This video illustrates the discussion that should be going on about climate change. Please watch the video first so you know what I am talking about. The rows are the scientific discussion, if you do not understand science, leave that discussion to the scientists. The columns are the political discussion.... Read more »

I am not a US Marine, but I have watched a lot of war movies, which I believe makes me an eminently qualified arm chair general with some say in the preferences of military personal, or maybe not. Anyway, one of my favorite war movies is Heartbreak Ridge starring Clint... Read more »

Supercook searches through a database of recipes based on the ingredients you have and it does so very easily mentioning how many recipes you can currently make (with a clickable link) and possible ingredients you are missing. If you have those as well, you don’t need to type them in.... Read more »

Modern man has an endless fascination with productivity. There is always something that could be done faster or more effective. Productivity is not a natural state though. You do not see an animal trying to be more productive. It simply does its thing, takes what it needs and no more.... Read more »

When discussing the concepts of extreme early retirement, an often heard objection is that “it’s impossible”—followed by the runner-up “Yes, maybe I could do it but my spouse/children…” or the more generic “Yes, but that’s because you’re special/different/….” [I got a bit carried away in the comments section of this... Read more »

For the first time, Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to be Rich shares his thoughts on FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early)! Read more → The post Ramit Sethi – I Will Teach You to be Rich appeared first on Mad Fientist.... Read more »

In this new Mad Fientist experiment, I'm starting an online business from scratch and will be documenting the entire process! Read more → The post Online Business Experiment appeared first on Mad Fientist.... Read more »

Author Cal Newport joins me on the podcast to discuss Deep Work, Digital Minimilism, and the important things you need to consider before retiring early! Read more → The post Cal Newport – Deep Work, Digital Minimalism, and the Key to a Happy Retirement appeared first on Mad Fientist.... Read more »

Grant from Millennial Money shares how he achieved financial freedom and increased his bank balance from $2.26 to $1.25 million in just over 5 years! Read more → The post Millennial Money – From Broke to Millionaire in 5 Years appeared first on Mad Fientist.... Read more »

It's easy to think early retirement will solve all your problems but what if it actually makes your life worse? A reader named Tony shares his story. Read more → The post Tony – Going Back to Work After Early Retirement appeared first on Mad Fientist.... Read more »

May was another successful month of early retirement. We took it easy and enjoyed a relatively slow month of leisure with family and friends. I spent a few days being a "real" blogger and influencer by attending Camp FI in Virginia where I gave a presentation titled "FIRE for Fun!". ... Read more »

Time flies when you're having fun! We're almost half way through May and I'm just now updating our April financial snapshot. We have been vacationing, volunteering, and enjoying the wonderful springtime weather. What can I say? I'm retired and don't always have time to focus on this blog!  We had... Read more »

Spring is definitely here in Raleigh. Warm afternoon temperatures bring us outside while green clouds of pollen filling the air push us back inside. And everything is in bloom!  We had a busy March as you'll see in this article. April will be no different. We are just a few... Read more »

Unless you are an heir to a big fortune or you have won the lottery, you have to work hard to have money.  To accumulate wealth, you have to make more money than you spend.  The key is to keep your expenses low.  And there will be sacrifices.  Nothing crazy... Read more »

To celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary, we visited Mexico City for an 11 day vacation (without kids!). We have visited the city several times before, so we didn't plan on hitting the tourist trail too hard while in the city.  On most days we spent a few hours sightseeing and... Read more »

Every Sunday, I uncover a high-quality dividend growth stock that appears to be undervalued. These pieces are published at Daily Trade Alert, which is a site that focuses on dividend growth investing, stocks, and unique investment opportunities. I’ve been writing for them for years now, and they’re just great over... Read more »

10 years ago, I was: 27 years old. Unemployed. Dead broke. Living in my parents’ basement. 10 years ago, I was not: Depressed. Hopeless. Giving up. Less of a person. 10 years ago, I: Put together a plan of action. Moved halfway across the United States to seek out better... Read more »

