Early Retirement Extreme

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

Are we qualitatively different?

Published in September 5th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in household, personal finance

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!If there is anything this country enjoys, it’s measuring things by numbers and then comparing numbers. We divide people into percentile according to net worth, credit score, GPA, GDP, IQ, etc. with the implicit assumption that it is possible [...]

How well are you doing on your way to early retirement?

Published in September 2nd, 2008

Posted by Jacob in assets, financial independence, investments, net worth, personal finance, saving

7 Comments

The two prevalent numbers for the middle class are net worth and credit score. These numbers are, however, not very useful if you wish to retire very early. Credit score measures your ability to take on debt and be obligated to work for others, and net worth says very little about how well your money [...]

How to retire in 5 years

Published in August 14th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in financial independence, motivation, personal finance

29 Comments

After going on about the zen and glory of padded envelopes for some time now, I have realized that a refresher on how to retire extremely early (for those who are younger than 35) and how to retire in short order (for everybody who is older) might be in order. After all, this is this [...]

Advanced cash flow diagrams

Published in July 7th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in budgeting, personal finance

No Comments

One of the things I get paid for on a daily basis is to sit and stare at large amounts of numbers and try to make sense of them. The thing that has repeatedly helped me understand those numbers is to develop some way of visualizing these numbers. It is not a popular method because [...]

Dear Graduate, do you want to retire in five years?

Published in June 17th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in financial independence, personal finance, standard of living

18 Comments

Dear Graduate,
By now you should have obtained a degree. While this shows you have no particular useful skills, except for a few notable professions, it will make you employable in the corporate world. You now have a choice to make. You can join the majority, have a career, and work for the next 30 years [...]

Maximize your 401k early in the year

Published in April 21st, 2008

Posted by Jacob in job, liabilities, personal finance, planning

6 Comments

Compared to the IRA with its $5,000 limit, the 401k with its $15,500 limit possesses an unfair advantage. Everybody with a W-2 income can get an IRA, whereas not everybody is lucky enough to have access to a 401k with the higher limit. These tools are useful because they minimize taxable income.
In this household I [...]

Choosing a retirement plan for extremely early retirement

Published in March 19th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in assets, personal finance, planning, saving, taxes

10 Comments

Consumers are widely recommended to contribute around 15% of their paycheck to a retirement plan. The question whether to pick a ROTH IRA or a traditional IRA does not have a definite answer. For instance, it depends on whether one’s future [retirement] income is expected to in a higher tax bracket (ROTH) or a lower [...]

When Good People Give Bad Financial Advice

Published in February 29th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in investments, money, personal finance

8 Comments

In this guest post Hunter Nuttall talks about the challenges of giving financial advice. Although well intended, some advice can be ill suited for the person or just plain wrong. It is something we should all be aware of whether we are giving advice or taking it. If you like this post and want to [...]

MBTI and societal behavioral patterns

Published in February 26th, 2008

Posted by Jacob in consumerism, culture, ecological footprint, personal finance

9 Comments

I think the reason that many people have the need to spend so much money and save more than 1 million for retirement is that is that they feel that security is achieved through ownership of multi-bed/bathroom houses (castles) that are built around car garages that house full size cars or big SUVs sometimes in [...]

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

14 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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