Catching up to FI

Dear (Late) Starter

Patrick McDonnal — Thu, 22 May 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Dear (Late) Starter,

I’ve been studying financial planning seriously for almost two years now and I have a lot of knowledge from prior to my decision to change careers from engineering to financial planning. Hopefully I’m on my way to becoming a great planner in the future, but I’m not there yet. I don’t have all the answers, but below I’m going to give you 5 actionable, hopefully not overwhelming, steps to take towards a brighter financial future. You can dive into each individual concept as you are able to. This is meant to be a starting point for your journey, not everything all at once.

You have to start.
Get a clear picture of where you are today.
Understand the direction you are currently going.
If you need to make changes, start by targeting the big things (I’ll give you my top 5).
Keep going and don’t stop here.

Hopefully this will be helpful for you! Wishing you great success in your journey towards financial independence,

Patrick

Step 1: You have to start.

You have to start by forgiving yourself and looking towards the future. What happened in the past can’t be changed. You can reflect on some of the mistakes that you may have made, but try not to dwell on them. What you can do is tell yourself that you are in control of your actions moving forward and that progress will come one step at a time. However, I find it important to emphasize: you have to start.

Step 2: Get a clear picture of where you are today.

Before you take any actions, you then need to get a clear picture of where you are today. You need to understand what you own and what you owe. Here are a few questions to get you started:

Do I have savings for a rainy day?
Do I own a home?
Do I have a mortgage, a car loan, student loans, etc.?
Do I have a retirement or pension plan through your work?
What protections do I have in place for myself and my family?

If you were able to fully flesh all things you own and the things that you own, you could total that up. What we would have is called a balance sheet or a net worth statement. I think it’s also worth spending a little time thinking about how you got here – consider what the major decisions you’ve made are and perhaps how some of those decisions were influenced (family, friends, society, etc.).

Step 3: Understand the direction you are currently going.

The next thing you need to do is understand the direction you are currently going. How does your income compare to your expenses? There have been many others that have done work on savings rates. You might consider checking out: The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement. Even if you aren’t trying to retire early, it shows you the effect of savings rate on your ability to retire from a general sense. Hold on: if you’re looking at those numbers and thinking that they look too scary, there are 3 things that can help:

Those numbers assume a 0 starting point. If you have done some things right along the way, you’ll need to factor those in.
Social Security is not included – it’s likely to be there in some form for years to come but that does not mean we should rely on it as our retirement plan.
We haven’t made any changes – YET. Check out the next steps.

Step 4: If you need to make changes, start by targeting the big things.

Now that you understand where you are and where you are going, ask yourself, “Am I OK with that? Do I need to make changes?” If you find yourself looking to boost your savings (rate), start with the big things. Many people talk about the big 3 expenses and I’ll give you 2 other things to consider. For any of these, take what is valuable for you and discard what is not. Try to be intentional about what is relatable to you. For each section I’ll give you a few questions just to get your mind going.

Many talk about how housing is often our biggest expense (mortgage, maintenance, tax, etc.). I think it’s important to recognize that it might not be possible or make sense to make adjustments here. However, I do think that you need to ask yourself if you can afford the home you live in AND you are getting appropriate value from your living situation.
- Does where we live make sense?
- Does it make sense to downsize as kids move out?
- Are we utilizing our space well (does house hacking make sense for us)?
- Do I see a career move coming that changes the way I might look at my next housing decision?
The next one is food. This expense is usually immediately actionable. Food is a constantly recurring expense and it isn’t contingent on selling or renting out a large asset to change.
- Are we eating out more than what we’d like to?
- Are we wasting food?
- Could we be eating differently/better?
- This one is a bit different: could I be earning more if I didn’t spend so much time on food preparation?
The last of the “big 3” is transportation. In America, it’s not uncommon to have 2 or even more cars in a household. This is another area where it might not make sense to make an immediate change.
- Are all of your vehicles providing value for you?
- Do I understand all of the costs that go into owning each vehicle? (charging/gas, parking, maintenance, etc.)
- Have I considered alternatives? (public transportation, e/bikes, etc.)
My first “extra” is to look through all of your recurring expenses. It’s pretty easy to forget about some subscriptions and you might be able to find some savings here. It might seem small, but the math works out that $100/month in savings is roughly about $30,000 less that we need to save for that “retirement number.” Don’t stick to that number, just use it as a guiding principle.
- When was the last time I shopped around for better insurance rates?
- Am I getting good value for my phone and internet charges?
- Do I have Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ simultaneously and do I need them all right now?
- Do I have any memberships that currently go unused? (e.g. gym)
My other “extra” is often overlooked and might require some thinking on your part. To this point, we’ve only discussed lowering expenses, but the other way to increase your savings rate is to increase your income. Make sure that you are earning what you deserve and taking advantage of your benefits because it can go a long way.
- When was the last time I got a promotion/raise?
- If I moved to the company down the street, would I be making drastically more?
- Am I covering expenses for career progression that could be included in my compensation?
- Am I getting full use of my benefits? (retirement plan matching, HSA contributions, ESPP, etc.) This is part of your compensation.

Step 5: Keep going and don't stop here.

If you made it this far, you’ve likely had a lot of progress. We are at my last step, which is actually: don’t stop here. Tackle each step one at a time until you are at least in the place that you want to be. Here are some more suggestions as you continue on your journey:

We haven’t talked about investing at all. You may not be ready for that point just yet, or you may be ready to look into it further.
Find a community of like-minded people that will support you on your journey. (might I suggest the CUtFI Facebook group?)
Stay open minded, yet skeptical. Don’t assume that anything is gospel, but don’t rush after the latest trend. Keep learning.

The Hard Way

Vicki Ann — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 11:52:40 +0000

V.A.

56 yrs old

Background:

Like many, I did not have any financial literacy education growing up. I was told to work hard, don’t depend on anyone else, live by my own means, and not waste time. I was always relatively independent, self-sufficient, and resourceful.

The first thing I bought for myself with babysitting money at 13 yrs old was a black and white TV for $70. I rode home with it on the handlebars of my bike. It felt good to be able to watch whatever I wanted on the 6 or 7-channel dial TV up in my room and know that I bought it myself! When it came time for me to drive, my father bought the 1970 Oldsmobile with cash but I was responsible for the insurance, gas, and maintenance. It was ugly, but it was sturdy and reliable. I was never taught how to buy a vehicle, what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to negotiate. Instead, how to pay for the upkeep, pump gas, and change a tire was what I was taught at the time. My parents never shared their personal financial information, how they handled their finances, or how they were saving. I know my father has investments, and my mother has a retirement fund, but that’s all that’s been shared.

