Early Retirement Extreme

Financial independence, frugality, self-sufficiency, ecology, capitalism, and voluntary simplicity

Quotes relevant to extreme early retirement

Published in June 16th, 2008

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!“Thus, when the marginal cost of participating in a complex society becomes too high, productive units across the economic spectrum increase resistance (passive or active) to the demands of the hierarchy, or overtly attempt to break away. Both the [...]

Dear unborn grandchildren

Published in May 18th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in debt, economy

3 Comments

Thank you for the generous $1200 stimulus package gift we just received from you. You know, traditionally it’s been the obligation one generation to help the next generation along. Parents help out their children, even their unborn children, by saving a little start up money so that the next generation has enough to start out [...]

The Gamesmen

Published in May 11th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in culture, economy, planning

1 Comment

I was inspired to post the following by a recent mail from T. and some earlier writings on the ecology of society. I would like to draw your attention to The Gamesman by Michael Maccoby. In this book, which I have not read yet but I got a summary from Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter [...]

Food Rationing

Published in April 25th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in cooking, ecological footprint, economy, planning

6 Comments

Food rationing has returned to the US for the first time since World War II. Along with the ongoing bet of which will reach $5/gallon first — gas or milk (I say gas)– this is one of an emerging list of symptoms that the idea of exponential growth of the economy and people on a [...]

A modest prediction for the next 20 years

Published in March 28th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in culture, economy, planning

8 Comments

Predicting the future always provides an excellent opportunity to make a fool out of oneself. One is almost destined to be wrong on some part or the other. If nothing else, the timing might be off, or the details may not be exactly right.
I have noted that whereas pre-1980 predictions mostly envisioned the future as [...]

Saturday Roundup - A safety moment (with taxes)!

Published in March 22nd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in announcements, carnival, economy, sub-prime, taxes

1 Comment

Today we’re going to one of the tax companies to get our state taxes done. Hopefully they will give us a discount since I already did the federal return myself. In 2007 we were apart time resident of two states. The tax consequences of that can be described in one word: PAIN! Mostly the problem [...]

The secret of education

Published in February 17th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in consumerism, culture, economy, education

18 Comments

Warning: this is a contrarian post and as such it may question some deeply held beliefs. If you keep going you might not like what you read.
The education industry has successfully installed the meme that not going to college (buying their product) putatively leads to a life in poverty. A common selling point is [...]

Now you can have a 7 year car loan. Outrageous!!

Published in February 16th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in budgeting, consumerism, debt, economy, sub-prime

4 Comments

In an effort to sell cars to debt laden consumers Toyota is now offering 84 month car loans(*). The immediate effect is to lower the monthly payments. In the long run this could have two effects.
The first long term effect is an increase in the price of new cars (relative to inventory) just like lower [...]

Precision, accuracy and the importance of using the right model

Published in February 13th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in culture, economy, insurance, sub-prime

No Comments

One of the things I think about a lot is the difference between precision and accuracy or from a modeling perspective the difference between verification and validation. The difference between precision and accuracy can be understood in terms of measuring tools such as a clock. A precise clock measures time very consistently. For instance, if [...]

How I became financially independent in 5 years - Part IV - the investments

Published in February 10th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in compound interest, culture, economy, financial independence, financial security, investments, net worth, personal finance, saving

13 Comments

I posit that most people can attain financial independence in less than 10 years and in less than 5 if they are truly determined. I also submit that many people are not willing to make the necessary changes.
Read part I here
Read part II here
Read part III here
By cutting all expenses to the bare [...]

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