At almost 50, I’m never doing a gut remodel again. Everyone who has survived one has the same thousand-yard stare. It’s the look of someone who spent two years arguing about grout color and waiting on inspectors who never show up when they say they will. Remodeling might be the most unpleasant thing you can
Buy The Finished Home, Skip The Remodeling Misery Read More »
After my posts on being broke again at 49 and feeling silently stressed, some of you let me have it. Irresponsible. Reckless. Top of the market psychology. All fair points. Please keep the respectful criticism coming. I appreciate the pushback because it forced me to look hard at my risk profile and explain it out
Why Aggressive Venture Investing After FIRE Isn’t Reckless Read More »
A couple days before I published Broke Again At 49, my wife said going to Las Vegas over the long weekend would be a lot of fun. I had floated the idea a couple weeks earlier. Unbeknownst to me, she then spent several hours over several days researching hotels, flights, shows, and costs to make it
The Silent Stress Of Taking A Family Vacation On A Razor’s Edge Read More »
At some point, you might find yourself short on money with no obvious way to fix it. You’ll have a plan. You’ll have strategies. But you won’t know exactly where the money will come from. That’s where I am right now. So I tried something that might make some of you groan: I manifested money.
Manifesting Money When You Have None: It’s Worth A Try Read More »
I have more than 40 financial accounts across four people to manage. More accounts means more questions. Can we spend more? Are we missing a tax opportunity? Does an investment still make sense given everything else we own? For years, answering them meant a spreadsheet, a free Saturday, and a lot of analysis that leads
Mezzi Review: The Proactive AI Financial Advisor For A Flat Fee Read More »
One of the reasons I accepted Portfolio Penguin’s book deal in 2019 was to demonstrate to my kids the importance of work. Not working sets a bad example if you are a FIRE parent. If I spent two and a half years ideating, writing, editing, and marketing a book they could eventually find in a bookstore,
Children Doomed To Follow In Their Parents’ Professional Footsteps Read More »
Part of the American dream is to climb the property ladder and live in the nicest neighborhood possible. We spend more than half our lives at home, so we want a neighborhood that offers as much peace, quiet, safety, and convenience as our budget allows. As an old man with young kids, long gone are the days
The Downside Of Living In A Nice Neighborhood Nobody Warns You About Read More »
I recently shared that I’m 49 and out of cash because a venture capital fund called capital much faster than I expected. I assumed a conservative 30% of my commitment would be called in year one. Instead, 46% was called in just six months. On a $1 million commitment, that’s $460,000 out the door instead
FIRE Makes Taking On New Debt A Non-Starter Read More »
After stretching for the nicest house I could barely afford in 2023, I ended up living paycheck to paycheck for six months. It was stressful enough that I picked up a part-time consulting gig to shore up liquidity. Thankfully, stocks and real estate kept rebounding after a rough 2022, and the broke feeling faded. I promised myself
Broke Again At 49, And This Time There Is No House To Blame Read More »
In 2012, two months before my 35th birthday, I engineered my layoff from a 13-year career in investment banking. At the time, it felt like the riskiest thing I had ever done. Was I really going to blow up my career right as my earning power was about to compound? It did not seem wise.
Why It’s Easier To FIRE At 35 Than At 50 Read More »
