Retired in 2013 at age 33. Life is Good.
The plane tickets are booked. In early June the Root of Good family packs up and hits the road for a summer in Mexico. Just another crazy thing you can do when early retired.
We’ll be chasing the kids up and down pyramids and mountains, into the crystal clear water, and then relaxing in the shade until the smell of grilling meats lures us to the explosive colors of the local markets.
Read more
Half a lifetime ago I developed a financial independence plan before I knew anything about financial independence and early retirement. My 17 year old self scribbled out a poorly refined plan to never work again and live off of savings from a minimum wage job. The bottom line: I thought I needed $120,000 to fund a perfectly adequate lifestyle forever by living on $600 per month in interest.
The year was 1997, the place was North Carolina in the wonderful United States of America. The federal poverty level back in 1997 was $657 per month, which meant that I was planning on living below the poverty line (before I even knew what a poverty line was).
Read more
Imagine early retirement as a well cooked meal. The recipe calls for healthy doses of earned income and a liberal application of spending less than you make. Place those savings into a good asset allocation. Mix ingredients well and let simmer for a decade or two. Voila! Early retirement on a platter. If only you could find that dish in the frozen section of the grocery store or at a drive thru window near you!
You can’t retire early without a decent working history. Throughout the last two decades, I’ve had almost twenty different jobs. The earliest ones didn’t pay particularly well, but my compensation generally increased as I gained more experience. Join me on this autobiographical odyssey through my working years.
Read more
“Today my teacher asked me how we are able to go on another cruise so soon after the last one. I told my teacher that my daddy is retired and my mommy is about to retire, too. Then a kid in my class asked to borrow a few thousand dollars from me.”
That’s what my nine year old told me at dinner a few days ago. Some parents might freak out about how honest their kid was with their teachers and fellow classmates. Not me. But should I be more concerned?
Read more
We closed out the year with a financially busy month. With income exceeding $17,000 in December, we way more than covered our abnormally large expenses of about $10,000. We finished the year on a strong financial note and wrapped up a major home renovation project during the month. And booked another Caribbean cruise.
Read more
Hide your cash! The money managers are coming. There’s a huge lusty hungry army of financial advisers marauding about looking to latch on to your early retirement war chest and clandestinely drain it’s lifeblood while
Read more
In November, our spending was very average and our net worth went up very slightly by $8,000. With $2,764 of income in November, we barely covered our $2,640 in spending. November marked the start of a major construction project on our house and most of the month’s spending was devoted to material purchases.
Read more
Mrs. Root of Good decided to pick up the keyboard and pen a few thoughts on work and the decision to finally pull the plug and join me in early retirement. Here’s what she has to say:
What will it take for me to leave the corporate world and pass the day with Mr. RoG on the back deck laying on the hammock sipping margaritas? Overall, my job is pretty easy and the pay is good. I have very good benefits, flexible hours and my managers pretty much let me do what I want as long as the job gets done. And I’m due to take my three month sabbatical any time now. So what will it take for me to leave my job? I do want to spend more time with our kids and travel more. I get jealous when I come home exhausted and Mr. RoG has spent hours outdoor reading. It’s a tough decision. If I work for just another year, my salary is enough to pay for our yearly travel expenses for many years! But there are times when I wonder if it is worth the headaches to stay at work. There are times when I feel what I’m doing is just silly and a waste of my time!
Read more
After losing $50,000 in September, October started out looking just as ugly. By the middle of October we had lost another $50,000. However the last half of October made up for all those losses and left us substantially wealthier by month end. In terms of expenses, we didn’t do a lot of spending in October other than the ordinary monthly bills.
With $2,619 of income in October, we more than covered our $1,383 in spending. The excess of income over expenses of $1,200 or so was dwarfed by tens of thousands in investment gains.
Most people would say the pinnacle of life is when you score a top level job in your field, when your kids are born, when you land a full ride to college or sign a multi-million dollar contract with your favorite sports team. Achieving financial independence (FI) in life is typically an afterthought. That is why we see hundreds of celebrities and lottery winners squandering their money and years later filing for bankruptcy. Just look at MC Hammer, Kim Basinger and Michael Jackson.
Read more