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The end of the road: Preparing to buy a new car
Yesterday, Kim and I joined my cousins for an afternoon trip to the Oregon Coast. Our aim was to harvest a bounty of clams. We came home with zero. We managed, however, to harvest a bounty of mussels. Plus, the dog had fun.
My cousin Duane carpooled with us to and from the beach. We rode in Kim's car: a 1997 Honda Accord that's showing signs of its age.
“It's a little warm in here,” Duane said about ten minutes into our drive. “Would you mind turning down the heat?”
“Well, I can't turn down the air,” Kim said. “It's stuck on high. But I can turn down the temperature.” She laughed as she demonstrated that the knob for the air volume has broken off at the post. The vents now permanently blow at full force.
“This car is falling to pieces,” I said. “Literally.” As if to prove my point, a bit of molding fell from a roof handle. I picked it up and wedged it back into place.
Book review: Work Optional by Tanja Hester
Last week, I published an extended excerpt from Grant Sabatier's new book, Financial Freedom. Sabatier's core message is that time is more valuable than money — and that freedom is more valuable than time.
Several GRS readers took issue with the book's seemingly anti-work tone.
By the numbers: My spending for January 2019
You know how sometimes you let chores and errands and obligations pile up until there's nothing left but to ignore what you want to do and take time to actually do what needs to be done? Yeah, well that's what the past week has been like for me.
I've spent most of my waking hours cleaning and repairing the house, driving around Portland to take care of troublesome tasks, and calling companies (and government agencies) to close accounts and/or clarify questions. This includes six hours I devoted to replacing the kitchen faucet. Ugh.
All this is to say: I haven't had time to work much on Get Rich Slowly during the past seven days.
Financial freedom and the value of time
Note from J.D.
Last October, I had a chance to read an advance copy of Grant Sabatier‘s new book, Financial Freedom, which was just released this morning. I liked it. I loved parts of it. In fact, the second chapter of Financial Freedom inspired my article about how time is more valuable than money.
Today, I'm pleased to present a (heavily edited) excerpt from that second chapter. Here's Sabatier on why time is more valuable than money — and why you can and should retire early. (Links and photos are from me. Everything else is from the book. Note, however, I've heavily edited this chapter in order to abridge it and to make it more readable in blog format.)
Join me in Portugal for a one-week chautauqua about money and life!
In 2013, I traveled to Ecuador for a sort of experiment. Host Cheryl Reed and mastermind Jim (J.L.) Collins had organized a chautauqua, a gathering of two dozen folks who wanted to discuss financial independence, early retirement, and finding purpose. My pal Pete Adeney (better known as Mr. Money Mustache) and I joined Jim and Cheryl as presenters. We spent a week at a centuries-old hacienda talking about money and life.
That first chautauqua was awesome — not only for the attendee but for us presenters as well. To this day, those of us who attended that first chautauqua go out of our way to see each other as we travel the U.S. When I did my short tour of the Southeast last spring, for instance, I stopped in Kentucky to watch horse races with Amy, whom I met at that first event in Ecuador. Here we are at Keeneland:
Why frugality is an important part of personal finance
In a recent article in The Atlantic, Joe Pinsker shared some thoughts on why many ultrarich people aren't satisfied with their wealth.
There seem to be two reasons.
Discipline equals freedom: The difference between deprivation and depriving yourself
Financial independence and early retirement continue to attract mainstream attention. This is a good thing. Check that, this is a great thing. Of course, with this attention there are more naysayers and critics than ever.
One of the main criticisms of the FIRE movement — and of frugality, in general — is that those who seek FIRE are depriving themselves. Or leading lives of deprivation. On the surface, these two arguments may sound like the same thing but they're not. There's a big difference between “deprive” and “deprivation”.
Here are the definitions of these two words:
Who has the best savings account in 2020?
Another year, another search for the best savings account! That's right: It was almost exactly a year ago today that I was hunting for an online savings account so I polled you, the Get Rich Slowly readers.
Last year, Ally Bank was the clear winner. More GRS readers had their money there than anywhere else. But folks also liked Discover Bank, Synchrony Bank, and several others.
This year, it's my girlfriend who is trying to find a better bank. Kim is perfectly happy with Ally — in fact, she's a vocal crusader for Ally, which I find amusing — but at the same time, she's curious if she can find a better interest rate somewhere else.
Why NewRetirement is my favorite retirement planning tool
Over the past week, I've shared two terrific retirement planning tools. First, I explored the pros and cons of Personal Capital. Next, I looked at OnTrajectory, which is the best traditional retirement calculator I've found.
Today, I want to talk about NewRetirement. Since I discovered it two years ago, NewRetirement has become my favorite tool for retirement planning.
Is OnTrajectory the best retirement calculator?
My colleagues, who are money nerds just like me, know that I'm obsessed with finding the best retirement calculator. I've been on this quest for years. As you'll learn later this week, my favorite retirement tool is (and has been) NewRetirement. But there are other great tools out there.
“You really need to try OnTrajectory,” Jillian from Montana Money Adventures told me last summer. “It's great.” She's been telling me that over and over ever since. (Meanwhile, Gwen from Fiery Millennials has also been pressuring me to try OnTrajectory.)
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