Baby!

Update: There is now a 2-way tie for the most beautiful girl in the world. As we welcome our newest addition, posting will be lighter than usual for the next couple of weeks (years? decades?). Looks like early retirement might have to be pushed … [Read the rest]

Applying for Multiple Bank Accounts: Can You Apply For Too Many?

Updated. If you open multiple bank accounts in order to take advantage of higher interest rates or sign-up bonuses, you may be concerned about any potential consequences from all that activity. In my experience, there are two main factors to be … [Read the rest]

Cash Reserves & Best Interest Rates Update – June 2014

Our family keeps a full year of expenses put aside in cash reserves; it provides us with financial stability with the additional side benefits of lower stress and less concern about stock market gyrations. Emergency funds can actually have a better … [Read the rest]

Reader Story: Early Retirement by Age 40 with Income-Focused Portfolio

The following is a guest post contributed by reader Bob, who started getting serious about financial freedom about 10 years ago and plans to reach early retirement next year at age 40. Thanks Bob for candidly sharing about your personal experiences … [Read the rest]

Infographic: Economic Mobility Based On Income and Geography

Infographic creation site Infogr.am recently gave the Best Data Story award (Data Journalism Awards 2014) to the interactive article In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters from the New York Times. Sometimes NYT articles have such a clean … [Read the rest]

The Largest Consumer of Electricity In US Homes Besides A/C Is…

Most people will guess that the heater and/or air conditioner is the biggest source of electricity usage in the average home. But what about the second-largest? The HD DVR Cable Box, at least according to the LA Times (what about water … [Read the rest]

Prosper vs. LendingClub Investor Returns 19.5 Month Update

In November 2012, I invested $10,000 into person-to-person loans split evenly between Prosper Lending and Lending Club, looking for high returns from a new asset class. After diligently reinvesting my earned interest into new loans, I stopped my … [Read the rest]

Early Retirement Lesson #2: Earn More vs. Spend Less

Here's more of my "old man wisdom" about early retirement. I call it that because the lessons that I learned may or may not fully apply to you, but they worked for me and that is why I'm sharing them. Last time I talked about savings rates and how … [Read the rest]

Cable Bill Haggling Revisited

Recently it was time again to haggle my cable bill (I still get a steady stream of success story comments on that post). Actually, I ended up just switching to DSL as I'd been having some ongoing speed issues with my cable internet. I'll take the … [Read the rest]

Early Retirement Lesson #1: Savings Rate

I've now spent nearly 10 years and 10,000 hours actively reading, thinking, and writing about money and the pursuit of financial freedom. I've still got a few years until early retirement but I can finally see the finish line. I've been meaning to … [Read the rest]

How Often Should I Rebalance My Investment Portfolio? Less Than You Might Think

An important tenet of portfolio construction is rebalancing your portfolio to maintain your desired risk profile and also provide the best risk-adjusted returns. The next question is usually - Okay, so how often do I rebalance? Well, this … [Read the rest]

Early Retirement Portfolio Update – June 2014 Income

There is an ongoing investing debate as to whether you should focus on income or total return. I personally believe that you should focus on total return but realize that income is a critical part of that total return. If you want to live off the … [Read the rest]