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I remember reading an article where Dave Ramsey said the top two ways that most people become millionaires in the $1M to $5M dollar range; 1) a paid off home and 2) maxing out retirement accounts. I already knew that paying off a home is always a way to help yourself become financially secure. But how many folks are really maxing out retirement accounts? Not as many as you would think. I did some research […]
A tontine is a pooled investment structure where a group of participants contributes money into a common fund. The fund then pays out income to its members, typically for life. As participants pass away, their share is redistributed among the surviving members, so the income for those who remain gradually rises. At its core, a tontine is a way to share longevity risk within a group without relying on an insurance company. A Brief History […]
Today, I celebrate my 5-year anniversary of leaving my CEO gig to retire early!!! Wow. Nuts. Insane. Just a few words that come to mind. Of course, my early retirement at times hasn’t FELT like retirement…especially during the many times when I’ve managed to overextend myself with side hustles. But then I go on a four-week trip, FORGET about everything, let automations do their thing, and all is well again… And that is exactly what I want to continue to do more of as I head into my 6th year of retirement. I need to get back to the early retirement basics. I want to remove myself from most of my side hustles, de-stress my life, and spend less time on this computer. That’s the dream right?!? So let’s take a look back at the past year, the ups, the downs, goals for Year 5 of early retirement, and everything in between: Is Early Retirement Worth it? Why is this even a question? YES, it is worth it! However, early retirement is NOT without its stressors…life still goes on, parenting is tiring, and well I am running too many side husttles! So while early retirment has surely been better than working my corporate job it still has its own issues. Anyways, following the same format of the last two years (Year 1 Review, Year 2 Review, Year 3 Review, Year 4 Review), I’ll go in-depth here on the same benchmarks: Happiness Health Wealth Work Fun Goals Early Retirement: Year 5 Review Alright, it’s the end of Year 5. What a number – > lets dive in! Happiness As you can see, my happiness really shot up as soon as I retired, but then you pretty much settle into early retirement and things dipped down a bit in Year 2. However, each year since then, I find myself tweaking things and making day-to-day improvements to my overall happiness. Again, this doesn’t mean that I don’t have bad days, because I certainly do, but I have found many ways to reduce the amount of bad days while at the same time increasing the amount of good days. BUT – I don’t really feel any happier than I have ever been. In fact in many ways, I feel more burned out and tired than ever. I think the key difference to my happiness has been in the ability to take even more vacations, be available for fun activities when my kids are home from school, and just try to focus on the now. I still have stress, mostly self-imposed from trying to run side-hustles. However, the results are clear, retirement is good for your happiness. Or at least for mine! Health Heading into this year, I have continued to make fitness and health a core priority. I’ve been hiking more, walking more, lifting weights again, etc. And you can see it reflected in my steps: Steps Another big surge in steps this year for me. Some
237: Rethinking Wealth: Why Financial Flexibility Beats Retirement Planning Most financial advice boils down to this: Grind for 30+ years. Max out your 401(k). Hope it all works out at 65. Yeah… no. In this episode, I sit down with Austin Dean, founder of Waystone Advisors, to explore a better way to think about money—one that prioritizes financial flexibility now, not just retirement later. If you’re tired of cookie-cutter plans that don’t account for your […]
Introduction: Can You Retire in Your 30s or 40s? Imagine waking up each morning with the freedom to pursue your passions, travel the world, or simply relax—without worrying about money. This is the promise of Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE), a movement that’s inspiring millions to rethink traditional retirement. FIRE isn’t about scraping by or giving up everything you love; it’s about building wealth strategically to gain control over your time. Whether you’re tired of […]
This is the story of how I decided to break free from the golden handcuffs and how you can do the same. It was during a late-night shift in my… The post Breaking the Golden Handcuffs: A Surgeon’s Journey to Financial Independence appeared first on The Darwinian Doctor.
