From Financial Independence to Retire Early at 35

Month: January 2021

GameStop Stock: Why I Worry About the Mania (And VTSAX)

Post author By Chris
Post date January 31, 2021
14 Comments on GameStop Stock: Why I Worry About the Mania (And VTSAX)

I grew up with GameStop as the place to go to find a deal on used video games. Now the stock is on a tear as amateur investors wage war against hedge funds. What's going to happen?

What does GameStop stock mania mean for the future of individual investors vs Wall Street? And do you own GME via VTSAX, VTI, and Vanguard?

Tags Financial Independence, Story, Tactics

Finance

FIRE Budget In-Depth: Unusual Ways We Spent $40,862 in 2020

Post author By Chris
Post date January 24, 2021
16 Comments on FIRE Budget In-Depth: Unusual Ways We Spent $40,862 in 2020

2020 may not have been the year we expected within our FIRE budget, but that doesn't mean we didn't make the best of it! [Photo: Pacific Park early in 2020 before the world shutdown.]

Our FIRE budget reveals how we live a luxurious lifestyle on about $41K/year as two 36-year-olds in an MCOL city on a coast! Steal our tricks to reach FIRE!

Tags annual review, Budget Updates, expenses, Financial Independence

Psychology

Enjoying Retirement: Are You Still a Useful Member of Society?

Post author By Chris
Post date January 17, 2021
8 Comments on Enjoying Retirement: Are You Still a Useful Member of Society?

Keys to enjoying retirement: finding balance in your life in how you spend your time, accepting how society values what you do, and directing your own decisions. (Photo from a visit to Huntington Gardens in California.)

Overcoming the need to feel useful when you’ve left your career is key to enjoying retirement. Diversify your life to prevent work from being your identity.