Financial Education the Hard Way:

I always wanted to go to college so that was never a question in my mind. I knew what I wanted to study and the field I wanted to build my career. After I graduated from high school, my parents got a divorce. My father took me aside and said that I would need to apply for loans and grants and any other financial assistance that was offered. I worked 2-3 jobs to help with book and supply costs even though I lived at home for the first 2 years. I graduated with my A.A.S. and wanted to continue my studies, but I would need to apply to different colleges at a considerable distance away so additional costs were needed. I applied for an $8000 student loan as well as additional grants and student assistance to study for my BS degree. I maintained at least 2 jobs while completing my BS coursework and when I came home for breaks, I worked part-time. The loan, coupled with student grants and my employment allowed me to complete my BS degree. Upon graduation in 1989, I was $8000 in debt. I know it doesn’t compare to today’s student loan debt, but it’s all relative.

I graduated with my BS, obtained my first job for $29,000, and started my career in 1989 in a HCOL area. That same year I got married at 22. Family members helped with wedding costs. We bought a house for $131,000 the year after with a $5000 loan from my ex-in-laws, and by 1991 I was laid off by my employer because of budget cuts due to the recession. Since we had no equity in the house and the difficulties of finding a new job in my field, we had no choice at the time but to file for bankruptcy. From then on I lived in rentals. During and after the required 7 years, I started rebuilding my credit and kept it in good standing for many years. I always wanted to obtain a Grad level degree and in 2010, I was able to complete a Masters in Professional Communications with the help of my tuition reimbursement program at work.

Adulting 101:

Throughout the course of my life, I was always able to find a job to make money and I am very responsible so I earned my paycheck and paid my bills as needed. That’s what I thought “Adulting 101” was, right? However, I never learned to budget or save and had no idea what investing entailed or what my net worth was. The only thing I learned about investing was that my employer had a retirement account and I needed to sign up with my HR department. Then a certain percentage of my paycheck went toward the retirement fund. The rest was “automatic” or so I thought. I was paying my bills and had a little money left over so I thought all was well and nothing else was really needed more than that. If I had a question any time I asked about the retirement funds the reps would explain, but most of it would go over my head and I figured it was too complicated so I would just let them manage it. But nothing ever triggered me to look into it further or take more control other than changing my allocations of the funds and how much I was contributing. Over the years, I tried self-budgeting workbooks or other programs (Suze Orman) that were being publicized, but nothing ever stuck long enough to make a positive impact. I knew it was important, yet I still was not able to comprehend enough of the terminology to really understand my own finances.

Basically, I have lived paycheck to paycheck my entire life thinking it was ok because the money was coming in steadily, I was paying my bills as needed and buying things I wanted. Not spending frivolously or exorbitantly, but there was no intentional limitation to the spending. Prior to 2018, I had a small amount of credit card debt (~$3000) and I never really had much in an accessible savings account, maybe around $1500 at a time, but at least my net worth has been positive because of what I have been able to contribute to my retirement fund (at that time ~190k). Although it was not entirely comfortable, I didn’t know where to get the knowledge to change this dynamic. I had not been able to find a plan to make me WANT to stick with something better. All the investing was for financial advisors or stockbrokers, so I thought. It has taken my whole career to finally break into a 6 figure salary. As for vehicles, I bought new cars and had them for years, and I’ve also leased cars. My most recent leased vehicle was turned back over to the dealer in 2022 since I could not buy it or roll it over into a new lease. I now have a used vehicle that I will keep as long as I can.

The Hard Lessons:

In 1991, I was able to obtain another job in my field and that gave me a sense of stability with the paycheck coming in on a regular basis. I stayed the course to pay off debts which took a long time and rebuild my credit score after the bankruptcy cleared. Unfortunately, my ex-husband and I were not on the same page with finances from the beginning. There were other issues happening behind the scenes unbeknownst to me that created unwanted spending in our marriage. Trying to be a supportive wife always kept me in a position of “putting out financial fires” to resolve the issues brought about by irresponsibility on his part. This made it impossible to get ahead and therefore, living paycheck to paycheck and spending on credit cards to make up the difference became the status quo. After 14.5 years of a marriage that wasn’t working we got a divorce. Since we had no assets or children, I thought it would be relatively easy (compared to others that I heard of going through it). By the end of it, the process still cost me ~ $11k in attorney fees and he was awarded half of my retirement fund (~$45k at that time). Since I had saved the retirement fund during the marriage, it was a mandatory part of the divorce and there was no way out of it. I received nothing monetary from the divorce in 2005 and I eventually paid my ex-in-laws my share of the down payment loan

Once we were divorced, I began to take better control of my finances to stay on track with paying bills and things I wanted, but was still not budgeting and also still using credit cards occasionally. I would carry a small amount of credit card debt (~$2500) which I paid off a couple of times over the years, but inevitably, it would build back up since I was not paying off the balances.

Looking back, I know that all of the problems I have ever encountered with money were caused by deep-seated issues related to codependency. I know this now. I did not know it as it was happening each time. I now understand the dynamics and the manipulation is very insidious. It’s always under the surface and just waiting to find the trigger. I’ve come to own and accept my part in all of it. I’m taking it all as a learning experience and trying to move forward. The most recent financial issue was due to a scam that occurred in 2018. I won’t go into the details, but several loans (~$30k) and credit card advances were taken out and rapidly escalated in the upper tens of thousands. By May 2019, I felt the only way to stop the money hemorrhage was to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy to stop the interest from accruing at 24% which I knew would not be possible for me to maintain or pay back over whatever number of years or probably the rest of my life. I filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy (~$30k) in May 2020 at 52 years old due to my discernment button being completely dysfunctional from unresolved issues. Luckily, my job was not in jeopardy due to COVID-19 so I was able to keep working during the pandemic as an essential worker. Although I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person and I have had a successful, stable career for the last 34 years, this additional misstep in my personal life resulting in financial destruction was the epitome of humiliation. To say I felt like a failure is a huge understatement. The shame was almost unbearable at that time and depression took hold of me. I’m still continuously working on forgiving myself for allowing this to happen. It’s a continuous work in progress.

Enlightenment & New Financial Direction:

Now comes the good part of how I am turning it all around. There is a saying “When the student is ready the teacher appears”. Shortly after the bankruptcy started, while I was making the required hefty payments and of course paying my bills and necessities, I realized that I had no idea how I was going to sustain this pace for the 5-year bankruptcy repayment term. I needed a PLAN. I needed to know what to pay first and how to get control of my finances.

I saw an ad on Facebook for a free financial webinar geared towards women called Dow Janes Million Dollar Year. I signed up for the webinar and KNEW I needed a program like this to help me. Something about it made me feel comfortable and that this was a way out of my mess. I knew it would cost money to enroll but I figured since I was up against a financial brick wall, I had to bite the bullet and figure out a way to make it work. I registered for the monthly payment plan and told myself that come hell or high water I was going to find a way to make the payments for the program (along with everything else) and dive in to figure out what I needed to do to improve my situation and keep myself afloat.

It was both scary and empowering since I needed to make a significant change and learn to process things I didn’t realize I needed to be successful financially. I didn’t find it difficult to face my finances once I started to look at my financial statements, but enlightening. My net worth was positive because of what I had saved in my retirement plan, pension, and potential for social security, but all of those funds are “untouchable” for many more years. My main focus had to be on money that is readily available. I found it to be a good challenge and one that will help me in the long term feel more secure and ready for any issues that might arise.

