{These are my personal observations and opinions of the events that took place.  I may be wrong}

I attended a meeting for a family financial planning education group.  I could tell from the pictures this would be some kind of recruitment or sales-y meeting.  I had no idea it would make me physically sick to my stomach!

I love learning more and more about financial planning.  I love the feeling of gaining new skills that are applicable to my life.

I’ve been to some great financial meetings (ChooseFI locals & Bogleheads) over time and find them amazingly rewarding.  I decided to try and find more meetings to gain knowledge so of course, I looked for some meeting opportunities.

There have been many financial meet groups that were available over the years, but one popped up last week that was located less than one mile from where I was staying.  PERFECT.

The meeting was titled “Financial Education.” The details: “Too many families are being overlooked because most financial service firms focus primarily on the wealhty.
Our focus is to provide households with information, tools, and strategies to help them make good and informed financial decisions.”  (the typo is not me, it’s in the description—maybe to not be liable, but isn’t that the most important word in the description?)

I hoped the meeting was going to explain household finances 101.  In actuality, it did explain IRAs/Roths, stocks, taxes, etc…insurances…but with a slight slant.

EEERRRK, then things changed to the attendees going from learning about financial planning, to becoming “financial planners” just as the presenter (“co-owner of the presenting business”) is now, just 5 months after quitting her waitressing career.  WTF?!

I could tell from the meeting photos that this could be a recruiting meeting instead of a learning environment (“learning to sell financial products…”) but I hoped for the best.

As I said, the first half of the beginner meeting was explaining finances with a slant.  The second half of the meeting was how much money you could make IC’ing for this company.  How much money was out there in baby boomer qualified accounts “that had to be withdrawn at 70 ½.”  Not “minimum” required distributions, but “withdrawn,” implying ALL.  With a 3-7% commission for the financial company…all while protecting the family from high 1.5% YEARLY fees from other companies.  Slanted facts in many cases.

At this point, my skin is crawling slightly because I can feel their sights on 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 and then 70 each and every day.  Those lovely seniors with a large percentage of the “25 trillion dollars” in retirement accounts.

As this explanation of “protecting families” money from the stock market waves (ups/downs) is going on, I’m thinking how the almost-to-take-effect fiduciary law for retirement accounts would most likely have stopped this business from selling 70-year-old people products that lock up their money for five to ten years.  The sale of those products may be “suitable” but I can’t imagine the lock-up is in their best interest.

The beginner meeting ends and we’re told if we’re interested we can go sit in on the end of the “intermediate or advanced” meetings.  I jumped to the intermediate meeting.  Everyone was dressed in their suits and dresses and fancy shoes (at 9pm on a Tuesday).

I catch the earning power potential section.  …If someone saves $300/mo into the insurance product, that is 300*12mos=3600 points.  From what I recall, a handful of these sales each month equal $3999/mo in income.

Continuing up the levels of the ladder…the top “financial planner” who has 20 people selling 20,000 points per month would make 1,020,000/yr if I recall correctly.  One million per year doing NOTHING because their “team” is selling.  I’ve never been to any multi-level anythings, but this sure looks like each level above makes money from the lower levels selling the products, AND bringing in more team members below.

Here’s the horrible part.  This could simply be my personality and not any fault of the business.  The end of the intermediate meeting had a leaderboard update.  Who met with the most clients, who brought in the most prospects (meeting attendees/sales), who signed up the most new team members, who earned the most sales points…Each “winner” being cheered louder and louder by the dozens assembled.

I swear this to be 100% truth.  During this competition update, my stomach started flipping out.  I felt queasy and then worse, I had to smoothly exit the room (during one of the standing/clapping celebrations) because I thought I would going to lose it and vomit immediately.  This is NOT a metaphor. I was becoming physically sick at that moment.

I went into the hallway, leaned against the 2^nd-floor railing and breathed deeply for a few moments until everything settled down.  Nothing like this had ever happened to me before unless I was on a roller coaster, super windy road or bumpy airplane…all of which evoke some fear of danger or death.

I hate to say this, but it turns out the government may have had a good idea to get even bigger in order to help people protect their money.  Of course, I’m assuming my feelings are correct, that this is not the best thing for most people.  Remember, I’m not a professional.  However, I have completed have my 10,000 hours of working with my family’s finances.

Another thought I had along the way.  There were multiple business names used throughout the evening.  I’m not sure what this company was actually called.  I did see the Avery label stuck on the suite’s nameplate—which was using a different name than the powerpoint slides, the posters on the walls and the trophy’s for top salesman going back at least five years…  Warning: Danger Will Robinson.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.

72 hours of amazing!

Last weekend I joined 60+ AMAZING people for a weekend of…well, when I really think about it, was a weekend that’s almost indescribable.

• It was a group of people “taking control of their financial lives in order to build an amazing future.”
• It was a group of people who have vastly different lives and experiences, all of whom are locked into a better future and
• It was a group of people who probably ranged in age from 20’s to 60’s. A group of ages where anyone of any age could talk to another person of any age, and it was extremely easy and valuable for both.

Before I go any further, I want to say that I wasn’t able to talk to everyone.  Here’s the kicker, this strikes me as surprising that I noticed my disappointment of not being able to engage with 100% of everyone.

I normally don’t talk to many people.  I usually choose to listen to conversations and try to be a participating-observationalist.  I’m quite introverted in real-life.  Yet it was easy and actually energizing to converse with probably 65% of the group over the weekend.

At CampFI, with ALL the freaking amazing people I wanted more.  I asked questions, probed into people’s lives, asked for stories, and it seemed we all opened up, I’d bet more than—or much more—than we normally would to other people we’d meet.  I felt truly connected to this group as a whole and individually.  Many people attending now know more about my life and thoughts than anyone outside of the Camp.

Everyone I spoke with was very smart, sharp, well spoken, logical, thoughtful and probably the best part, super funny, snide, witty and spot on with their jokes/comments.  I laughed so much, even with people I’d just met minutes before.

Here’ the deal: presentations, pop up breakout sessions, small group gatherings, board game groups, hiking/running/biking/meditation/yoga/drinking groups, LONG meal discussions in the cafeteria which could last until the NEXT meal, group discussion standing outside at 1am because people can’t make it back to their room, and my fave (the worst part?) was the “goodbye” announcement that took 45 minutes or so.  It’s the people you meet.

Over the weekend I noticed EVERYONE that I spoke with I made a connection.  Actually, I felt a core connection with each amazing person speaking with me.  This connection and interest seemed to happen nearly immediately.  There was a genuine interest in that person’s life and path.  The connections came in many different areas of life, but I believe all were forged due to a common core value we all hold.

This internal power, being in control, being better, working to be even better, being different than so many others just turned out to be the deep value we all possess and could feel from each other.

There were also some connections that went truly deep.  Someone who just seemed to have a similar situation with me.  A conversation that could have gone on for hours, or possibly did.  A connection that will continue in the future, and most probably in person again—not just online.  I just think how special that may become.

I feel the bottom line is, not very many people think about FI and the power it entails (yet?).  This large group understands, and there is a bond between us.  I’m going to find those connections at future CampFI’s because I want (need?) this “tribe.”

To the extra special few:

Quick thanks to Stephen for the bias for action to set up these camps (side hustler, but for our benefit).  The connections we all made, make a difference.

To Brad and Jonathan for thinking up a great ‘generic-ish/inclusive’ podcast that is engaging for such a wide breadth of interest…you have solidified ideas and sparked change, and linked together so many thousands (and possibly hundreds of thousands) of lives.  My hat’s off to you both.  Truly world-changing—for decades in the future.

The takeaway:  Find others like you.  Go to the meetings if you have a group nearby.  Go to CampFI or a similar even if you can.  Even if you’re not a social person, continue to surround yourself with people like you, or people you’d like to become, and expand your group of those who have the same core values.

“CampFI…You’ll sleep when you get home”

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.

After my one-step below cool post I realized my wife and I have a lot of stuff.  Even though we live in a really small house(s), we still have so much stuff.  Things accumulate over decades with two people who don’t like to get rid of useful—or historical—stuff.

I know in so many ways I am frugal, but reading about vacation homes and muscle cars seems to distort the frugal picture.  I then started thinking about people who are super frugal and live a VERY low cost of living.  People who spend—or plan to spend—in the teens of thousands per year.  People who ride bikes instead of driving in order to spend less.  Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that there is so much to love about cycling for transportation and/or exercise.  I even heard on a podcast with an endurance runner who doesn’t own a car, that he runs to appointments and to/from dinner with friends, even if it’s 7 miles away.  It’s just his lifestyle.

This all made me think, is the American way of frugality scalable?  Can there be different levels of frugal?  I believe the answer is yes.

If the definition of Frugal includes “economical and prudent in spending,” CHECK.  If you add” not wasteful.”  CHECK.  If you add “entailing little expense and requiring few resources, meager.”  Hmmm?

It seems there really can be different levels of Frugal.  There may even be a ratio to “middle-class.”

• Think about Frugal people.  Maybe Millionaire Next Door types.  People who buy what they need, do not require fancy items and keep the items for long periods of time.
• Think about the lives of the Super Frugal.  Maybe the Early Retirement Extreme lifestyle where people are skilled enough to do most tasks themselves so they save money.  These are people who require very little spending money to have an acceptable lifestyle.  Just a different take on spending wisely.
• Now for my current category, Upper Frugal.  People who spend wisely on the things they need, as well spending wisely on the extra wants in their life.  It’s not “few resources” level of frugal, but is definitely “economical” and “not wasteful.” This may be the one-step below cool.  (Question: is this one-step below Frugal; cool, or one-step below “I spend like crazy and show off; ‘cool.’”)  In my thoughts, Upper Frugal may be a smart spender from the Upper Middle-Class range.

Hmmm…Does income or net worth, or rather spending/stuff determine someone’s class level?  Which one?

Often people seem to judge—or get it into their head’s, some opinion—of others and their actions.  That may not be the greatest activity.  I feel it’s fine to review situations and get a feel for them, but judgment is not the best quality.  Understanding and especially learning from situations is critical to improvement.  Experiences let you prepare and pre-judge situations to best position yourself for your most favorable outcome, but it may not be the best place for judgment.

My takeaway: Some people spend more than you.  Some people spend less, or FAR less than you.  They may have their reasons and their own path in life.  Watching, understanding and learning from everything could be the best way to move forward and progress.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.

It’s NEVER just one thing that matters.  It’s how the pieces of everything add/work/multiply together to give a higher—or much higher— output.

I grew up in the 80s.  I was really into hard rock music.  Yeah, I knew some of the bands had a couple cool songs, and of course, I knew some were just boring or totally lame.  But some of the music was amazing.  Some of the music has stayed with me throughout life.  Some of the bands still play shows and some also create new music—some decent, some not so much.  What makes up a band?  Think about the term “band.”

When a member (one piece of the collective group) leaves and starts a new band or solo project, often it never really becomes a long-term successful career.  It doesn’t seem to matter how talented or even how popular that person was, sometimes their past success was due to the combination of efforts.

Some members of broken-up bands fell on hard times, very hard times…I’m thinking how this can relate to “asset classes” or worse, bad asses from the group. (Wasn’t that super-creative wording skipping the ‘t’?)

Your financial situation is a giant collection of individual decisions.  These decisions work together to form a group of decisions and deliver an outcome.  They can add/multiply together to have more drastic outcomes.  Imagine buying a cool old classic car that uses a lot of your money and leaves you little cash for old-car repairs.  That may subtract your money into a bad decision.  Or buying an ETF/mutual fund and re-investing the incoming dividends.  Neither the breakdown of the vehicle, or the distributions of dividends are in your control, but they add/multiply together changing the overall outcome of your initial decision—at least in a financial respect.

The collection of your decisions add together.  Acquiring loans for items over time will add together putting pressure on your financial situation.  Acquiring assets that have a positive return may over time increase your net worth.   Acquiring speculative assets may even add to your life stress, by not knowing the future outcome.

