In December of 2017, Dividend Growth Investor (DGI) asked me if I’d like to duplicate the famous Warren Buffett bet. For those unfamiliar, in 2008 Buffett famously challenged the hedge fund industry: Can you beat the S&P 500 over a 10 year period? Buffett won as the hedge fund got clobbered by the S&P 500. But, I […]
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New Video: DIY Update!
When I started my YouTube channel back in 2019, I had grand plans: I can’t wait to show the world our DIY live-in flip! Mindy and I will take movies of our work and then show the world what we’re doing on YouTube. I’ll publish at least once a month! -enthusiastic and silly me And […]
2021, 2022, VTSAX And Chill
Wait, 2021 is over already? What the heck happened? 2020 trudged along like a drunken sloth trying to scale Mt. Everest. 2021 seemed to fly by in seconds… 2021 was a pretty great year. I’m thankful for all of the adventures I got to experience: I’m even more thankful that my daily life was interesting, […]
Mile High FI: J. Money
Budgets Are Sexy was one of the first blogs I discovered when I started my blogging journey. At the time, the author of the blog was J. Money, a mysterious dude who sported strange hair. I liked J. Money’s style. He wasn’t afraid to write about taboo topics like working as a phone sex operator. […]
BiggerPockets Money: Mindy, Me, And More Dinosaurs!
In case you don’t know, Mindy-wife has her own online presence over at BiggerPockets. Specifically, she co-hosts the BiggerPockets Money podcast with Scott Trench. Mindy and Scott released their first episode in 2018. Since then, I’ve asked Mindy this question every month week day hour: In a very whiny and pathetic voice: When do I […]
Unexpected Bucket Lists
This post was just supposed to just be my EconoMe talk. Here it is: The talk was great. It was one of the best moments of my 2021 and I’m a better person for having done it. But then I reflected a bit more and realized I had something else to say. Bucket List Items […]
Mile High FI With Jillian Johnsrud
This week on the Mile High FI podcast, Doug and I interview Jillian Johnsrud. We talked about her new book, Fire the Haters: Finding Courage to Create Online in a Critical World. Listen to the episode here: https://milehighfi.com/podcast/create-fearlessly-mhfi-035/ Or watch on YouTube:
The Anti-Withdrawal Strategy: How To Beat Sequence Risk
Reader note: My example in the original version of this post was poor. Thanks to Shaun and TMV for pointing this out in the comments. I have rewritten parts of the post with a better example. Perhaps the biggest financial risk for an early retiree is sequence risk. This is selling your stocks into a […]
October 2021 Performance Update: Biggest, Crabbiest Month Ever!
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 […]
JL Collins And The Difficult Path To Wealth
Hey look, JL Collins, author of The Simple Path To Wealth, is out with a new book: How I Lost Money In Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable is JL’s true story of a disastrous real estate transaction. Short of being electrocuted, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. And then some. The story […]
Cincinnati, EconoMe, And Skyline Chili
In my last post, I talked about speaking at EconoMe in Cincinnati. Today, I’ll tell you a little bit more about the weekend. I always enjoy visits to the Midwest. I grew up in Chicagoland, so going back to the middle of the United States always feels like I’m returning home. But, I had never […]
Comfort Zones Are Where Dreams Go To Die
The past 7 days were crazy busy: DIY solar panels: On Wednesday, the electric utility came out to perform a final inspection on my solar system and I passed! My system is now connected to the grid and on most days, I’m putting back much more than I consume. DIYing solar panels took a lot […]
Guest Post: How Working Remotely And Nomading Can Save You Money
I’m busy finishing up a bunch of projects. Last week, I completed my solar panels and now, I’m in the middle of a kitchen remodel. Fun! My friend Gary from Financial Fives kindly offered to step in here at 1500 Days. See you soon! Looking back over the last decade, and especially the last 18 […]
Tesla, My First $1,000,000 Investment
I wrote this post mostly for myself. Writing about stuff helps me think through it. Don’t take any of this as investment advice. You’d be silly to listen to a grown human who plays with plastic dinosaurs anyway. Do your own research! Sometimes you get lucky. I bought some Tesla stock back in 2012 on […]
September 2021 Performance Update: More Building, Less Blogging
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 […]
Live-In Flip Update: Eyes Bigger Than Stomach
Eyes bigger than stomach: describes a situation where someone takes more food than they can eat Life has been pretty busy over here at Rancho 1500. When the girls go back to school, I flip the switch back to Full Throttle Home Improvement Mode. The tools come out of summer slumber and I start building […]