Retirement income is only as strong as what it can buy. Over time, prices rise for groceries, travel, and healthcare, making it harder to sustain your spending budget over the long term. Maintaining purchasing power is what preserves your lifestyle and standard of living. This is why retirees consider tools and strategies that keep pace with inflation, so their plan funds the same standard of living year after year. What is a TIPS Ladder? One […]
I get this question regularly. The answer is, “Not nearly as much as you think.” A lot of people put off saving for retirement because they feel like they can’t put enough in. They feel like they don’t have a big enough “down payment” to get started. But the truth is that contributing even very small amounts, as little as $5 a month, regularly is plenty to get started. The most important thing is starting. […]
Before the article, check out the latest on my podcast, Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors: On Apple Podcasts On Spotify On YouTube Now, here’s today’s article: Retirement is like that Pete Seeger / The Byrds song, “Turn, Turn, Turn.” “To everything there is a season.” [embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4&feature=oembed[/embed] A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; Some of us retire at 70. Others at 40. But no matter your retirement age, your retirement will change over time. At times, it’s literally seasonal. My parents love gardening. Spring through late summer, it’s their #1 retirement pastime. But their daily schedule undergoes a change in winter. Turn, turn, turn. One section of the homestead – corn and some sunflowers! What else changes? You get older. This one is pretty obvious to most retirees. I was speaking to a client recently about the “go-go, slow-go, and no-go” phases of a typical retirement. After a trip to Europe, they felt a little less “go-go” and more “slow-go” than before But everyone else gets older, too. Your grandkids go from diapers to kindergarten to “too cool for you” to college and beyond, all in the span of your retirement. Your own children will go from young professionals to married with kids to empty nesters. They are changing too! Health rhythms (and surprises) change. Even if you start retirement feeling great, your body changes. A bum knee will alter those daily walks and golf habits. A doctor’s order will shift your diet or exercise. Heck – for some retirees, the biggest health change is simply more doctor appointments filling your calendar. Friendships and social circles change. Friends move away, chasing their grandkids. Others pass away. Others surprise you and get closer. Your “people” change over time, and with that comes new rhythms of connection, or loneliness, if you don’t adapt. Joe-Saul Sehy frequently shares a story about his friend whose goal was to “retire to the mountains.” Decades of hard work and planning, and he made it happen: he retires to a beautiful home in the remote mountains. …and within months, realized he had completely isolated himself from all his previous social circles and couldn’t wait to undo his choice and move back to civilization. Finances and markets change. The “4% rule” is only a guidepost. Your retirement withdrawal strategy will change over time. Markets don’t move in a straight line. Inflation, tax law changes, or even just your own spending patterns may shift how you approach your money. Your community and environment will change. Your neighborhood, town, or city changes. The coffee shop closes. A new park opens. Neighbors come and go. Or maybe you move yourself – downsizing, moving closer to family, or chasing warmer winters. Our neighbors moved last month. They’re ~70 or so. They wanted to downsize out of their family home to a smaller,
To continue our series ” How to un-fire oneself”, I’m going to bundle part 4 (road trip Canada) and part 5 (road trip Germany and Belgium) into one post. As life continues to be fun, chaotic, busy and entertaining, the blog keeps on ending at the bottom of the priority list. But fear not, we have been working on the FIRE meetup in Utrecht later this year! The program is slowly coming together, should be entertaining. Anyhow, travel can be a good way to un-FIRE oneself. But as this blogpost will show you, it really depends on the trip how bad it gets! We did a road trip in Canada back in April/May of 18 days (to show mini-me where she was born, visit friends and former colleagues and enjoy this beautiful country). We also just returned from a 16-day road trip through Germany and Belgium just over a week ago. So, let’s dive into how to Un-FIRE yourself: part 4 & 5 (Travel). Quick travel recap The Canada trip was 18 days and obviously included a flight (our first personal flight in 10 years!), car rental, hotels, a couple Home Exchange properties, entrence fees for national parks, a hockey game, shopping malls and food. Lots of food. A short impression: The Germany – Belgium – Netherlands road trip was 16 days and only included Home Exchange properties for accomodation, we used our own car, and spend some money of entrance fees and again food, lots of food! Another short impression: Expenses As you can imagine, the total expenses for the two trips were very different. The Canada trip set us back a whopping €6.125,65 (which could have been a lot worse, considering it was not peak season and we stayed at, and had dinner with, various friends). A breakdown of the Canada road trip is as follows: The recent road trip through Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands on the other hand was amazingly cheap at €983,73 (assuming there are no speeding tickets coming from Germany). The breakdown is as follows: Value for money? Both trips were really cool. The Canada trip was a bit more exciting, the mountains a bit higher and the experience for Mini-me unforgettable. It was a trip that was a long time in the making, and we would not have wanted to miss it. But it was expensive at €340,31 per day. Also, we are both (fairly) tall, and sleeping in most standard beds is tiring (somehow we keep fighting over the blanket and space during the night). The trip to Canada was no exception, but with no rush and a laid-back attitude from our end, it generally worked out okay. The Germany/Belgium road trip was surprisingly cheap! Besides the fact that this was a road trip, which keeps travel costs down. The use of Home Exchange was phenomenal. And not just for the money part!
Income splitting is one of the most useful strategies in retirement. And here’s a retirement tip that is often missed – taking full advantage of the spousal RRSP account. The spousal RRSP account allows a higher income spouse to transfer funds into the hands of a lower income spouse. Those funds will grow tax free; and when it comes time to create retirement income the amounts will be taxed in the hands of the lower […]
Planning for your retirement isn’t optional. Make sure you do the right thing by reading our terrific weekly links. Don’t ignore investment fees when planning your retirement. Basis Pointing Does America have a retirement crisis? Yahoo Finance When enough is good enough. Can I Retire Yet? Your retirement plan should account for Bear Markets. Retirement Researcher Spending can be more complicated than saving. …The post My Ambition Is To Have Ambition…..When Is My Retirement? appeared first on A Teachable Moment.
In this post, I share how locum tenens helped me overcome burnout and allowed me to prioritize family and financial freedom. A few years ago, I was a full-time urologic… The post How Locum Tenens Helped Me Reprioritize My Life: From Burnout to Financial Freedom appeared first on The Darwinian Doctor.