Ahh, dividends. Even just hearing that word conjures up all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings for me. I remember playing the board game Monopoly as a kid. My favorite Chance card was the one where Mr. Monopoly (or Rich Uncle Pennybags) collected his bank dividend of $50. I thought that was so... Read more »

Every Sunday, I uncover a high-quality dividend growth stock that appears to be undervalued. These pieces are published at Daily Trade Alert, which is a site that focuses on dividend growth investing, stocks, and unique investment opportunities. I’ve been writing for them for years now, and they’re just great over... Read more »

Although not originally his theory, Elon Musk has publicly advanced the idea that we’re living inside of a simulation. Crazy idea, right? Not so fast. The math he’s looking at indicates the odds are extremely small that we’re living in base reality. Allow that to sink in for a moment.... Read more »

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)... Read more »

If you’ve been piling money into your retirement accounts, maxing out every tax-advantaged option available, and spending what’s left over, you’re likely to end up in good financial shape. There’s a problem, though. A lot of that money is not easily accessible, especially for the would-be early retiree. How do... Read more »

Choosing a medical specialty is no easy task. You’re faced with this task as a third year medical student trying to look good on every clerkship while working long hours and often with only the view of what the specialty looks like from an academic perspective. At one time, I... Read more »

We recently covered disability insurance and the mistakes that doctors make. Today, I’d like to look at another insurance product that is important for many high-income professionals: term life insurance. This is the good kind of life insurance that exists for one reason. It ensures that anyone relying on your... Read more »

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)... Read more »

Quote from: caleb on June 16, 2019, 06:25:00 PM- First, people are crazy about houses.  I guess that's what we get for creating this toxic sludge of housing, schools, jobs, commutes, race, class, and most people's single la...... Read more »

What solution is there when unemployment reaches catastrophic levels because computers, machines and robots do most of the work?    It will work out for a very small amount of elite people and subject the rest of us to poverty or working the gutter job...... Read more »

Quote from: EngagedToFIRE on Today at 07:16:42 PMThis can't be serious right?Not in my own financial life, but one time I had a good friend from my youth share some of his world with me.  It included a lot of...... Read more »

Thanks for the feedback, I am a NY state resident and currently earning in the highest margin tax bracket.   In addition, I only  have flexibility in the tax investment account which is what made this investment more appealing.... Read more »

In the video, he says it would be about 1.1mil in today's dollars (today = date of interview), so I read that as being inflation adjusted, not stock returns adjusted and not his net worth in 2018.If I recall correctly, he earns around 400k/yr from thi...... Read more »

Thanks to some changes at work, I've been slacking on all things internet: writing for this blog, reading and commenting on others', and keeping up with the latest nonsense on Twitter.We just went through a re-org, the first I've had to go through in seven years at this company. That... Read more »

It’s been four years since I wrote a post on household incomequintiles, in a vain attempt to reframe the way we think about the middle class. I’ve never liked the way that the term ‘middle class’ was simultaneously poorly defined and yet somehow still critical to the way we talked... Read more »

I’ve never thought this blog was meant to help people. For one, I’ve never been particularly good at helping. I have no insights into helping with someone’s nutrition, or the kind of exercise that will finally stick, or how you can get to sleep at a reasonable hour. Even the... Read more »

Last week I put up a poll on Twitter, asking all three of you readers to decide what I should write about.Would you rather read a post on tariffs being regressive taxes or, what I assumed would be more popular, our latest life hack that involves a time delay safe?Apparently a... Read more »

A reader asked me a good question last week, after reading my jumbled rant on systemic problems, and the individual tactics that aren't going to solve them. What, short of running for public office, can we citizens do to encourage systemic solutions?I have to admit that stumped me a bit.... Read more »

Lisa Duke talks about her mindset shift and turning liabilities to assets. On today's show: Second Home--Asset Or Liability? Action Steps To Renting Out Your Home Getting off the "hedonic treadmill" ...and more. For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/132 ... Read more »