I learned about my money blocks, financial guilt/shame, the logical order of steps to pay down debt, budgeting, saving, and investing. I completed the program in 10 months and I am still involved in their Alumni program to this day. Due to the logical step-by-step methodology of the program, the non-judgmental, supportive Coaches and community, and my accountability buddies, I have been actively able to turn things around. I now have been budgeting consistently for 2+ years, growing my Peace of Mind fund that I am consistently contributing to, as well as several sinking funds in a HYS account. I have made changes to my retirement fund allocations that have improved the funds’ performance, even in these unstable times. 2 loans (of 4) have been paid off ahead of schedule and I am on track to pay the last 2 off ahead of time. I now have a used vehicle that will be paid for before the end of the year.

I expect the bankruptcy will be released in 2024 and once that occurs, I will be debt free and looking forward to investing and attempting a savings rate between 35-45%. This will really be able to change the trajectory of my future. Until then, I will be working on my financial literacy, knowledge base, and mindset so I can fully take control of things to come once I am ready to pivot out of my traditional career into something new and more flexible to fit what I want out of life. Investing seems daunting to me right now, but at least I am open to the possibilities it will bring once I am able to start small and simple. I have never been a big risk taker so it will be a big move for me to jump into this world.

Finding CUtFI:

As of early April 2023, I had surgery and was on medical leave for 6 weeks. During those weeks that I was home convalescing, I was thinking to myself that this short time period off from work was mimicking what retirement would potentially look and feel like. Was this really it?? I thought I had better figure out what I am going to do with my time because sitting around watching TV all day is NOT my thing. One of my accountability buddies mentioned a podcast she listened to on ChooseFI and she sent me the link. I listened and was hooked on the concept immediately! I started listening to at least 1 podcast per day from that day forward. I have been listening and participating in the FB groups ever since and sought out other podcasts similar in nature. The idea that I can potentially amass enough money at my age to have some sense of security from financial worry is very appealing. Since I don’t know what that feels like, I am very encouraged to get there and live it as others have. I am willing to do the work and have the discipline to get there.

I noticed that much of the discussion was directed towards people under 50 looking to grow their wealth to a point where they could gain true financial independence and retire early to spend time with their kids and do what they wanted with life. I was finding it difficult to relate to some of the topics so I asked if there were any discussions/podcasts for those 50 or older and already closer to retirement age. I was then directed to Catching Up to FI, LLC. I started listening to podcasts and joined the FB group to read through posts and ask questions.

The Future:

Even if I can’t retire early, I will be in a better position by the time I am ready to pivot and change the course of my life after I conclude my career with all of the info I am learning here! It’s giving me new investing goals to strive for and ideas and avenues that I would be able to manage myself. The word “retirement” doesn’t really resonate with me so I want to look at a pivot point where I can change what I do and how I do it. I’m exploring possibilities and have not yet determined what this will look like or if a possibility exists in my field or if I want to try something else. I know I want to be active in something purposeful that will help others which will keep me active, able to keep an income coming in on my terms and from anywhere in the world, and doing something I would like to participate in. I want to detach from my location-based job to provide me with more flexibility with my time. I just need to figure out what that will be using skills and strengths that I can build on in a different way. I want to be able to continue working remotely when I want, mentoring, volunteering, and making up for lost time traveling. If this info resonates and helps even 1 person make a difference in their lives and change their mindset and behaviors that will improve their situation, then sharing it is well worth it!

Positive Changes Made Since 2020:

Mindset about money and me controlling it rather than vice versa
Budgeting consistently
Tracking my own financial statements more closely
Making changes to how I save, where I save, and why
Making purchases based on value and necessity rather than impulse
Goal setting and making adjustments as needed
Increasing my Savings rate as debts are decreasing (Aspiring towards 35-45% once debts paid off)
Building my “Peace of Mind” fund and expense buffer “sinking” funds, among other saving buckets
Constantly improving and adding to financial literacy through podcasts, books, blogs, asking questions on FB groups
Learning about various investment options and methods and determining what is right for me
Meeting supportive/non-judgmental people who are able to help me make improvements/answer questions
Meeting like-minded people who have gone through similar challenges and encouraging each other
Having a proven path to follow with guidance
Evaluating additional income stream avenues
Developing remote business ideas to pivot out of location-based work
I strive to encourage at least 1 person every day
I keep a gratitude journal on the “Presently” app on my phone
Paid off ~$47,000 of $60,000 of debt
<$1,000 owed on my pre-owned vehicle loan

Current credit score 750 +/-
~$292,000 in 403(b) with ~ $66,000 in Roth IRAWhat I have learned during these challenging years:
I am resilient and stronger than I ever thought possible
I can find creative solutions and make adjustments as needed for any situation
I can live without credit cards
Everything is temporary
Goals help guide me along the way
I need more out of life than just exist to work and pay bills or be burdened by debt
I need to be constantly learning and growing
The Joy of missing out (JOMO) is real and beneficial
Success is relative and different for everyone (not just monetary)
Options are critical to perseverance
I can do anything once I commit to it
Small consistent steps really add up over time
Forward motion only!!!

Financial Independence, Retiring Earlier – My Experience Finding FI

Melinda Thornton — Wed, 03 May 2023 18:41:34 +0000

I am an enthusiastic new follower of the Catching up to Fi, LLC podcast and am extremely interested in its success in making a difference for the mature “silent majority” (as Bill and Becky like to say!) I also hope to learn from the experiences of others at my stage of life.

I am a 51-year-old Canadian, from Vancouver, British Columbia. I’m a single mom of two lovely children aged 11 and 14. I am a CPA, although I’ll say up front (in my defense) I’ve never practiced in the areas of personal tax or small business. My experience is in public company audit and management services for the non-profit charitable sector. It does seem ironic, though, that a financial professional would find herself in mid-life with essentially no retirement or contingency plans.

In my early years my father was an entrepreneur and my mother a stay-at-home parent. My father had a high tolerance for risk and made a living as a property developer. He was an immigrant from England, the only child of a lower income single mother from Sheffield. He enjoyed the finer things in life. In good times he owned a Rolls Royce, a boat and multiple vacation properties. My father also fancied himself a player and this predilection combined with the spike in interest rates in the early ’80’s led to financial disaster: divorce and insolvency. My mother was left with three young children to raise and went back to school for her nursing credentials, working retail part time to make ends meet. On the side she bought, fixed and sold the houses that we lived in. While I did not receive any direct lessons in personal finance from my folks, they both modeled strong work ethic. Personal finance was not taught in schools when I was young. (The degree to which financial literacy is taught in public school now is still inexplicably low.)

I earned a bachelor’s degree in “Urban Land Economics” from the University of British Columbia. When I started school, I had hoped to eventually go into business with my father. Unfortunately, by the time I left the program he was retired and in due course diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In my early 20’s I worked various different jobs trying to find myself. None were lucrative. Financial independence was the last thing on my mind. I did open a retirement savings account (the “RRSP” is the Canadian equivalent of a 401k) at the behest of my mother when I started my first full time job. However, I only contributed paltry sums. Instead, I leased a car which cost a small fortune and is certainly an expenditure I deeply regret.

