My Financial Independence Journey » Reflections
Evolution of My Thoughts on Personal Finance: Part 2
Previously, I wrote about the early phases of my thoughts around personal finance. Now I’d like to share with you how my thinking on each of areas has changed and evolved over time and provide some insight as to what drove those changes. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reflections
Evolution of My Thoughts on Personal Finance: Part 1
Although I’ve only been blogging for about nine months, I’ve been interested in the world of personal finance for the last five years at least. During that time, my overall opinions on personal finance and investing have evolved. Over the next few posts, I’d like to walk you through the evolution of my thoughts and share how my motivations, opinions, tactics, and overall financial life have developed. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reflections
How Wage, Ordinary, and Qualified Income Are Taxed
Writing up my previous post on federal income and investment taxes was so enjoyable that I thought it would be fun to delve even further into the hellacious nightmare that is the US Federal tax system. Specifically, we’re going to learn all about the standard deduction, about how being married affects your take home pay, and most importantly - the difference between marginal and effective tax rates. And just for good measure, we’re going to … Read entire article »
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7 Ways to Increase Your Savings
The key to achieving financial independence is to save and invest money. That is obvious. What is often not so obvious is where those increased savings are going to come from. Below, I’ve outlined seven great ways that you can boost your savings rate … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reflections, Retirement
Placing a value on time
Time is a big concept in the early retirement and financial independence community. I think almost every blogger out there has written about it at least once, if not nauseatingly more. Since I’m blogging in that space, I suppose that I should lend my voice to the chorus. … Read entire article »
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7 Reasons Everyone Should Reach Financial Independence
Why exactly would any sane person want to save 50% of their income and try to pursue financial independence? It’s a good question. I’ve written a bit about why I’m pursuing financial independence on my about page and on other posts throughout the blog, but I wanted to expand on those thoughts and discuss seven reasons why everyone should consider pursuing financial independence. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reflections
Five Common Frugal Styles (pros and cons)
Frugality is just a tool for saving additional money. Almost all of us can find ways to save a bit more more money. And judging by the savings rates of people in the US, we need to be far more focused on saving money than we currently are. Below, I have briefly summarized the pros and cons of five different commonly encountered varieties of frugality. Which one are you? … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reflections
7 Reasons why you will save money and live better by cutting TV consumption
There are very few instances where I feel at all compelled to embrace anything resembling minimalism. But TV is one of those. Don’t believe me? Go take a look at your cable bill and tell me if you think that you are getting anywhere near as much as you are paying for. Still don’t believe me? Read on! Danger: The below post is rated ‘R’ for serious ranting! … Read entire article »
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Downsides of Extreme Saving
I spend a of this blog focusing on extreme saving, which I would consider to be anything above 20%. Why? Because extreme saving is an extremely powerful tool for achieving early financial independence or retirement. Without it, you’re going to resort to such fallback plans as rich dead relatives, becoming a drug kingpin, winning the lotto, or starting an unusually successful business. However, most people don’t have tons of money at their disposal, so pushing … Read entire article »
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How to achieve your goals in only 4 steps – it’s easier than you think
Generally, people regard the New Year as a time to set new goals. Poppycock! There is no reason why you should wait all the way until January 1st to set a new goal for yourself. And what happens if you don’t think of your goal until February? Are you supposed to wait 11 months before working at it? There are plenty of other entirely reasonable times to set goals for yourself. For instance your birthday, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reflections