A recap of our conversation with Mr. Money Mustache and Mr. 1500. Plus, Jonathan and Brad answer listener questions about compounding and drawdowns during retirement. For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/131R ... Read more »

Mr. Money Mustache and Mr. 1500 discuss community building and second generation FI. For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/131 ... Read more »

Brad and Jonathan just returned from the world premiere of Playing with FIRE in San Diego. They discuss future showings (visit choosefi.com/tugg) and then get into the ultimate buy and hold portfolio strategy. For the entire show notes, go to https://choosefi.com/130R ... Read more »

Today we talk to Paul Merriman. The goal is to contrast the "Simple Path to Wealth Approach" with the "Ultimate Buy and Hold Portfolio." Paul is a proponent of the Ultimate Buy and Hold strategy and a legend in this space. The insights Paul provides about this strategy are priceless.... Read more »

Last September at FinCon 2018 in Orlando I was talking with the coolest cat in the cave, my FIRE brother J. Money of Budgets Are $exy, about how to shine some light on the abuses in the K-12 403b marketplace.  After about five seconds of reflection, he said, “Oh, that’s... Read more »

Welcome back millionaires.  Let me apologize for that insane April Fool’s post extolling the benefits of 403b plans.  Here are my real thoughts on those “benefits.”   Incredible Oversight?  Ha! If you have a 403b plan, brace yourself:  your retirement savings are adrift in the Wild West of the financial services... Read more »

Beautiful South Georgia spring greetings to all my millionaire readers!  Even though we had a mild winter, the change of season is more than welcome.  It’s so pretty here this time of year. So far, our move to Statenville, Georgia has been a resounding success.  We love our new home,... Read more »

Greetings to all my Free Money! tax-planning brothers and sisters.  With 2018 almost over, it’s now time to take a look at our 2019 Free Money! amounts.  (This is by far my most anticipated post every year; it amazes me how many inquiries I get about the status of this... Read more »

If you live long enough, you’ll see many unimaginable and “impossible” things.  Over the course of my lifetime, I’ve seen:  the Patty film, the discovery of the giant squid, the Braves, Cubs, and Red Sox win the World Series, the Saints and Buccaneers win Super Bowls, and even my Davidson... Read more »

[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA199.mp3" title="Ask Paula - The Three-Year Reunion with J. Money" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ] Ashley is paying affordable rent for a home she enjoys, but she feels certain that the real estate market in her local market will stay strong. She’s thinking... Read more »

[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA198.mp3" title="The Japanese Art of Being a Zen Millionaire, with Ken Honda" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ] Most people have dysfunctional ideas about money stemming from childhood and society. If your parents said, “I’m not sending you to soccer camp. You don’t practice... Read more »

[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA197.mp3" title="Ask Paula - Traditional IRA vs. Roth IRA -- What Should I Choose?" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ] Should Bret invest in a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA? If Amanda gets married, how will her child support be affected? What about... Read more »

Disclaimer: This article contains a description of animal suffering. Reader discretion advised. Most of us have heard about Pavlov's dogs. It’s a famous tale in the fields of physiology and psychology: Pavlov rang a buzzer, then fed his dogs; eventually his dogs began salivating at the sound of the buzzer.... Read more »

[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA196.mp3" title="Starting Over at 40 with Six Kids, with Wendy Mays" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ] When Wendy Mays was in her early 20’s, she earned $12 an hour working as the office manager of a pest control company. She wanted higher income,... Read more »

Jobs and opportunity are often a major factor that prompt people to move to another city or part of the country.  After all, unless you have a big inheritance or have won the lottery, work is an essential prerequisite to... The post Where You Work Matters, Choose Carefully appeared first... Read more »

My lawnmower was manufactured when Ronald Reagan was still in his first term.  My grandmother bought it new and I inherited it after she passed, and I’m still using it today.  It’s literally cut hundreds of millions of blades of... The post Are Renting And Sharing The New Owning? appeared... Read more »

