» My favorite writings of February 2008 Early Retirement Extreme: Financial independence, frugality, self-sufficiency, ecology, capitalism, and voluntary simplicity

My favorite writings of February 2008

Published on March 2nd, 2008

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

It is interesting how valuation is sometimes determined by things other than value. For instance, if a reader agrees with an author the reader will say that the post is well written and vice-a-versa (*). So with that in mind (given that I like myself), here are my favorite posts for February 2008, hmmm

(*) See reviews on amazon.com for countless examples.

Here are my favorite posts of JanuaryHere’s the stuff budget for February:

Outgoing: 15 pounds
Incoming: 2 pounds

Overall I got lighter and minimized my footprint by 13 pounds by donating some things to charity and selling a couple of books on amazon. The incoming 2 pounds. Well, that’s some bike apparel I bought even though I said I did not need any. Oh, the shame! But after wearing out the seat of yet another pair of slacks (the third within a year), I figured that a pair of bike shorts (actually it’s a long legged bib) would be a more economical solution. I also got some socks since my regular socks have been dying left and right for the same reasons.

7 users responded in " My favorite writings of February 2008 "

Steve Austin said, in March 2nd, 2008 at 9:37 pm

ERE, you write like saltine crackers taste, but I agree with most of what you write. Is that more believable? ;-\

Jacob said, in March 3rd, 2008 at 7:19 am

@steve - I’m gonna go out in my car and cry a little now

Steve Austin said, in March 3rd, 2008 at 8:11 am

Take some red wine and a little cheese with your Saltines! ;-\

I wish to be clear that Saltines aren’t so bad. I suspect that I write like a dirt-and-gravel road tastes. ;-\

claire said, in March 6th, 2008 at 5:32 am

I think the main reason that “they” say that you need a million dollars to retire is because of inflation - not so much to buy more stuff - lets face it the average person is not an investor - if it is true early retirement then inflation can really destroy a nest egg over time - 1 million dollars in 30 years time is going to have significantly less buying power. who wants to have to go back to work at 60?

Jacob said, in March 6th, 2008 at 7:39 am

@claire - I disagree. One million is too much reserve for a $10,000 withdrawal rate even when considering inflation. These people are not talking about a million in the future (at least I hope they aren’t). They are talking about a million now, as in “I have a million, can I retire”. If they have a million now, in the future, this million will have grown. The only inflation I am worried about is hyperinflation.

Steve Austin said, in March 6th, 2008 at 8:10 am

If someone has the capacity to accumulate $1M, then that someone has the capacity to figure out how to grow that nest egg faster than inflation. Thus income from the nest egg grows faster than inflation.

Part of the assumption on the part of the mainstream financial advisory (MSFA) is that “safe”, fixed-income vehicles will dominate the retirees portfolio. Well, early retirement quickly guns down that option. A retiree’s portfolio must grow to last, and if one retires early then one learns how to grow it. Once that is learned, they why is there any need to shift into a fixed-income configuration at age 60 or 70 or ever? Just keep on going, keep growing it. That’s where one finds safety in retirement.

claire said, in March 9th, 2008 at 11:04 am

Jacob - IMHO 10k a year is simply unrealistic and unsustainable unless you live a bare bones lifestyle, which is of course a theme of your blog.

Leave Your Reply Below...

Please Note: Comment Moderation Maybe Active So There is No Need To Resubmit Your Comments