Feed items

I met a GRS reader named T.J. for happy hour last week. As we sipped our beer, we chatted about money and videogames and our personal struggles with ADHD. We also discovered we have a shared love for audiobooks.

T.J. listens to audiobooks as he drives from client to client. I used to consume audiobooks during my commute to work at the box factory. In recent years, I've found that audiobooks are an effective way to cope with my insomnia. No joke: Every night — all night — I listen to audiobooks. (Plus, I still like to listen to them during long drives.)

Here's a shocking stat: I listen to nearly 3000 hours of audiobooks every year. (As a point of reference, if you work a full-time job, you probably work about 2000 hours each year.)

A lot of things have changed in the world of money since I founded Get Rich Slowly in April 2006. Nowadays, for instance, there are many more opportunities to meet up with like-minded folks in Real Life. From annual retreats like Camp Mustache to monthly meet-ups with Choose FI local groups, it's never been easier to connect with other money bosses!

In fact, today there are almost too many events to keep track! I have a stack of invites and announcements in my inbox. Rather than write about each one individually, I thought I'd take this time to share some of my favorites all at once.

Here are some upcoming money events that might be of interest to GRS readers. (At the end of this page, I'll include my planned public speaking gigs for 2019.)

More and more, I'm meeting people who want to know how to retire early. There's been a lot of buzz in the media lately about early retirement, and that's led folks to wonder how much money they would need to quit their jobs — or if early retirement is even something they should consider.

Why retire early? Well, for most people a job is a necessary evil. We work because we have to. Early retirement gives us the flexibility to choose how we spend our time, whether that entails sitting on the beach drinking margaritas or it leads to new work that provides meaning and fulfillment.

Lots of us dream of leaving the workplace in our forties or fifties instead of sticking it out until age 65 — but we keep working to support the lifestyles to which we've become accustomed. We like our iPhones and Playstations and Priuses, so we surrender to the idea that we'll have fifty-year careers.

Everybody’s financial situation — age, income, saving rate — is different.

But every retiree, early or late, aspiring or actual, has the same, simple investing imperative: We must preserve and grow our purchasing power in real terms in order to finance decades of future consumption.

This sounds simple (which it is) and obvious (which it isn’t).

The Declining Value of Your Dollars

Let's assume you're forty years old. Every week, you buy a six-pack of your favorite microbrew for $10. You have $520 in savings that will buy you your weekly six-pack for all of 2019. Life is good.

Here, for instance, is GRS founder J.D. Roth with a $10.19 six-pack of his favorite beer, which he's drinking while he edits this article: