Instead of sharing my random thoughts all typed out from my brain, I am posting a quickly-needed podcast episode I recorded with my buddy in our stateroom on the FinTalks Alaska cruise, so Chris wouldn’t have to post a rerun.

I would say 1) listen at your own risk.  All kinds of random, crazy comments are made. 2) The preparation for this episode took less than 3 minutes because it was “what are you thinking, right now,” in the middle of this FI Family adventure.

25X of what?   25x of what total amount? 

25x of your total net worth? 

25x of your total investments?  Your tax-deferred accounts + Roth + brokerage statement amount?  

Or 25x of your usable after-tax spending amount? 

How much is YOUR money?

Freedom

Leading into retirement, when people are asked, they will often say “freedom” is what they most look forward to.  They usually want to “travel, spend time with loved ones, and pursue what they choose.”

I think that is a perfect, well-rounded freedom plan heading into retirement.  They are not wrong.

Ability

I saw that a local restaurant had a Thursday special.  They have 10 wings for $10.

For some reason, this struck me as “what kind of deal is that?”  How is $1 per wing a good price?

Time Matters

This is where the gap in actions shows the span of time—the gap in purchase time.

We used to go out for the wing special at a local “tavern.”  The last time we went, the prices were 10-cent wings.  Yes, it was a crazy low price then $1.20 per down.

On Fact Central (Facebook), there was a post in a FI group asking about how closely people followed the 4% (or other %) rule, like it was the gospel of cash flow.  Their question steered towards the guardrails withdrawal approach, which is structured to withdraw more (spending) when markets are good and less (spending) when markets are bad.  SUPER INTERESTING strategy.

I should have put these thoughts in the previous post, but they came together later.

I was thinking more about some of the case studies I’ve been around.  I think of two people who tend to share their advice from their perspective quite often.

When someone shares their thoughts (like some random typer like me) on the internet or in person, it’s important to know where they’re coming from.  What is their perspective?  What is the foundation their basing their thought/position on?  What is their past?

Current FI Mode. 

Where on the FI journey is the thought-person?  Notice I didn’t say “though LEADER.”  I’m so sick of “leaders” and “influencers.”  All of this spewing of thoughts is nothing more than someone wanting to share something for themself.  Yep, I get the irony.

I’m at the beach home.  I’m just hanging out doing my normal things.  Exercise, Relax, Compute, Observe, Repeat.

Observation

I notice a common, consistent thread—young women often travel in clusters and very frequently have a clear cup with an ice beverage that slips away through their straw.

I’ve been thinking about wealth recently.

I was on a 2-week cruise to Iceland from Ireland.  There were 250+ passengers on the SilverSea Expedition ship who were getting out into the world–into an active lifestyle of exploring and cruising.

If you don’t know, SilverSea is a luxury cruise line.  My friends really enjoy these cruises, and I enjoy being with this selected family, so my wife and I often sail with them.

I’ve been reading The Childfree Guide to Life and Money. Great book so far. It mentioned you spend 1/3 of your day at work. Others, not me, because I’m FIREd.

I was thinking this should be more like HALF your week-LIFE is consumed by work stuff.

I decided to do my own calculation on the time percentage by day that work takes up.