Dear Financial Community, Please, for the love of God, stop pointing out the average 401k balance by age. Without fail this is a number that looks and sounds extremely low, especially for older folks, and it’s usually in an effort to show how easy it would be to catch or outpace that number. You all… Continue reading Please Stop Citing the Average 401k Balance
Tag: retirement
2022 in Review
As the saying goes, “If you want to make God laugh, make a plan.” Early in the year I posted my (mostly) financial goals for 2022. Looking back on those goals makes me realize how optimistic I was coming into this year…and what a shit-show 2022 turned out to be! So without much preamble, lets… Continue reading 2022 in Review
I Was Worse than Broke When People Started Calling me Successful
On the fifteenth of every month I put all of my account information into a spreadsheet. This spreadsheet calculates my current bills, my current balances, and my time to FI at current rates. It also plots my net worth on a chart. I’ve only been doing this for about three years, and I’m not inclined… Continue reading I Was Worse than Broke When People Started Calling me Successful
Good Idea, Bad Idea
It’s about RSU’s again. I’m facing what some would call an equity cliff at the end of 2023. Three years ago I was granted a fairly large amount of RSUs (restricted stock units) which would vest quarterly over four years. While I’ll still have RSUs for the next six years, the difference between 2023 and… Continue reading Good Idea, Bad Idea
The Importance of Moonshot Investments
As someone who is firmly entrenched in “the boring middle” I can attest to the fact that it is a well named stage of FIRE. I am incredibly bored. My debts are paid, my investments are automatic, my mortgage balance is slowly and steadily coming down, and despite the recent market fluctuations, my investment accounts… Continue reading The Importance of Moonshot Investments
Well, this is Embarrassing
Confession time: I forgot about a loan I had outstanding. In my defense, I didn’t exactly forget about it. I knew it was there and I’ve been paying it all along, but the interest rate was so low, and it was on my existing power bill, so I just let it ride. Time to pay… Continue reading Well, this is Embarrassing
Good Times, Bad Times
We’re five and a half months into 2022 and I think I can count the amount of green stock market days on my fingers. If you’re the type to check your 401k balance regularly or to watch the stock market daily (I am) it’s been super depressing. My overall investment accounts are down $300k from… Continue reading Good Times, Bad Times
I Can Retire in My 50’s!
Ok, the blog is called “Freed by 50” so it’s kind of implied that I should be able to retire in my 50’s, but I just proved it, and it felt damn good. Over the weekend I was running numbers on paying off my mortgage vs investing the money (yes, this again) and ran multiple… Continue reading I Can Retire in My 50’s!
The Big Laundry Win
On a macro scale, the saying holds true “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” On a household scale, I’d argue you can replace “death and taxes” with “laundry and dishes.” Unless you’re Jack Reacher. With a family of five, three of which are young kids, we have a lot of… Continue reading The Big Laundry Win
Some Frugal Things I Still do and Could Probably Stop
Early this morning I was scrounging around my dresser in the dark trying to find a pair of gym shorts without waking my wife. After a few minutes of fruitless searching and a little grumbling, I decided to just do my workout in a pair of boxers. This got me thinking, I can’t remember the… Continue reading Some Frugal Things I Still do and Could Probably Stop
Freed by 50 