Here’s a fun little game to try on yourself and see how your finances are coming along. (… Depending on the answer, it might also make you feel really good about your savings efforts so far!) Suppose you were suddenly let go from your job. You find a new place to work, but it doesn’t pay as well. So in order to maintain your standard of living you decide you’re going to cut corners and completely STOP saving money for retirement. The big question: Would you still be able to comfortably retire when you want to? My Answer … (... Kind of a funny question to ask on a personal finance blog, right? ...) I tried this little experiment on our current retirement savings, and you want to know what I found out? We’d … [Read more...] about What If You Stopped Saving Money for Retirement?
financial freedom
There Are No Shortcuts to Early Retirement Planning
Even before starting My Money Design over two years ago, I was on what seems to be a never ending quest to find the secret to achieving true financial freedom or great key to early retirement planning. How is it that people my age, perhaps younger or older, are able to quit their jobs if they want and still maintain thriving lifestyles? I’d love to tell you that after all this time that I have all the answers. That there was some kind of easy solution or magic bullet. However, I’m still a long ways out and seem to have a lot further to go. The path to get there has been more of a puzzle than I originally thought. Each piece containing it’s own unique challenges and scarifies. Here are my observations on the various paths that … [Read more...] about There Are No Shortcuts to Early Retirement Planning
My Post Retirement Ideas for When I Become Financially Free
We spend an awful lot of time on My Money Design talking about not only how to successfully plan for retirement, but even some strategies for how to get there as early as possible. Why? Because I think that financial freedom and the ability for you to choose what you do with your time are some of the most gratifying things you can accomplish in your lifetime. The big question then is: What is it that I want to do with all this time once I finally have it? - That’s a very good question, and not one to take lightly. Having some post retirement ideas and goals for what you’ll do with yourself is just as important as the planning it took to get you there. … [Read more...] about My Post Retirement Ideas for When I Become Financially Free
Embrace That You ARE in Sales
The stereotype of the salesman... We all know this guy. We don’t trust him. We run the other way. We don’t want to hear his spiel about why this used car is such a great deal or why we need the bigger TV set than we originally came in here to buy. It doesn’t matter what he says because we’re not going to believe it anyways. Yet this guy and you have something in common. Although your motives and methods are different (and you probably dress better), there is something that he is trying to do that you do every day. And if you don’t realize that you do it or try to get better at it, there could be significant financial consequences. … [Read more...] about Embrace That You ARE in Sales