There is a reason many wise people suggest doing things in moderation.  A little of this, and a little of that, could very possibly balance out too many one-sided decisions.  Writing post this made me realize again how risk averse I tend to be in many areas of my personality.  We’re all different.  We make different decisions, but all these decision/parts combine into something, the sum of things.

As in music, it’s very possible that sectors of the market may change over time and those “assets/classes” may fall out of favor.

One crazy example:  there was once a TV channel called Music TV that played music 24 hours a day.  It was a hugely popular TV channel that shaped a generation.  Today that business (channel) still exists but it is NOTHING like it was 30 years ago.  Things change, even if the name remains the same.

Take a moment when you are facing a decision to understand the immediate impact and give some thought to its future impact.  Some decisions may seem less than optimal now, but be excellent you’re your long-term plan…some (many) just the opposite.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.

BEEP BEEP BEEP !!!   Oh, the sounds of mornings throughout the world.

Is it so shocking so many millions of people are angry, grouchy, touchy?  With everyone starting their day in a shocking manner, basically being barked at by an LED @$$hole ordering you to get up and get to work, no wonder there is so much discord.

You may have to live with this morning demand, but by reading this, I know you are on the right track to being your own time-boss, your own responsible party.  You are on your way to INDEPENDENCE from, well, from others.  This cannot be overstated.

Last night I went to bed a little later than normal and just couldn’t fall asleep.  I didn’t worry about it because I knew morning would arrive when I wanted it to.  Stop and think about that.  What would you give to have EVERY morning like a weekend morning?  Even better, it wouldn’t be a two-day-rush-to-complete-everything weekend.  Your life can become more comparable to a LONG weekend, or a week vacation…and even better, no thoughts of the work piling up when you return to the office.

Last week I was thinking about how amazing it is that we lived (spent) wisely in our past to have the independence we have now.  NOTHING is worth as much as having your time to yourself.  Specifically, owning your time and essentially your life.

So this morning when I noticed the sun was up and shining in my windows, I thought, “yeah, last night’s sleep wasn’t great, but I own my time, I own this day, I can just lounge here for a while and relax, read my book, breathe and when I get up, then I can do everything or nothing.  Priceless.  Absolutely priceless.

As I’ve stated before, the tone of your day, etc., may come down to your morning.  I was lucky to work from home for years.  Each morning I was lucky enough to sit in my spa for 15+ minutes.  It was always wonderful to be outside and chillin’ in hot water.  I would become even more relaxed and then start (more likely ‘continue’) my work day.  I’ve always said, “if everyone in the world had a tub of hot water to sit in each morning, the world would be a much calmer place.”  Maybe we need a “national spa program.”

My thoughts for you, for everyone, is not as complicated, or as wise as The Miracle Morning.  My thought is, just find a little bit of calm, or calming in your morning.  Find the gratitude for the great things in your life.  Tackle your day to make the greatness even greater.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.

It seems most everything I do is one-step below cool.  I do not have the perfect everything.  I do not think of all the cool things I’d like to have.  However, I have an absolutely great life, but it’s not perfectly awesome and luxurious.  I guess it’s just plain-old awesome.  [“Find The Positive“]

I know you’ve seen the advertisements everywhere showing some perfectly cool lifestyle.  Of course, it’s something we all would love to have.  But thinking for a few minutes about the opportunity to have nearly the same thing, at a lower stress level, sounds great to me.

Here are some examples of being one-step below cool:

House:  We own our home.  It’s one-step below cool because it’s a great little 1060 sq ft home.  It’s located 3 houses (10-second run) from a massive desert preserve/park with dozens of miles of trails for running, biking, hiking, etc.  Our home has all the modern conveniences, but our cost structure (taxes, insurance, utilities, even furnishing) amount to a smaller proportion than a larger home.

Beach home: A total splurge is our beach home.  It’s one-step below cool because it’s just a mobile home/trailer. It’s located 2 driveways away (55 second run) from the ocean view/access path.  We get to enjoy the beach, the beach town, other beach towns, neighbors, and family, at a greatly reduced price relative to anything else in the area.