During my late 20’s I started taking accounting classes at night school as I was working for an insurance company with the wonderful perk of paying for continuing education. I discovered that I really enjoyed the practical application of mathematics to management of resources. I also met my first husband, a dashing US naval officer. We married and I moved to Washington state where I finished my accounting classes at UW and passed the CPA exam. I found work as

a CPA at a boutique public practice that specialized in low income housing tax credit developments.

Unfortunately my new husband and I were both restless spirits and my starter marriage lasted barely two years. While my employer offered to sponsor me to stay in the States, I decided to return to Vancouver to be with my family. I had paid for my education at UW out of pocket, so fortunately did not have student loans, but it was expensive. I also had to buy another new car in the US as my Canadian model was not approved for use there. I returned to Canada with almost nothing to my name and gratefully took up residence in the basement of my aunt and uncle’s house.

My grandmother passed away and left a small inheritance. I also sold my engagement ring, which turned out to be ridiculously valuable. I used the proceeds to purchase a very small apartment on a busy road in Vancouver. I obtained work at a mid-sized public accounting firm and wrote the Canadian version of the CPA exam for a license to practice in British Columbia. Still, I paid almost no attention to my personal financial future. I totaled my car in an accident and had to replace it. Mortgage payments were priority and my home became my savings account. So it continued until my mid- 30’s.

In my mid-30’s I met my second husband. We both owned homes and sold them to combine our resources and purchase a family home. I left work when our first child was born and was a stay-at-home mom for 5 years. I went back to work part time when our second child was two years old. I made small contributions to my retirement account, but only sporadically and I never paid attention to the account’s composition or balance. All these years my retirement savings were in high fee bank mutual funds, the value of which was decimated during the GFC. My husband pays into a government defined benefit pension, so he was never concerned about saving for retirement. We also saw the house as our primary savings vehicle and it was considered relatively safe given the desirability of the west coast location.

As a couple our extravagances were primarily a nanny for the children (so that I could work part time) and a private sports club membership. I also bought a Mercedes Benz. While having the nanny allowed me to keep up my CPA license, it was outrageously expensive. My spouse and I never discussed money or financial goals. My husband believed we would stay in the family home the rest of our lives, pay it off and eventually his pension would provide for us both.

When I returned to work part-time I chose to go into the non-profit sector, as it offers the work/life balance I wanted to spend time with my family. Unfortunately, this balance comes at a financial price of lower wages than I would otherwise have made in public practice or the for-profit sector. Nonetheless, I’ve a great amount of professional pride and pleasure in helping charities manage their resources to achieve their mandates. It would have been wise if I had applied the same skills in managing my own finances as I applied to those of my employers.

After 11 years of marriage my second husband and I divorced in 2020. We sold the family home and each purchased a property within 2 blocks of each other. Fortunately we get along extremely well, just not as spouses. It is worth noting that Vancouver is an ultra high cost of living location. A starter single family home in Vancouver is about $1.6 millionCAD and I purchased the smallest, cheapest, oldest property in my children’s school district: a 1300 square foot mid-century rancher for a mere $1.295m. Almost all of my wealth was and is trapped in the house and of course I’m paying a mortgage.

Due to decades of outdated urban planning policies, the particular area we live in does not have many “middle-range” family housing options. People either live in a single family property OR they squish into a small apartment or condo. There is a dearth of in-between options such as townhomes or multi-plexes. With two children, the house was non-negotiable and freeing up resources by downsizing will not be possible until my children finish high school, at the earliest.

It was at this time, in the wake of divorce, that I realized I had precious little savings and needed to pay immediate attention to my financial future. I actually had absolutely NO IDEA how to build and steward my own investments. I asked my sister, who had built a sizeable portfolio of investments via a high paying job (and in lieu of owning real estate) for recommended reading. She suggested some books about low cost index funds. I embarked on an odyssey of intensive self-education on markets, investments and personal finance through reading and podcasts. I remember the market crash at the beginning of the pandemic and texting my sister a question: “Would this be a good time to rebalance”? Duh.

My journey is ongoing. Since 2020 I try to save half of my income. I live frugally, although I do not skimp on repairs to the house, food or activities and education for my children. The kids attend public school, but we ensure they can take whatever specialized programs that interest them. We take short local vacations, for which I save using a sinking fund and always pay cash. I drive a 2014 Toyota Matrix, a far cry from the lovely Mercedes I owned a few years ago. I know the FIRE movement loves to recommend leveraging all possible sources of income, but I find at this time of life I neither have the time nor energy to develop a side hustle or work a second job. I’ve increased my income by changing jobs, from a $60,000 part time position three years ago to a full time $100k+ position with a defined benefit pension now.

My investment style has evolved dramatically over the last three years. I’ve made up for years of disinterest with an overzealous degree of attention. I started during 2020 by converting my bank mutual funds into low cost index funds. I also adopted a percentage based diversification strategy of the kind recommended by Paul Merriman. I enjoy spreadsheets and managing the funds, so I do have several tiers to my portfolio structure. I am guilty of changing my percentage allocations too often. For example, when the central bank started raising interest rates in 2022 I sold my bond EFT’s and purchased money market funds. A true “buy and hold” saver would not have done this, but I don’t enjoy watching my portfolio’s value tank. I allow myself 5% for discretionary ideas, which are currently in a couple of individual stocks and inverse ETF’s. I don’t trade (much). I’ve built a spreadsheet which can automatically update the value of my portfolio every ½ hour, not that I look at it that often. For most people,

My investing style is probably not advisable; a target date fund and some small cap probably do the trick. However, for me it works because the complexity keeps me engaged. My glidepath provides a track to potential retirement in 5-7 years, IF I can release some of the equity in my house when my youngest graduates high school.

My biggest money mistakes:

I didn’t set personal financial goals
I didn’t prioritize saving over spending
I ignored what little savings I did have while they stagnated in worst in class high cost mutual funds
I didn’t take the time to form a relationship with my future self

No doubt buying cars and choosing lifestyle over income have been serious drags on building wealth, but it is really the above four errors that had impact. Over the last three years I’ve made amends:

I have set monthly and annual savings goals and
Scheduled out my potential retirement income and spending through to age 100 adjusted for taxes and inflation and
have an annual spending plan for major expenditures (insurance, house repairs, vacations, retirement savings) and
have an emergency fund (cash, not just a line of credit as before) and
track my cash flow every month, forcing myself to live on what remains after savings are put aside
I am still a work in progress and there are concerns yet to be addressed:
What if my children need to live at home into their adulthoods? Based on the experience of my friends with older children, kids don’t launch until well into their 20’s these days and mine are only 11 and 14. I must be able to release some equity in my house to be able to retire. My current plan is to move to a (slightly) lower cost location in British Columbia and the kids can choose whether or not to accompany me.
While I value my career, I have started feeling burnt out and my mental acuity is not what it used to be. I have considered returning to school for a degree in a different line of work in the hopes of extending my working life.
My children’s dad is still working and in good health (he makes twice what I do, but is in his 60’s), but how will my plans have to change when he retires in the next year or two?
What if I have medical issues and have to take time away from work? I am starting to notice that my peers are developing health issues and heart disease runs in my family.

