I’m writing from the position of having already achieved wealth and financial independence, and I want to help you get there too. My intention is not to re-hash the basics of the FIRE lifestyle or journey. I like to focus on the behaviors and lifestyle factors that drive money decisions.

I’m a family guy living in Colorado with my wife and two young children. I studied biology and chemistry in college, but somehow turned into a software developer. From as far back as I can remember, I liked to save and earn money. My goal was to build a portfolio of $1,000,000 by February of 2017; 1500 days from the birth of this blog (January 1, 2013). And hey look, I’ve since retired!

Today I am financially independent, I run a cool little company (PopUp Business School) with a team of 12, changing the way entrepreneurship is taught globally and I spend my time travelling around the world working with some of the coolest people. Life wasn't always this way! At school I was the shyest kid you could meet, I struggled talking to strangers, I was paralysed by fear approaching girls, making phone calls or anything else. My family went from wealthy to £millions in debt and we had to do car boot sales (yard sales) at the weekend to raise the money to buy food. So what changed? This is what I want to share with you and it is going to be in 3 main parts: entrepreneurship, financial independence, and making dreams come true.

I started Banker On FIRE to achieve the following three objectives: Give me a creative outlet from the pressures of my job as an investment banker. Explore, document and debate the various ways to build wealth and achieve financial independence. Help others make better decisions, grow their net worth and live their best life possible

Hey there, I’m Joel. I’m 35 and live in Los Angeles. At first glance I’m just an average guy in every way… Average height, weight, looks, IQ, skills, etc. But there’s a few things I’ve been doing differently the past few years that have elevated my life to above average: Every day I’m learning to make better use of my time. I now get up at 5am every morning. Every day I’m learning to make better use of my money. I’m on a fast track to Financial Independence! Every day I get up at 5am and send a short positive message to friends, family, co-workers and strangers from the interweb.

Hi there! glad to have you on my blog. I am a big fan of personal finance and I am looking forward to sharing everything I know as well as point you to a plethora of resources available at your disposal. Now, a little bit about me. I was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela in 1980 and I think that makes me a border line millennial with some behaviors from Generation X. I was raised by frugal parents who taught me the value of hard work and saving for the future.I truly believe my journey to FI started with the lessons my parents taught me when I was a kid. I can still remember my dad saying .. “son, when things are going great that is when you should be saving the most because you don’t know when things are going to go bad“. In the context of FI, I can say this has been one of the most important lessons in my life so thanks Dad! The journey continues but now I plan to bring others on my quest for achieving Financial Independence.