What I Retired From

I have been purposefully planning for “retirement” for twenty years after I read the book ” Your Money Or Your Life”, which I have referenced many times throughout this two-year-old blog. That book started me down the road of understanding personal finance as it pertains to my little world of managing my spending and savings rates. For me, it was all about squirreling away financial resources to have enough FU Money and eventually being able to walk away from horrible bosses at will.

There are many definitions of Retirement, and for me, it has changed several times throughout my career. To this day, I still don’t have a simple definition of what my “traditional” retirement will look like.
I do know the difference between the choices of retiring at a certain age and retiring when savings and investments can stand on their own to cover a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle.
Continue reading “What I Retired From”

Why You Should Have a Plan For FU Money

If you’ve been following this blog for any period, you may have noticed that I follow the mantra that planning is a process, not an event. Thoughtful planning is a skill that can be developed over some time using experience and the amazing plethora of resources at our fingertips.  In our age of technology, planning can occur at a moment’s notice. I occasionally use OpenTable to make a restaurant reservation on the fly when walking in a particular neighborhood in Chicago and wanting someplace nice or interesting to eat that is nearby. One is always treated better with a reservation without the wait, even if it’s made fifteen or twenty minutes before walking into the restaurant door. That’s as close to impulse planning as I get.  For everything else, I strive to be a planner. Continue reading “Why You Should Have a Plan For FU Money”