I need to develop contingency plans which may necessitate working full time at my current career longer than I would like to; I don’t have “FU” money.

I continue my fervent exploration of all matters of investment and personal finance knowledge. Here are my favorite sources:

Books –

The Education of a Value Investor (Guy Spier) This book spoke to me so authentically that I actually wrote Mr. Spier to thank him and he was such a gentleman as to mail a note back! Yes, MAIL. Not email!
The Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel)
Richer Wiser Happier (William Green)

There is also a podcast; the episode with Arnold Van Den Berg is particularly inspiring

We’re Talking Millions (Paul Merriman)

Podcasts –

Rational Reminder (Benjamin Felix & Cameron Passmore, check out the episode with Commander Chris Hadfield)
Risk Parity Radio (Frank Vasquez)
Afford Anything (Paula Pant)
The Market Huddle (Patrick Ceresna and Kevin Muir)

FinTwit and “Inside Baseball with Old Chestnut” (podcast) are my guilty pleasures.

For me FIRE means “Financially Independent & Retiring Earlier” than I otherwise would have. I hope that many, many other mid-life folks experience a similar awakening to better their prospects. Perhaps their journey will start with an episode of “Catching up to FI, LLC”.

If YOU Play with fire, don’t get burned (OUT)!

Bill Yount — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 18:05:01 +0000

I discovered FIRE sometime around 2014 at age 48 when I first stumbled across books by William Bernstein (The Intelligent Asset Allocator) and Jim Dahle (The White Coat Investor). I wanted to take over my paper asset portfolio from a private bank that we had allowed to manage it with savings that we allocated annually, “last” (not in a “pay or save yourself first” mentality), or as an after thought around tax time. We believed we were doing the right thing to let others manage our money as we were “too busy” post residency with new jobs, new house, and new twins to manage it ourselves. We had no plan for giving each dollar of our paychecks a job as we suddenly roughly 5x’d our salaries. Neither my wife nor I had had even a rudimentary financial education from our parents or from our industrial aged schooling and higher education. How were we to know that the easiest way to manage our money and investments wan’t the “right way”? Mistake 1.

One day during residency, a friendly neighborhood “financial advisor” showed up to give us our one lecture on financial planning. You guessed it, he was really a representative or salesman from “Young Know Who” Company. Before we could say “Shazam” we were weighed, had blood drawn, and filled out a risk questionnaire, before we were sold a whole life policy like many of our peers. About 7 years later sold our Whole Life Policies because we wanted the equity to “finish” our “Big Doctor House” and again bought Yearly Renewable Term Life Policies from the same agent. A paint job on our first home turned into a passionate “Forever Home” rehab in 2007. You remember what happened then no doubt. We were under water for a few years and then “escaped” our charming, but “expensive-and-more-than-we-needed” house and the high cost of living area for a low cost of living area in geographic arbitrage. But, because we couldn’t find the right nest, we of course built another “Big Doctor House” in the suburbs. Finally we have come to our senses and recently pivoted and downsized to a Goldilocks Home that we love. Mistakes 2-4.

The there were the Cars. I “needed” the fully financed new truck after years of deprivation in a rust bucket during med school and residency. Soon thereafter my wife “needed” a series of leased vehicles as needs changed from sedan to minivan to SUV as the children grew. It was a “Payment to Payment” Mindset. At least I eventually paid off my truck and have only had three cars in my life. It took us many years, however, to drive paid off vehicles and buy with cash. Mistake 5.

We still love Food. Back in the day, eating out, take out, delivery, and expensive restaurants were the norm. We shopped at Whole Foods and Fresh Market and Krogers. Food was an essential “need” and as per usual we had no Budget and just cash flowed it like most everything else. Money in money out. Years later we have discovered stores like Aldi (a shout out to BC Krygowski!) and our grocery bill has dropped by 40-50% as we now eat at home the majority of the time. Mistakes 6-7.

The rest is, as they say is History. We made almost all the big and small mistakes one can make financially until 2014 and we are still here! We took our heads out of the sand, woke up Rip van Winkle style, and began to take over our financial lives instead of letting other people and our money manage them. It is never too late to start and the best day to start your FIjourney is today!

As the CFO of our family, I read and read and read FinLit Blogs and Books of all types and listened and listened and listened to a variety FinLit Podcasts. I even went to the amazing #FinCon19! Along this path, I have made and met many new amazing friends (random shout out to Ryan Inman). I moved our paper assets to Vanguard and set an asset allocation and locations that suited us according to our Investor Policy Statement and have stuck to them while tax loss harvesting and rebalancing (forward with new capital, time fixed, and bands) according to plan as well. We have invested in a Multifamily Real Estate Syndication of a trusted general parter and friend (shout out to Veena Jetti). I plan on developing this blog (PivotPointsMD), Facebook Group (Financial Literacy Project) and a podcast (?PivotPoints Podcast:)) under the PivotPoints banner. Who knows maybe one day in the future, I may even syndicate a deal or two one day. The important thing is that we all need to develop a balanced portfolio stool with 3 or 4 legs including the employment (self and spouse), paper asset, real estate asset, and small business asset classes to avoid unstable concentration risk in our lives with a single legged stool.

So why have I almost been “Burned (Out)” by, among other thing, a rabid pursuit of FIRE? Easy, after a deep dive gestation period of information consumption, I went too fast down the action Rabbit Hole. Unilaterally focusing on a singular FIRE goal to almost the exclusion of all else, without leading a slow and steady deliberately balanced life (shout out to Dawn Baker), and trying to do everything virtually “all at once” almost destroyed my life. It led to a manic downsize in one month from house sale to house purchase and move. It led to an unexpected, but necessary job transition. It led to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion. In fact, “drinking from firehoses” (see prior post:)) almost killed me.

FIRE was a stressor that exponentially compounded a multitude of stressors in my life, externally and internally imposed. I am thankfully through to the other side now, but I would not wish large parts of the last 6-9 months of my life on anyone. My wife, kids, and friends are and have always been my rocks. When my pursuits to overcome the demon of fear in my life led to recently jumping out of a plane (with a parachute!, see prior post) they were the ones that brought me safely to Earth. I am only now able to “come out” and publicly reveal my travails, in part due to the voracious pursuit of FIRE after a late arrival “to the party”. It is what it is. It will be what it will be. It is my job to have a plan based, not on a number, but a FIRE range (shout out to Lynn Frair) and an enJOYable balanced journey and process. It is time to give first, listen to my mindful and body, be grateful for all that is and will come to be, learn and let go of the past, be present in the present with a watchful eye on the horizon of the future, financially or otherwise

FIRE is a beast that must be tamed and trained to be your tool and not the other way around. Don’t let yourself get burned by the flames of consumptive FIRE. I am licking my wounds and pivoting as I move ever forward.

