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 […]
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JL Collins And The Difficult Path To Wealth
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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 […]
How To Money Interview
I first met Joel Larsgaard on a hot and steamy night in New Orleans. I was at a blogger conference called FinCon and had rented a creepy old house in the Treme area with friends: One night, Joel stopped by and we all hung out late into the night. Joel and I are in very […]
August 2021 Performance Update: Jurassic Crash!
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 […]
Port Aransas, Austin, FinCon, And The Tesla Gigafactory
Mindy and I just got back from Texas. The main point of the trip was to attend a personal finance creator conference (FinCon), but we flew out a little early and went to the beach. I don’t like to sit still. On a typical day, I get about 20,000 steps in, leaving the house multiple […]
Interview With The Fioneers!
Hey look, the Fioneers interviewed me for their Slow FI interview series and it’s live today: https://thefioneers.com/death-march-to-financial-independence/ Fioneer Jess asked me to participate in the interview over 1 year ago. I wish that I would have gone this slow in my FI journey. Whoops! Thanks Jess for this opportunity and infinite patience!
July 2021 Performance Update: The Beast!
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 To Successfully Flip Homes For Fun And Profit!
Live-in flipping is a great way to make large amounts of money tax-free. You have to live somewhere, so why not live in a home that will help make you rich? In this post, I’ll share: How I got started with home flipping My deals including my numbers My best tips for live-in flipping Learning […]
Unlimited Upside
I’ve made a lot of investing mistakes. I bought into the dot-com bubble and rode some stocks to great highs and then quickly down to zero. Whoops. It was a great time to learn because my portfolio was minuscule. I lost around $5,000, but it may have been the best $5,000 I ever lost. Life […]
M.K. Williams On Mile High FI
This week on the Mile High FI podcast, Doug and I talked to M.K. Williams. I’ve bumped into M.K. many times at FI events and always enjoyed our conversations, so I really looked forward to this interview. MK is an author, speaker, and mother. I’m also happy to call her my friend. What stood out […]
The Incredible Power Of Community (Extroverted Introverts)
One of the best parts of life is spending time with our chosen community. This is especially relevant to early retirees because we have much more time. When I worked, I spent more time with my coworkers than with my spouse. It’s a little ridiculous to think about, but I think it’s true for a […]