The forum is turning out to be quite popular. It now has 70+ posts per day and 119 users with plenty of introductions. Participating in the forums, I hardly have time for blogging anymore. Actually, when I say I don’t have time, that’s not entirely true. I have plenty of time. What I don’t have is creative energy. Creative energy is much different from the kind of energy that is required for screwing nuts on bolts (or is that bolts on nuts); it is not something that can be willed forth. Yes, admittedly, I can write without creativity; I can be professional in my writing, but I bet that wouldn’t be very interesting to read. I used to write “professionally” in school [unpaid of course], where the output requirement was so many pages in so many days. That was a grind. But enough about my favorite subject (me) and onto the forums.

We have three people who have started their own journal:

We also have two meet-ups scheduled:

For investing, you should check out the Permanent Portfolio,which may just replace the Dogs of the Dow as the “officially” endorsed ERE portfolio. Also read the discussion on dividend investing. I was also looking for alternative ways to own assets that did not involve real estate or Wall Street, namely, owning a small business. Incidentally, those who have a lot of savings in their retirement accounts may want to look into the 72(t) rule [US only].

There has also been a lot of discussion on off-grid arrangements. There’s a lot of animosity towards the fixed fees of utility companies which often surpasses low impact usage. One way is the trailer/RV. One question is how much a priority this should be; also when considering peak oil.

I leave you with a long list of reasons to retire extremely early.

Originally posted 2010-07-31 10:08:14.