WASHINGTON D.C. – A study from the Brookings Institution shows the average American family inadvertently saves $53 a year.  “At first we were definitely surprised by the results” said lead researcher John Blutarsky.  “We expected results that showed no savings... The post Study Finds Average American Family Inadvertently Saves $53... Read more »

As regular readers know I’m an outdoor sports junkie. One of the biggest drivers for me to work less is to free up time to enjoy the natural wonders of this amazing starship we call Earth.  Whether it be rock... The post How I Practice Mindfulness appeared first on Accidental... Read more »

The big work related news of the week is the World Health Organization has now officially listed burnout as an “occupational syndrome”. In the eleventh edition of the agency’s manual called the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the WHO claims... The post I’m Not A Pothead But I Might Be... Read more »

As an evangelist of part-time work for physicians, I occasionally get an e-mail from a physician reader asking if cutting back on work is the right move for them. Often times they are early in their training, and I’m not sure how to respond. I feel conflicted. I know what... Read more »

A feeling of dread suddenly came over me. The numbers just didn’t add up, yet I could not figure out where I went wrong. Maybe I typed something in wrong or missed a section, but everything looked more or less complete. Maybe I’m just getting too old for this and... Read more »

There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at... Read more »

The purpose of doing an experiment is to learn something about yourself, and to see if there is an opportunity for growth or positive change. I started the Buy Nothing 2018 experiment with this in mind. It started with a no clothes challenge, but since I had plenty of clothes... Read more »

I was sitting on a bench just enjoying the beautiful fall day. It was sunny and warm, or perhaps I was warm due to the semi-vigorous bike ride. Every now and then a cloud would briefly cover the sun or a gentle breeze would throw a slight chill in the... Read more »

For those of you following along, you know I've been a bit busy lately. In addition to my own music, podcast, and software projects, I've also been popping up on other people's podcasts. A few weeks back I sang a few bars of Michael Bublé on The FI Show with... Read more »

Back in November of 2017, a tired, burned out version of myself was pushed past his breaking point. After months of mandatory unpaid overtime, morning self pep-talks, stress-eating, and yelling at coworkers, the old Joel finally had enough. He walked up to his boss, and with a surprising, zen-like calm,... Read more »

Wait a minute. Strike that – reverse it! I know, I know, I haven't updated this blog in months. What gives?! If things get any more sporadic around here I'll be on the Miss Mazuma publishing schedule! 😉 Maybe I should adopt the slogan of Wait, Buy Why and claim that I'll have... Read more »

This week, I'm thrilled to be featured on Coryn Quester's “Discover What's Possible” Podcast! In the interview, we talk about everything from the ‘Why' of FI,  to the most challenging aspects of financial independence for those just starting out. But one of the more interesting questions she posed really got... Read more »

This past weekend The Wife and I went to see Crazy Rich Asians, and really enjoyed it! (Featured image credit: Entertainment Weekly) Having been on the FIRE journey for a few years now, it was fun taking in all the over-the-top luxury on the screen. Of course, this wasn't the... Read more »

What would an extra $1,000 per month mean to you? For many people, it could: Cover your rent Allow you to leave a job and stay home with your kids Accelerate your debt payoff Allow you save and invest more Making an extra $1,000 per month can have a huge... Read more »

While there are a lot of different survey websites out there, not all of them are legit. Taking surveys can be a realistic way to make some extra money in your spare time, but it can also be a waste if you’re using a site that is not reputable. This... Read more »

Working from home has its perks, and there is plenty of potential to make a decent amount of money whether full-time or part-time. Search engine evaluator jobs are an interesting option for freelancers and side hustlers who want to make extra income from home. Have you ever entered a basic... Read more »

There are countless companies and apps that promise to help you make money online or earn extra cash in your spare time, but not all of them are legit. One of the sites/apps that if frequently recommended is Swagbucks. This review will cover all of the basics of how you... Read more »

If you’re like millions of other people who are looking to make some extra money, you’ve probably considered a number of different side hustle ideas, weekend jobs, or business opportunities. Every now and then I have friends or family ask for my suggestions about how to make money online. Freelance... Read more »