Harley- Scooter:  I can’t have a motorcycle based on my wife’s declaration.  The risks of injury are far too great driving around city surface streets and on the highways, mainly because you just never know what could happen.  My one-step below cool, is my scooter.  My scooter is at the beach home where we vacation.  I get the enjoyment of riding, but on slower, smaller coastal streets, often during the quieter hours of the day (living off-peak).

Mach 1 Mustang:  Here’s my perspective, my wife wanted a Mach 1, I’m not that cool, but my one-step below cool is, she owns her dream Mach 1, but I can drive it if I want to cruise around (surprisingly I don’t drive it more than 1-2x per year).  Side note: because we live off-peak, we are able to drive the car around when the roads are much quieter as well.

Main Cars: We have nice main cars.  Car collector people call them “daily drivers.”  But we are one-step below cool because we buy 3 year old cars and drive them 10 years.  I roll around town in the 2001 version of luxury, an old Lexus.  (“granny” car)

Friends: I have so many cool friends.  Some of them are truly super-cool.  I’m lucky to know and be able to hang out with these people.  However, I’m at least one-step below cool on many comparisons with them.  Maybe they’re more successful in business, or have a bigger family, or take better vacations, or, or, or…

Sports:  I’ve played different sports in my youth and adulthood.  I play hockey and do triathlons, etc.  I’m on teams that are lower level “beer league,” and I race in the age-group pack.  I’ve never had the best high-end equipment to maximize my performance—more specifically, the possibility of performance— but rather just enough quality that allowed me to stay in the sport, and compete, and enjoy myself.  [note:  seriously?!   $12k for a tri bike, not for my med-slow ass]

I just re-read this post and realized it sounds like I’m being phony humble and sharing humility, but that’s not it at all.  I have SO much, but I truly just seem to naturally live one-step lower.  I’ve always said there are Type A and Type B personalities and I’m an A-.  In school, I learned earning 91% resulted in me getting the same “A” as the person who earned 100%.  However, I kept 9% of my effort for myself to optimize my enjoyments, while still presenting the same “A” to those who reviewed my grades.

One big note here, is that in my profession when people were counting on me to deliver, I made sure I put in the effort and focus to be as close to perfect as possible.  I did not slack on deliverables to have more time for myself.  I did my best to deliver quality.  But you can bet I definitely did choose to manage my work/life balance so I wouldn’t burn out, and I still met and exceeded my goals as a dependable, reliable co-worker.

I have a mantra that states “everything has a ding.”  Those four words allow for the release of trying to keep everything perfect.  Everything can be great, can be awesome, but just a sliver below perfect.

You can have everything you if you’re willing to take your time (delayed gratification) and make sure you know what you want and how much will satisfy yourself.

Take a look at your life, your possessions, your wants, and see if you can tweak things just a little to lower the level and still maintain the usability and as important, the enjoyment.  Small life hacks can pay off in multiples down the road.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.

What dividends are you earning on your investments?  Which of those are guaranteed dividends?

I was listening to Big ERN on ChooseFI who mentioned his home paid him a monthly dividend.  That’s just GENIUS.  It’s really a reverse, tax-free dividend—no need to worry about dividend/LT cap gains rates on this one.

There are people who feel their house in an investment and it’s often their largest asset.  I personally don’t want an investment that cost significant money to maintain and only increases slightly over the inflation rate on average.  Nor do I want an investment that can only be sold in whole if I need some money.  “It’s not like you can eat your house…”  [Notes: leveraging your down payment for profit multiplication is definitely interesting & housing markets determine their own rate of return]

There are people who have the opposite position that your house is a liability.  That is a solid position as well because you are required to pay expenses on your home.  I agree with most of the different position in one way or another.

How did we get to where we live today?  At some points in our lives, we’ve usually had to work a job(s) to pay taxes and take home the leftover.  That leftover probably went toward our housing expense, if not as the highest priority bill, probably very close to the top.  It’s very important to optimize this highest bill to meet your lifestyle choice…budget home or McMansion.

