In the personal finance community we often talk about risks. The risk of running out of money in retirement; the risk of picking the wrong investment or getting the timing wrong; sequence of return risk; the risk of losing our job during the accumulation phase; leverage risk – you name it. The perceived level of … Read more
Today’s article is an interview with a fellow Aussie content creator – Leigh from Family Finance. Leigh has been on the path to financial independence for about five years. One of her main motivations for reaching FI was that she thought she hated her job as a teacher. However, she recently had some pretty big … Read more
One of the most common questions people ask me about mini-retirements and sabbaticals is how much to save. Financial planning is an important part of the mini-retirement preparation process. In this article, I’ll walk you through the three steps you should take to ensure your finances are ready for your time away from work. We’ll … Read more
Have you considered taking a mini-retirement? Whether you feel burnt out and need some time away from your full-time career, want to travel, start a business, or refocus and plan out your future – a mini-retirement or sabbatical might be an ideal break for you. Mr. Flamingo and I have taken several mini-retirements (some of … Read more
Ahhh, the Australian dream of owning a home. And not any home – a free-standing house on a decent-sized block is what it’s all about. I have to say that it took me a while to get used to the Australian obsession with buying houses, upgrading and upsizing. In Europe, it is it’s the norm … Read more
If you want to explore options like consulting, freelancing or self-employment and gain more control over how you spend your time, you might want to consider an alternative to the “career path” norm – a portfolio career. It doesn’t matter if you still work full-time or are semi-retired. Building a portfolio career is an interesting … Read more
Today I’ve got something special for you: An interview with Aussie Firebug! This is not another interview about savings rates, the best portfolio allocation or frugality – we talk about semi-retirement, lifestyle design, travel, entrepreneurship and how to make the most of the journey to Financial Independence. Who is Aussie Firebug?I don’t have to introduce … Read more
Have you watched your investment portfolio tank recently? There are dark clouds on the Financial Independence horizon at the moment – high inflation, food shortages, the energy crisis, supply chain issues, rising interest rates… I find that times like these expose one of the FIRE community’s greatest flaws: our all-or-nothing attitude. Let me explain. How … Read more
One major focus of this blog is to showcase alternative FIRE strategies that help you claim your time back sooner so you can live your best life. I firmly believe that we don’t have to (and most definitely shouldn’t) wait until we reach our “magic number” before we start enjoying the benefits of the FIRE … Read more
A few months ago we completed our first full year of early semi-retirement. I wanted to get this article out earlier, but it has taken me a while to properly reflect on the things we’ve learned and the things that surprised us. Everyone’s journey is different. We are a family with young kids, which obviously … Read more