Peace,

PivotPointsMD

The Big Pivot

Bill Yount — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 18:05:01 +0000

Today was a big day and this last 2 weeks were a big in Yountville! I have Paused! I have Planned! I am Pivoting!

Invested with Enzo Multifamily in our first Syndication as a LP in an actively managed “low public market correlated” diversification play (with house trade harvested lazy home equity) to create private income, accelerated equity multiple, and cost-segregated negative K-1 depreciation. Thanks to Veena Jetti and her team!
Initiated the process of creating my first business ventures for PivotPointsMD LLC to build my landing page into a foundation of a multifaceted website as a lifestyle side hustle and location independent business and PivotPoints Properties LLC as an asset holding company with my wife. Thanks Bone McAllester Norton PLLC and Stacey Garrett Koju!
Refinanced our Health Insurance with Tennessee Farm Bureau Member Benefits and UnitedHealthcare for better coverage in a traditionally underwritten plan with minor preexisting riders at an annual premium savings of 10k.
Refinanced and consolidated our P&C (Auto, Home, Umbrella) to better coverage at slightly reduced annual cost. Thanks Valerie Privett and Beacon Insurance Advisers!
Bought a “rightsized” house (Close is Dec 6th) and sold as our own agent at a 2.5% buyer’s agent commission “The Big Doctor House” (close is Dec 13th). Thanks Laura Slyman of Slyman Real Estate and Janette Burgin of Regions Bank and their support teams!
Working with Gavin Baker of www.bakerlabs.co on the development of my landing page into a website to debut in Q1/2 2020.
Working with Chris Hill of www.humblepod.com to develop PivotPoints Podcast with a wonder woman co-hostess with the mostess. Coming Q1/2 2020.

Lately, I seem to literally or figuratively just keep “jumping out of planes”! A busy balanced life and portfolio in the largest and broadest sense of the word is just more fun. Right Dawn Baker and BC Krygowski!

I have met so many people that have contributed generously to this launch into my “third chapter”. You know who you are and there are too many to thank individually, but off the top of my head:

My brain is tired.

I am grateful.

Peace,
Bill Yount

Learning to FI is like learning to FLY (First Love Yourself)

Bill Yount — Mon, 20 Jan 2020 19:05:01 +0000

One way to fly

The desire to fly knocked around in my brain for 37 years. The idea first popped into my young and immortal head as a 17 year old freshman in college. My best friend and I were a little frustrated with our lack of relationships, so we decided to write about our failed fledgling attempts at female engagement. In typical cave man hormonal freshman fashion, we inscribed the epitaph to our failed ovetures “if you can’t get sex, you might as well jump out of a plane” on his dorm room wall. I guess we ultimately found companions, because we never pursued our unrequited dream of flight.

The desire to fly lay dormant in my developing brain until residency. This time a group of us intern adrenalin junkies whimsically picked a random rare day off to drive out to the cornfields of Illinois to a small airport in the middle of nowhere. I do not think this was fueled by a night of drunken bravado fueled inertia, but I am not sure. We “trained”, dressed the part, and waited expectantly in our jumpsuits and harnesses for the “go for launch” signal that never came. Late afternoon summer thunderclouds rolled in and the mission was scrubbed. Strike two.

Again the desire to fly went back into status quo hibernation in my limbic system after I met my future wife in the middle of a night shift. Eventually we made a life together and raised fraternal twin boys to launch to college over 19 years. Flying did not seem to be a reasonable risk in this chapter. But last fall, once again, as I readied to turn 54 years old, that nagging desire to fly surfaced to my consciousness. Why not now? I had “Rip Van Winkeled” my dream for one reason or another and by pure chance and circumstance for more than half my lifetime. My wife fully supported my desire after she checked that the life insurance was paid up. She even offered to join me on my quest and bravely watch me jump from below at the landing zone. On the prescupice of our empty nest weekend with our Aussie Doodles to my diligently vetted skydiving outfit in Chattanooga, TN, an unexpected trip to Houston stole my wife’s morally supportive presence from my now prepaid commitment to jump.

I was left alone with the dogs and the decision to honor my celebratory birthday decision to finally fly. Engaging with your fears and your brain is a daunting task at times. I knew the What, Why, When, and How. The only thing left was to pack up the car and drive through my fears to the consummation of those nagging dreams of a young immortal that had developed into a conscious mortal middle aged man. Before leaving the house, I decide to make sure all the bills were paid. I hesitated, but also wrote my family a note saying something to the effect that I loved them and that I “was off on another adventure” and that I “would see them very soon”. I took the tact of optimistic abundance instead of fearful scarcity that best laid plans could end in my demise.

I made it to The Moxy Hotel in Chattanooga, a familiar haunt for my wife and I and the dogs. I settled in at the bar for my “last meal” and a few beers with Lily and Rudy at my side. As usual, they attracted much attention due to their adorable fuzzy looks and good barroom behavior. I chatted with many locals and people in town for a national crew regatta. A few had gone skydiving and regaled me with tales of their bravery and how much of a fun rush it was. Some had done the deed more than once or planned to go for it again. I got pleasantly buzzed and filled my belly with delicious wood fired pizza. I collapsed into bed with anticipation that I have felt the night before my one and only marathon.

Having a beer with my Doodles

In a matter of fact fashion, I awoke to my alarm and set about my day as if it were any other day. Bundling the dogs and our things into the car, I set of for the final leg of my multi year journey. I forgot that on the other side of the city, I crossed into the central time zone, so I I was the first person to arrive at the jump zone. That gave me an extra hour to digest my decision and fears. The airport was nestled in the middle of a blue collar Tennessee community and looked a little scruffy to say the least, which did not exactly inspire confidence in me. I had ample time to disapate my nervous energy and walk around and contemplate my life and mortality. I chatted with my wife and kids about what they were up too and told them I loved them. I got to check out the hanger and was impressed with the plane and the professional gear and staff. I of course had to sign a million waivers exonerating the outfit from any liability of my choice. I had thought there would be a “training session”. I was wrong.

I was in the first jump group had my survival assigned to Edvardo. He was a jovial portly short statured male with a should patch on his lower lip. He was originally from Brazil and had been a paratrooper in the US Army for 9 years. I wondered how big our shared parachute was going to be! His record for jumps in one day was 21 “up and downs”. I asked him how old he was and he asked me if I wanted his age in chronological years or years since his first jump as many jumpers count. He strapped me up and, as I had paid for the premium package, the pictures and videos began. He asked me “why would I jump out of a perfectly good plane.” I had seen videos on the website of screaming unhappy jumpers with faces twisted in fear and I had decided that that was not going to me the way “I went out”! I told Edvardo that I was jumping to “learn to fly and embrace life” and silently to myself to face the fears that were holding me back from what I believed to be my greater potential. I was here to jump start a new chapter in my burgeoning entrepreneurial Life of FI (Financial Independence). I had declared S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) W.A.R. (Wealth Accumulation Rate) on FI by 59.5 and this was the opening volley.

