I’ve always thought differently than the average Joe. And in one regard has been how to fund retirement. For me, it’s really hard to put my money in a retirement account when I could instead be using that money to buy real estate or start another business. Because you see, real estate and businesses have the ability to bring me FAR more money than what
Financial freedom. It’s such a broad term. It can mean something completely different for each and every person. Yet the end result is usually the same. To sum it up financial freedom means that money isn’t what’s fueling your life decisions. Let’s dig a little deeper. The General Meaning of Financial Freedom While financial freedom can mean several different things there is a commonality. Financial
It pains me to admit it but when I first took an interest in personal finance I hung onto every word that came from Dave Ramsey. I followed his financial plan to the letter. Which, at the time, was a good thing. Even though the only debt I had was a few hundred dollars spread out across a couple of credit cards, I paid those
Save for you future. Invest ten percent of your income. Open up a Roth IRA. It goes in one ear and out the other. I should know. The long term mentality has only kicked in with me over the past couple of years. As some of my close family members near retirement age I cringe. Without any savings to fall back on retirement is going
Just as I like my regular income to be, I also want my retirement income to be diversified. You’ve heard the saying a hundred times – “don’t pull all your eggs in one basket.” And, there’s a good reason why: when you spread your income sources across various avenues you won’t be hurt if one source takes a turn for the worse. Here are six
It always seems like it takes a tragedy or emergency in some form for most people to look at the big picture of their personal finances. A bankruptcy, a death in the family, a foreclosure, or a mountain of debt – all pretty big wake up calls. While I tend to think that I am pretty grounded when it comes to personal finance, even if
It’s that time of year again. Time for everyone to go bananas about getting good deals on stuff they don’t need, just in time for Christmas! I hate the overall focus on buying, buying, buying, this time of year. While we’ve picked up a few things that we NEEDED during previous Black Fridays, overall we try to avoid the whole thing each year. This year
One of the financial goals we’ve made is to have our house paid off before age 55, or at least have the capability to pay it off if we want to. I know that as I get older, I’ll struggle to find a job if I lose the one I have now. I anticipate that sooner or later I will lose my job, so much
Last week I was invited to attend a financial event at the local baseball stadium. A friend of mine has been a client of a major investment/insurance company for years and was encouraged to bring a couple friends to this small event. (There were about 70 people total) I’m normally not very interested to attend speaking engagements like this but because it was at the
Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time going over my spreadsheets and playing with various scenarios for our retirement. I often wonder how long I need to work before I can walk away and have enough to last the rest of my life. In reality, I think my wife will live much longer than I will so most of my scenarios ensure that she
