JustinRoG, Author at Root of Good

Retired at 33. I'm here to share some financial wisdom with everyone.

Summer Vacation for 5 in Europe: 9 Weeks, 8 Countries, 14 Cities, $10,000

March 22, 2017 JustinRoG Awesome!, Lifestyle, Personal Finance, Travel

The Root of Good family is ramping up for an epic adventure across Europe during the summer of 2017. The five of us will spend nine weeks traversing an all new (to us) continent by train, plane, bus, car, and foot.

We really struggled to narrow down the itinerary to something feasible for a family with three young children. As a result this trip will NOT include London nor Paris nor a dozen other cities we would have loved to visit. What we will see are museums, parks, castles, palaces, cathedrals, caves, mountains, seas, rivers, lakes, and canyons scattered about the rest of western and central Europe.

Many will view this as a “trip of a lifetime” or a “dream trip” but I choose to view this as just another cool vacation in a series of vacations we have already taken and will continue to take.

February 2017 Financial Update

March 6, 2017 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Two months into 2017 and things are off to a great start for us. Our income of $4,893 for the month greatly exceeded our expenses of $2,108. Our net worth climbed another $38,000 to $1,756,000 primarily due to solid stock market gains.

Our taxes are filed and we’re due small refunds from the state and the feds totaling several hundred dollars. My first effort at paying quarterly estimated taxes in 2016 were a huge success since I came very close to our actual tax liabilities without giving our state and federal governments unnecessarily large loans. Our overall tax liability is higher in retirement compared to our working years thanks to the self employment tax due on blog earnings. At least I’m increasing my future social security check slightly.

January 2017 Financial Update

February 9, 2017 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

January is over and what a fine January it was for our finances! Our net worth climbed another $38,000 to $1,718,000 and in the process we broke through another $100,000 milestone. Income for the month of January was solid at $5,068 while expenses remained roughly on budget at $3,378 in spite of a few large, lumpy quarterly or annual expenses.

After finishing 2016 about $1,000 under our $40,000 budget with total spending of $38,991, we are off to a great start in 2017.

Living a $100,000 lifestyle on $40,000 per year – 2016 Expenses in Review

January 30, 2017 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

“Oh you live on $40,000 per year? Guess you like camping in the van underneath the highway bridge huh? Still enjoying those rice and beans? Three kids cost $40,000 per year right off the bat so it’s clearly impossible!”. This complainer clearly doesn’t know how we spend money.

Living well on $40,000 per year is possible and I’m here to explain exactly how by going over all of our expenses during 2016. Later in the article I’ll explain why our spending affords us a lifestyle that costs most other people $100,000 per year. And I don’t think many would argue that a $100,000 per year lifestyle is a tough way to live.

Cruising the Caribbean aboard the MSC Divina

January 17, 2017 JustinRoG Awesome!, Lifestyle, Travel

What’s the best way to fight off winter’s chill? Spend a week cruising the Caribbean of course! Right before Christmas the Root of Good family did exactly that. I wanted to share a few pictures from our eight day, seven night cruise aboard the MSC Divina sailing out of Miami, Florida.

After two lazy days at sea, we reached the island of St. Maarten where we watched airplanes zip by just feet off the beach. The next day we docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico where we explored the city and toured the Castillo San Cristobal fort. Then we enjoyed another relaxing day at sea before we reached Nassau, Bahamas. We didn’t get off the boat in Nassau since we seem to visit the island on every cruise we take. Relaxing on the ship while everyone was on shore proved to be the perfect way to spend the last full day of our vacation.

December 2016 Financial Update

January 6, 2017 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

Now that the year end celebrations are over, it’s time to get down to business. Our December finances closed on a strong note with a big $29,000 boost to our net worth, bringing the total to an all time high of $1,680,000. Our income for the month totaled $16,120 primarily due to year end dividend income while our expenses increased to $6,326 thanks to some incredible travel deals.

We closed out the year just under our $40,000 budget with total spending of $38,991.

November 2016 Financial Update

December 7, 2016 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Personal Finance

November was a busy month for us! We ate a lot of turkey then packed up the minivan and set out for a five night Caribbean cruise. Now that we are back, it’s time to take a look at our financials for last month. Income looks tiny at $785 for the month (but I’ll explain why) while expenses remained moderate at $2,774. A strong stock market propelled our net worth $33,000 higher to $1,651,000. All in all, November was a great month financially and otherwise.

The Role of Luck in Early Retirement

November 22, 2016 JustinRoG Awesome!, Financial Independence, Lifestyle

We’re celebrating Thanksgiving here in America in a few days, and that means two things: eating massive quantities of turkey and reflecting on all the beautifully awesome parts of life! Last year I mentioned how thankful I was for cool affordable tech gadgets, the ease of growing wealth, and lastly, economic and political stability.

I’m still a big fan of all of those! But in this post, I want to express my gratitude for all the good luck experienced throughout my life.

First up, I’m glad I was born in the United States of America. It’s one of the richest countries in the world as measured by per capita gross domestic product, consistently ranking in the top 10 or 15 countries of the world. In the good ole US of A, we speak English which is the lingua franca of business and culture worldwide. Speaking English as a first language boosts one’s career prospects and allows conversation with around a quarter of the world’s population. That also translates to a huge marketplace if you’re in the idea biz (such as writing a blog).

October 2016 Financial Update

November 7, 2016 JustinRoG Financial Independence, Lifestyle, Personal Finance

Now that the trick or treating is over and October is gone, I’m ready to share the good and bad financial data from last month. Our income, mostly derived from this blog, remained very strong at $8,365 while our expenses ended the month at $1,460 which left us with a large cash surplus. If I make much more money, I’m afraid I might be “unretired”!

I can’t say I paid any attention to the stock market in October but apparently it declined. In spite of income exceeding expenses by about $7,000, our net worth still dropped by $29,000 to $1,618,000. Since this is significantly more money than we had a year or two ago, I continue to feel safe and secure at our current net worth levels.

My first person view of gentrification

October 21, 2016 JustinRoG Awesome!, Lifestyle

Earlier this week I walked out the kitchen door and down the sidewalk destined for the neighborhood Food Lion grocery store. It’s a quick five minute walk to the shopping center and proves uneventful on most trips.

This day was a little different for a number of reasons. Half a block away from home, I bumped into a new neighbor. We started chatting about the neighborhood, the fancy downtown magnet school both of our children attend, and his most recent acquisition: oboe reeds. This guy had a different vibe than many other neighbors that moved here over the past several years. He’s completely white and fluent in English for starters. Solidly middle class. After doing some cybersleuthing later in the day, I realized he paid about 50% more for his house than what his neighbors did a few years earlier.

We shake hands and part ways after exchanging contact info to stay in touch (we’re neighborly like that down here in the South). I proceed to the grocery store in no particular rush (I’m retired after all). I enter the shopping center through the short cut by the dumpsters. And lo and behold there’s a homeless looking gentleman laid out on the sidewalk in the sun chugging a half gallon jug of whole milk. Not my first choice of mid-day beverage, but it was warm that day so I guess 64 fluid ounces of ice cold milk hit the spot, right?