Having a beer with my Doodles

Fearless duckling

The weather was perfect. It was a crisp sunny fall day with not a cloud in the sky. Before long, 14 of us piled into a specially outfitted jump plane. It took a mere 15 minutes to get to 14,000 feet. Jump masters chatted with their charges and we enjoyed a beautiful view of fall colors in the Smokies. No seat belts on this plane. No safety instructions. No helmets for us. Oddly the instructors all wore helmets with facemarks so that we could not see their smiling eyes and probably so we did not knock out their teeth with the back of our heads. We buckled up to the belly of our instructors who wore the chutes. The pilot waggled his wings. We had reached the drop zone. It came more quickly than I might have imagined. It was all routine and business as usual for the non novices packed into the plane, Suddenly photographers and tandem jumpers disappeared out of the garage door that opened at the back of the plane. Edvardo and I were the first ones on which therefore meant that we were to be the last ones off.

Just stepping out for a breath of fresh air

We scooted back to the open door. My heart started pounding and my head ached in the unpressurized altitude. After too many years of this “crazy” idea bouncing around in my imagination, it very quickly became a stark reality. I had not had to physically train for this moment like I had for 20 weeks before my marathon. There was no physical pain, sweat, and tears to get me here. This journey had really just been (children close your G-rated eyes) one big “Mind Fuck”! Had I done all that I set out to do with my life? Was it worth risking what biologic time I had left for a moderately expensive thrill? I think it cost roughly $300 bucks to embrace free fall and find out if the parachute would really open. All of a sudden that did not seem like very much. It didn’t matter that my jump master had done it more times than he could remember. This was my first, and possibly my last jump. I was putting all my chips on the table and possibly leaving them all on the ground.

I hung suspended from my instructor, dangling like a sack of potatoes 14,000 feet from mother earth. The view was spectacular. The wind was chilly. I was glad that I had layered and wore gloves. My life hung briefly in the balance attached to a jovial Brazilian seated on the edge of our plane that I had just met 15 minutes ago. Height really had no meaning without your feet on the ground. He pulled my head back, told me to arch, and suddenly we were falling weightless towards terminal velocity. Gravity is a bitch. We homo erectus are doomed to fight is every day. Free fall is weightless freedom. I laughed. I smiled. The aging loose skin on my face was plastered like plastic man back towards my ears. My cheeks flapped in the roaring wing. I did not expect my ears to compress so fast and painfully. I know this because the entire 5 minute wild ride was captured in vivid video and stills by puffs of air through straws attached to the camera shutter releases on our flight photographer’s and instructor’s heads.

I felt pure joy. I embraced the the presence of the moment. I was so alive. This five minute jump was an unbelievable 37 year journey in the making. Why did I wait so long? This one minute of adrenalin pumping free fall seemed to last an hour. Miraculously the chute opened. I remember being glad that I did not have to be the one to remember to pull it. I was acutely aware again of the power of gravity as the harness painfully cinched snugly around my decelerating thighs grabbing my full weight. I felt so heavy in the light air. I saw the others below in our jump group floating to the ground. The technicolor chutes were beautiful. Edvardo let me fly the chute after taking us for a few dizzying centripetal spins.

Wow! Just like that, I had learned to fly. I saw an above ground pool near our landing strip and wondered if we might end up going for a cold swim. We came in hard and fast, all 450 pounds of us under a chute I later found out was certified up to 500 pounds! Edvardo said “lift up your legs”, so I did. We butt slid to a pinpoint landing. I was alive and uninjured. I wondered what the big deal really was after all. Why had it taken me so many years to embrace my dreams with goals and plans?

Wind in my “hair”

High fives and hugs all around! Our jump group was pumped and couldn’t stop talking about our shared experiences. We were all there for individual and common reasons. We had all travelled physically and mentally to the same place on different paths. Where would we go from here? Lily and Rudy were excitedly waiting for me in the car. What if I had not returned? I had forgotten about that issue, but maybe knowing that they would be there waiting with wagging tails for me gave me the peace to proceed unflinchingly. I saw my raw video and could not believe that that was what I had just done. I called my family to share the experience with them. The kids thought I was cool again for a brief moment. Maybe my wife would have rather cashed in on the term life. I sat in my car for a while soaking in my sun-drenched feelings, before returning to Chattanooga for a victory lunch and driving back to reality. It was all just part of another day of the 10,000 or so actuarial days I am told by The Social Security Administration that I have left, but what a thrilling day it was.

Learning to Fly is not much different from learning to FI. It is largely a EQ journey to a mindset that requires a little IQ mathematical skillsets and toolsets to pull off a reverse engineered life of financial sustainability and creative freedom that many inappropriately refer to as retirement. My first flight in this case may have been my last, unless my sons invite their dad on a camaraderie flight if they are bitten by the same bug.

I am still learning to FI. I managed to Rip Van Winkel that journey as well for far too long. “I wish I had…” echoed softly in my mind, but I have learned the hard way that regrets are only ballast on our present and futures. Without a plan as I exited one funnel for another in a paycheck to paycheck life of scarcity and survival until I woke on the hedonic treadmill at 48 years old only to realize that there was a much better way to live with intention. The rat race has no winners. I have been down the rabbit hole of FI. I have read countless books and blogs and listened to just as many podcasts as I exercised my physical portfolio while running the neighborhood and hiking with the dogs in the woods.

I Paused. I Planned. And in the last few years I have Pivoted like crazy in my “S.M.A.R.T. W.A.R. on Fi by 59.5″. I am taking back my life by design instead falling forever into the inertia of a mindless indebted single digit saving life of indebted servitude to the economy by default. For better and worse, I DIY our finances, but I own the outcomes. I manage our paper assets in a globally diversified cap weighted market portfolio of passive index funds with evidence based tilts. I also manage our new adventure into syndicated multifamily real estate investments. I am working on developing a location independent lifestyle laptop small business that begins with this blog and evolves into a fully fleshed out website at PivotPoints.co, a podcast that is likely to be named ‘The Goldilocks Project”, and a non-profit organization in “The Financial Literacy Project”. We have simplified, automated, and diversified our life-planned portfolio and our lives. We have down and rightsized our home and put languishing home equity back to work for us. I am writing this sputtering, sporadic blog while contractors paint, chisel, and bang their way into our new lifestyle. Change is inevitable. Risk is manageable. The real question is how you rationally embrace change and risk and learn to live a life of optimistic abundance and courage. I lept to my first Flight. I am still leaping to FI. The juice is in the journey and the process and is ultimately one of one of finding simple contentment, relationships, and gratitude in a mindful present with an eye on your future self.

Peace,
PivotPointsMD

If We Don’t “Playing With FIRE”, We Will Get Burned

Bill Yount — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 18:05:01 +0000

Tonight I consummated a long distance virtual love affair with “Playing With FIRE: The Documentary”. When Coach Carson and his wife Kari invited me to join them for this indie screening in Greenville, SC, after meeting them recently at #FinCon19, I leapt at the chance to see my new renaissance money nerd friends again and appease my burning curiosity.