House Dividend Amount Theory:

Let’s say for round numbers your housing principle and interest payment equals $1000 per month.  It’s quite possible you would have to earn $1300-$1500  (1000 net + fed tax + state tax + FICA tax) just to pay for your housing shell.  For now,  I’m ignoring all the other costs such as insurance, utilities, maintenance, etc.

Let’s say you own your home [not, the-bank-owns-my-home-and-I’m buying-it-from-them-each-month; see your deed for details].  At this point, you do not need to earn $1300+ to make your house payment.  That means your house is contributing to/avoiding the removal of $1000 from your earnings/assets (either financial or human capital).

This is the financial “flip-side” of the “it feels great to have a paid for house.”  This is a way of looking at the house actually paying for you to live it in.

Each month the owned house gives your budget a $1000 cost avoidance.  It removes the $1000 cash outflow, thereby not requiring a $1000 of cash inflow ($1300-1500 gross income).  It’s the equivalent of $1000 tax-free dividend, or $1300-1500 taxable dividend income [note: divd tax rates are not 30%, but you get the idea].

Remember, there’s always another angle to view a situation

I love Big ERN’s interesting logic, which I interpret as, not having a payment (outflow), yet still having the item (service) is like a personal dividend.

There are plenty of ways to break this perspective apart and revisit the own/rent discussion.  I just liked ERNs angle for the positive view.

So much of personal finance is related to cash flow.  A dividend-paying home reverses the negative cash flow.  Brilliant sir, as usual for you.

What do you do part deux?  I could spend weeks writing about how many different ways our collective could share our lifestyle with the commoners/consumers.   Wait, I already do that here.  FIRE is really just relief retirement from a fixed career, a Repriorment if you will. (thanks Linda for sharing this term which sums up the journey so succinctly).  So I will expand…

Repriorment is so very simple.  For me, it is the act of prioritizing anything or everything.  Since you are reading this, you already do this.  You make conscious decisions on what you do with your time.  You make conscious decisions on how you manage your cash flow.  You are thoughtful and rely on the power of your mind.  I can confirm to you that you are extraordinary.

Improvement

I’ve seen repriorment used in the retirement context, but actually, it takes place every minute you are active.  The entire decision of what to do right now—or coming up—is a decision made on what you prioritize.  The little incremental decisions you make over a lifetime shape not only your current actions, but also compound into your future self.  It is truly the amazing results mentioned on ChooseFI of the aggregation of marginal gains.

Every once-in-a-while, pause for a second and think about what you’re doing right now, is it what you prioritize or just and offshoot of something you were doing?  Are to completing a conscious task?  Are you completing a multi-task (consciously)?  Or, are you just randomizing?  These are all OK, and because you’re extraordinary, they are all probably adding to your awesomeness…at some level.  But I feel we could all drive ourselves a sliver more.  It’s in our nature as extraordinary people.

Optional

FIOR is a great acronym that has come out of nowhere but I hear it more often.  Lisa is a genius.  She is exactly correct.  OPTIONAL is the key word.  More specifically optional is exactly the heart of the entire FIRE/FIOR world.

The option to reprioritize everything, every day.  There is near total freedom on how you live your day/week/month.  Stop and think about that for a full minute………ANYTHING is possible today, and acceptable.  You have ALL the options, especially at FI

Result

We ALL want days like this, where it’s our day to decide what to do.

The very best description I read about FIRE is:

“remember when you got out of school for the summer and you wake up the first morning of summer vacation? And you realize you have no school and no homework you have to do? And you have the whole day ahead of you to do whatever the hell you feel like? It feels like that.”  MrFreakyFrugal nailed it.

There is nothing I want to add to that.  It’s pure, simple and exactly correct.

In closing, there is a retirement community near me with a billboard that says “Retire Like You Mean It.”^TM  That’s awesome!  Go to sleep knowing you own tomorrow.  Wake up knowing you own the day.  Imagine living 24 hours a day knowing you are your own boss.  This is almost priceless.