Ideas on Personal Finance
The simple difference between working for money and having money work for you can be the difference between being poor or becoming wealthy! It’s your lucky day… Someone comes up to you and offers to make money for you. Even better, they expect nothing from you! Initially, you think that it is a joke. But … Read more
Hard work vs. Overwork A management consultant might seem an unlikely candidate to address the issue of overwork, considering that, in my past, I routinely logged 80-90 hour workweeks. However, I have witnessed first-hand the harm overworking can cause. Don’t get me wrong – hard work is a good thing. But when it transforms into … Read more
Evolution has taught us to think short-term and made it difficult to plan for the future. Making a few small changes might help us get better at financial planning. Why we are bad at Financial Planning Planning, by definition, involves thinking about the future. You may want to develop a financial plan to buy a … Read more
The real cost of an item is not just the number that appears on the price tag. The Real Cost Before buying anything, it is important to know the cost of that item. Not the amount etched on the price tag, but the actual cost. The actual cost to you! The philosopher Thoreau said: The … Read more
This article is part of the My FI Journey series – click here to access the full journey. Shifting Focus I am now focusing on Saving in addition to Investing. As any good consultant knows, you cannot improve something if you don’t measure it. So we keep track of every single Finer household purchase for a month. At … Read more
Working towards Financial Independence (FI) is great! However, the WHY of Financial Independence is also equally, if not more important. Importance of WHY Many years ago, I watched a TED talk on How great leaders inspire action. I was a consultant back then, and this talk was focused on how companies can get better. However, … Read more
This article is part of the My FI Journey series – click here to access the full journey. The Journey Begins I have started focusing on Investing. I am learning that it is not easy to beat the market – I am making money, but the market is up more. It would have been better just leaving my … Read more
A quote that captures the essence of Financial Independence (FI). It basically frames financial freedom, not as something that can be used to run away from work, but as something that allows you to choose the work you want to do. Some people (like the Finer household) keep working even after reaching FI. But the … Read more
This quote flips the traditional retirement question (At what age should I retire?) on its head. Instead of that, we should ask, ‘At what income can I retire?’. If someone has a frugal lifestyle, then it means their expenses are less. The smaller their expenses, the less money they will need to retire. Hence they … Read more
People typically retire and stop working. However, the advantage of Financial Independence (FI) is that you can retire from a traditional job and still work. The best part is that the work you do will be the work you want to do (and not the work you have to do). Some people choose early retirement … Read more