After the 4 hour drive from Knoxville, TN with my thoughts and podcasts, I was moved when I walked in to a packed theater of people of remarkably diverse demographics and stories considering the millennial counter cultural messaging I expected to see. After a short intro by the screening’s hosts from the local ChooseFI Group, the lights dimmed. It quickly got uncomfortably dark and very, very real.

I found myself shifting in my seat, on a shared hedonic treadmill, and in a rat race to the bottom. As we neared the end of the movie, and before the lights came up, tears streamed freely down my face. A fellow audience member consoled me with a gentle pat on the back. Like the FIRE movement, the movie was really an interactive experience for and by the people and a shared journey on the screen and in the audience.

Scott and Taylor’s story and travels from Coronado, CA to Bend, OR may have been financially or math motivated, but it played out in gut wrenchingly physical and emotional detail with their daughter Jovi, a blissfully and fiercely independent toddler, in tow. They shed the physical and emotional baggage of a high cost of living life including a million dollar home on the beach and luxury cars.

Having seemingly lost their financial way, they return to reconnect with their frugal midwestern roots during home stays with their parents. Along the unmarked road, they meet and sought counsel from several well-known virtual rebels, mentors, and influencers in the Financial Independence tribe and space. Notably, none of The 10 Items that made up Taylor’s weekly Happy List were not tied to location, or their past life. They were conveniently all portable on their journey to meet their future selves.

In this moving movie of intentional lifestyle deflation to a reliable path in pursuit of financial independence and freedom I unsurprisingly found many details of my own family’s story. You won’t have to look hard to find pieces of your story too or certainly those of someone you know or are certain to meet. It is not a story that a voracious economy feeding on the time value of your life in cycles of unconscious overconsumption wants you to hear.

It is one, however, that must be told, seen, and experienced again and again until we finally get it. We must digest FIRE’s messages of intentionality, sustainability, and renewability in our personal financial lives until they have permeated humanity with their superpowers to change our present culture and save our future world.

We must stand up, join hands, and break the generational chains and inertia that compel us to model and, in so doing, hand down a legacy of financial illiteracy and indebted servitude to our children. Instead of sticking our overwhelmed heads in the sand and allowing our money to be our master, we must master our money as the powerful currency of asset acquisition, compound growth, wealth, and financial freedom that is meant to be. It is time to close the chronological and financial developmental age gap. We must “Playing with FIRE” again and again in order not to get burned.

Please consider joining us in the Financial Literacy Project sandbox and come to play.

Burnin’ through Burnout

Bill Yount — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 18:05:01 +0000

The Spectrum of Moral Injury (MI) to Compassion Fatigue to Burnout (BO) is as complex and dynamic as it comes across the life-work balance spectrum. It is not black and white, but very very grey. MI is extrinsic and systems based dehumanization and corporatization; healthcare now suffers greatly from this insidious and viral disease like never before. The end-station of a journey from short term to midterm to longterm BO is penultimately depression and tragically, increasingly suicide.

The Burnout Spectrum

Most of us live in the messy middle between the bi-poles of BO and MI. Our math and emotion batteries get continually depleted. They need recharging internally and externally as we set aside financial and emotional reserves to ultimately set us free from the rat-race. We can and should ultimately master our money and time and control if and when we choose to battle through our daily minefields. Eventually we must actively “retire” to creative peace and intentionally leave the world a better place than we found it.

Practice Balance

We do not strive to merely survive, but to thrive. We cannot do this alone in our silos, our cubicles. We need help and we need to help. We must give and we must receive. We must be vulnerable and relinquish control at the same time that we must make sense and out of and find manageable patterns in our personal and shared chaos. We must be intimately human and recognize the power of building a healthy tribe. We must stay the course, burn through the “burnout” pain into the messy middle. We must grow and remain resilient and relevant in the conversation of life.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Peace, contentment, and enough are our elusive goals. Let us achieve them together…

I Wasn’t “Born This Way”: Risk Adversity and The Hedonic Treadmill

Bill Yount — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 18:05:00 +0000

Embrace Risk

Even though I was born in 1965 New York City, I sure wasn’t born risk adverse or on the hedonic treadmill. I also sure wasn’t born into indebted servitude and Golden Handcuffs to the almighty Economy. Still, with blinders on and head in sand with scarcity mindset and fiscal overwhelm, I sure-footedly almost followed many lemmings in my “lost generational” cultural herd over these very treacherous cliffs. Like many many “Jonses”, I somehow ended up fearful of much risk including Mr. Market and on the Highway to Hedonic Hell. It is time to break these generational legacy chains for me, my wife, and our children.

We are all born financially illiterate, fearlessly naive, dependent, and broke. In my humble opinion my risk adversity and hedonic maladaptations were largely nurtured, not natured. I was born the eldest son of a archetypal “7to7to75” doctor dad and a traditional stay-at-home nurse mom. Not surprisingly in retrospect, my upbringing and technically excellent formal brick and mortar industrial complex education never really practically addressed my financial illiteracy. My parents dysfunctional marriage and eventual legal and financial divorce sealed the deal. I was launched from a luke warm nest up a cold, fast paced, financial creek without a paddle.

Life continually happened and I reactively reeled from rapid to funnel and whip-sawed back again. Focus on college and medical education gave way to focus on marriage and family. Failing to “meet and care for my future self” at a young age and DIY and reverse engineer my life was engineering to fail. Having no automated partitioning plan for my paychecks, especially when they got suddenly bigger, trapped me in all too common paycheck to paycheck scarcity. I was a “rich” doctor with a “poor” money mindset. Life-styling, I Rip Van Winkeled precious market time away and as my chronologic age advanced, it insidiously dislocated and inversely correlated with my arrested financial development.

(more…)

Where were you today?

Bill Yount — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 18:05:01 +0000

The human spirit is uniquely resilient! Today we honor this profoundly human tragedy and its pervasive short and long term, local and global consequences, financial and otherwise, with our uniquely human ability to heal and grow. Please take a moment to Pause, Plan, and Pivot. Help yourself and others find our ways together to a brighter, sustainable, personal financial future and maybe George Kinder’s Golden Civilization will appear as the cultural change we wish to see in the world.

It was a beautiful sunrise. I was driving home from a long nightshift in bumper to bumper Chicago traffic. I heard 9/11 unfold on my favorite morning radio show Eric & Kathy on 101.9 The MIX. I remember their confusion evolve into horror, anger, and sadness. It transmitted to me over the airwaves through their quivering voices and burned graphic images on my brain. I arrived home and woke my wife to tell her the “world had changed”. We turned on the TV and watched the aftermath and reruns with tears in our eyes, shock in our minds, pain in our hearts, and gut wrenching fear for the future in our bellies. The Darkness is not forgotten, but it has given way to The Light.

NeverForget

Where were you at this moment on 9/11/01?

The Darkness