling it with and is it from a dealer or private owner?
We’re looking into buying an RV as well for an upcoming cross-country trip. It’s getting old to hustle for airbnbs that are dog and toddler-friendly whenever we roadtrip. Would be great to get back some spontaneity.
Considering a Class B vs an old used pickup + truck camper combo. Big downsides of truck camper seem to be lack of plumbing and no standing room. Interested to hear the thoughts of others.
We picked up the travel trailer from a small dealer. A one man operation in the countryside. Pulling it with a 2017 Nissan Armada, which has an 8,500 pound towing capacity, which is more than double the dry weight of our “new-to-us” rig.
We needed something a little bigger than a Class B with a family of four. I think this is a good setup for us.
Cheers!
-PoF
Take a look at my RV review (linked abovf in the Sunday Best). We are 6’6” and 6’1” and we had a truck camper that popped up to 6’8”! So if you get a big enough hard side camper or a pop-up, there is TONS of headroom. We loved the setup. Yeah there’s no bathroom but you trade off for versatility. We stored a casette toilet for emergencies but otherwise went outside and used the Leave No Trace method, or camped places with pit toilets or other facilities.
Cheers on the new digs… er… rig :o). And OMG yes yes yes to a theme song! I expect that to start playing every time I open up the email. Oh and now Mr. Wow is back to researching RVs, so thank you for keeping that dream alive
Feeling blessed. Never stressed. Got that sunshine on my Sunday Best!
I took a maiden voyage in my RV to a campground only an hour from home that was close to a Camping World store. That way if there was any big issue, worst case scenario was putting it in the shop and ending the trip early. Gave me a chance to get used to all the systems without pressure of being on a big road trip.
It also got me away from the farm for a few days, which was nice.
Great idea.
We already discovered one issue after setting it up in the yard — a leak in the water heater tank. Grrr….
Fun theme song ☺️ Congrats on the “new” RV, too!
Thanks!
I got the RV moved to the side yard and we’re camping out it tonight!
Cheers!
-PoF