The Mad FIentist (Brandon) is a FI legend. Many of his posts are cornerstone content for planning and executing FIRE life. These stand out: And my all-time favorite: How To Access Retirement Funds Early Mindy and I recently interviewed Brandon recently for the Mindy On Money podcast. Since we’ve known him since 2013, it was […]
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Performance Update: March Badness!
My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* ($1,000,000 to retire on and $120,000 to pay off the house) in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal in 2016, my 1500 Days are over, and I’ve left my job. In the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share […]
How Far Will Tesla Tank? -or- When Your Hypothesis Takes A Break
Tesla’s earnings come out later today. I’m publishing this now so I’m not biased. I’ll probably add an update to the end after the earnings call. Tesla sales have not been going well in 2024. Tesla is pulling all sorts of demand levers, but electric vehicles (EVs) just aren’t selling. Here’s what I got wrong […]
Money Will Solve Money Problems…
I was talking to my friend and FI Blogfather, JL Collins recently and he made a thoughtful point. We were talking about money and happiness and he told me that it’s silly that people think they’ll become happier when they get money: Money will solve money problems. It won’t fix anything else that may be […]
Performance Update: February Rebound!
My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* ($1,000,000 to retire on and $120,000 to pay off the house) in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal in 2016, my 1500 Days are over, and I’ve left my job. In the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share […]
My Experience With Tesla FSD 12.3
I just experienced Tesla’s newest version of FSD (version 12.3) with my friend Will from ALL Electric! Tesla nerds already know that v12.3 is a big deal. Everyone else, I assure you that this is a big breakthrough. Watch the video and then read the rest of the post to hear why I think 12.3 […]
Car Free Living With Mr. Money Mustache At Culdesac (Mile High FI Interview)
Doug and I recently took a trip to see MMM’s Arizona Experiment in person. At Culdesac, we were joined by friends including Chad Carson, Paula Pant, Brad Barrett, David Baughier, and JD Roth. We toured Culdesac: Saw the town on ebikes: Explored the desert: Shared an epic night with friends: And sat down with Culdesac […]
10 Questions With Dr. Neill Slater
I thought my 10 Questions series was dead as the dodo, but here we are! After years of radio silence, I received two submissions last week. The first is from Dr. Neill Slater who blogs over at Business is the Best Medicine. Neill did a swell job with his answers. Read them all. But if […]
January 2024 Performance: Tesla Dump!
My main goal* was to build an investment and cash portfolio of $1,120,000* ($1,000,000 to retire on and $120,000 to pay off the house) in 1500 days**, starting from 1/1/2013 and ending in February of 2017. I made my goal in 2016, my 1500 Days are over, and I’ve left my job. In the interest of openness, I’ll continue to share […]
Kim Ehardt: Resourcefulness, Optimism, And Inspiration
Every once in a while, you come across someone amazing. Kim Ehardt is one of those people. Her life has been a wild adventure; from living on couches to becoming a firefighter who owns rental properties. She’s optimistic and resourceful. It’s refreshing to meet someone truly different in the financial independence space. Listen to her […]
Money Moves And Curious Questions For 2024
Hey look, it’s 2024 already. Where did 2023 go? Never mind. This is supposed to be a money blog, but I find that I don’t write about money much anymore. However, I still think about it. All. The. Time. I’lll talk about my money moves for the new year at the end of this post. […]
An Index Fund In Reverse (Facebook Insanity!)
While I think about money and investing every day, it’s rare that I have an epiphany. But last week I had one. On Friday, something crazy happened to my investment portfolio. I hold 931 shares of Meta (Facebook) and the stock had its best day ever. It was actually the best day ever for any […]
RANT: STOP FOCUSING ON THE 4% RULE!!!
Ooooh, I’ve never written a title all in caps before! You know it’s gonna get real. Nothing in the financial independence community drives me crazier than the endless debate over the 4% Rule. Brace yourselves. My Most Vulnerable Money Moment First, I’ll tell you about my most vulnerable moment. It may be surprisingly similar to […]
Deoptimization
I was listening to Morgan Housel’s excellent podcast and heard this quote from Bernard Moitessier: To have the time, to have the choice, not knowing where you’re heading, what you’re doing, and just going there anyway, without a care, without asking any more questions, you can’t understand how happy I am. What do you think […]
Warren Buffett Bet: Year 6 Update
Six years ago, Dividend Growth Investor (DGI) asked me if I’d like to participate in the Warren Buffett bet. For those unfamiliar, in 2008 Buffett famously challenged the hedge fund industry:: Can you beat the S&P 500 over a period of 10 years? Buffett won as the hedge fund got clobbered by the S&P 500. But […]
2023 In Review: Surpassing Max Q
Yet another obligatory 2023 Review Post! Bleh!!! Sigh. I’ll try to make it fun. Investments! We had a very good year. Our net worth started at $3,342,821 and ended at $4,792,750 for a 43% gain or $1,449,929. Yowsers! That’s our biggest year ever: Tech did very well and our biggest holding, Tesla, killed it. The […]