It's no secret that I'm a cheerleader for self-employment and entrepreneurship. I now run two blogs, this one here on the Saverocity network and another at freequentflyerbook.com. I've never asked anyone permission to start a business, I don't have a "business license," I just run a business like a goddamn American. That's the spirit I'm trying to promote here: if you aren't … [Read more...] about This should be a golden age of entrepreneurship; why isn’t it?
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In defense of lifestyle inflation
An important conceit of a variety of forms of financial advice, including the financial independence space but also genuine financial planners, is the avoidance at all costs of "lifestyle inflation." Lifestyle inflation, the theory goes, is the curse of spending additional money on living expenses just because your income increases, whether it's due to raises, promotions, … [Read more...] about In defense of lifestyle inflation
My stubborn preference for mutual funds over ETF’s
I understand that I sometimes come across as a bit crotchety when it comes to the early retirement blogging community. Nothing could be farther from the truth! I retired at 29 and haven't regretted it for a day since (if Mitch McConnell manages to scrounge up 50 votes to take away my health insurance we can revisit this discussion). Anybody who advocates quitting your job and … [Read more...] about My stubborn preference for mutual funds over ETF’s
The use and abuse of “the 4% rule”
I had a good time recently appearing on the Saverocity Observation Deck podcast with Noah from Money Metagame and host Joe Cheung. One thing that I think got a little muddled in our conversation was my feelings about "the 4% rule," which is much beloved by financial independence and early retirement enthusiasts. Rather than try to tell you I'm right and they're wrong about … [Read more...] about The use and abuse of “the 4% rule”
Everyone needs, and no one has, compounding discipline
I have written elsewhere about the importance of what I call "compounding discipline:" the deliberate choice to take the return you earn on alternative, irregular, and weird activities and reinvest them, instead of spending them. Exercising compounding discipline is essential to realizing the full benefits of those activities over medium and longer terms, but is … [Read more...] about Everyone needs, and no one has, compounding discipline