Tag: Financial Independence

How to Pay Less Taxes- A Very Cute Cartoon

So here’s the situation- You have to pay taxes, but you don’t like it. You would rather spend your days having fun, and taxes and fun are inversely correlated- It’s MORE fun to pay LESS taxes, and vice versa. So what’s a person to do?

Answer: DON’T REPORT YOUR FULL INCOME! THEY PROBABLY WON’T CATCH YOU.

Thank you for coming to my lecture.

Just kidding. For sure be honest and pay your taxes, just don’t pay more than you have to. Here’s how we pay as little in taxes as possible. Continue reading “How to Pay Less Taxes- A Very Cute Cartoon”

Thailand FI- Bridging the Gap Between Zero and FIRE

May I introduce to you a new concept? Beaches. Sand. Questionable water pressure. Coconuts. Loosely enforced electrical codes. Intrigued? I’m talking, of course, about the very fancy concept of Thailand Fi. Continue reading “Thailand FI- Bridging the Gap Between Zero and FIRE”

The Championship- This Time We’re Actually Finally Done

Holy buckets of unfettered child-like excitement, people. It’s really here, the championship round of the inaugural Mr. Burrito Bowl Presents: The Best Color in the World Tournament Challenge. It’s the big one. The myth-creator, the big salami, the finals.

Tonight’s action is sponsored by JuniLou soft wool baby hats and in accordance with JuniLou productions. JuniLou, makers of fine wool hats everywhere. “Look how cute that baby is, I should buy a hat.” JuniLou hats- Finally, a hat for babies. Championship

Continue reading “The Championship- This Time We’re Actually Finally Done”

Rule of 72- Doubling Your Money with Math

I’ve talked about the Rule of 72 before, but I’ve never devoted an entire article to it. If you’re unfamiliar, or even if you’re not, I guess, the Rule of 72 is a calculation to quickly see how many years it will take for your money to double at a given annual rate of return.

Wait, this is fun. Don’t go away. Continue reading “Rule of 72- Doubling Your Money with Math”

How to Access all that Sweet Pretax Money Once You Retire

Theoretically, this is a blog about pursuing financial independence. I get distracted easily. At the heart of the blog I want to teach people about the power of getting your finances in order. I’ve talked about our philosophy on investing, how it’s super important to save your money, and even how the best vehicle for quickly building wealth is through your pretax accounts. We haven’t talked about how to access your pretax money, until today. Continue reading “How to Access all that Sweet Pretax Money Once You Retire”

Exclusive Gold Bracelet Company Rollout Program Secret Meeting

The following is a true story: So there I was on vacation in an exotic locale. There was a timeshare convention in town. Everyone knows timeshares are one of the best investment vehicles known to man, so decided to check it out. I didn’t eat breakfast and it was now late afternoon, so I was hungry.  Real hungry. It seemed like everywhere I looked someone wanted to sell me something to eat. “I’m chasing financial independence,” I stammered incoherently. I needed a sponsor, or just some free calories. I walked down an alley that led to some dingy steps. I followed them down as my delirium took over. Eventually, I saw a sign that read “Corporate Fat Cat Secret Meeting in Progress. Do Not Disturb.” I figured since the sign didn’t say anything about NOT having free samples it was probably my best bet. 

[Corporate Fat Cat Secret Meeting in Progress. Do Not Disturb]

The flyer pictured above was posted on the door. I opened the door and stumbled into the dimly lit room. As my eyes adjusted I saw a twenty or thirty people all facing a villain looking guy on stage. He was talking about gold bracelets and mind control. I tried to ignore him while my eyes searched for free samples. There weren’t any. A couple of big guys with pinky rings closed the door behind me so I was stuck listening to his entire spiel. Continue reading “Exclusive Gold Bracelet Company Rollout Program Secret Meeting”

The Burrito Bowl Diaries Philosophy on Money and Investing

For today’s article I’ll attempt to explain our investing philosophy- where we do it, how we do it, and why it doesn’t have to be this big scary thing.

If you’re in the financial independence community you’ve almost certainly peaked your head into the mysterious world of investing. If you’re not in the FI community, investing might still be this big scary thing. The point of this article- and kind of this blog in general- is to defog the whole saving and investing situation while trying to convince people it’s worth doing.

I think our overall money philosophy can be summed up to this:

Live below your means, avoid debt, invest as much as you can, and enjoy the journey. But, since you’re here anyway, I’ll dive a little deeper.
Continue reading “The Burrito Bowl Diaries Philosophy on Money and Investing”

Redefining Success and Chasing FI- The Boat vs. The Shore

Success is a Gold Boat

A lot of us go through our lives feeling unhappy.  Much of our unhappiness stems from not feeling successful enough.  We don’t make enough money and we don’t have nice enough things.  People never want our autograph unless we’re buying something from them.  In short, we’re worried we don’t measure up, and it leaves us feeling unfulfilled.  A lot goes into feeling unsuccessful.

Part of our unhappiness comes from comparing ourselves to others, and part comes from chasing the wrong things.  What actually makes us happy, and what we chase, are too often very different.

In order to fix this we need to do something.  Two somethings, actually.  One, we need to stop comparing ourselves to others.  Two, we need to start chasing the right things. Continue reading “Redefining Success and Chasing FI- The Boat vs. The Shore”

Traditional vs. Roth vs. India Red Ale- Which IRA is Right For You?

Literally no one has ever asked me what the difference is between a Roth IRA and a Traditional IRA.  I’m not great at the economics of supply and demand so I’m going to write an article about it.  Understanding the difference between these two accounts is like eating broccoli.  Only like three people in the continental United States like broccoli, but it’s important to eat it for reasons nobody is sure about.

It’s important to know the difference between the various IRAs because you’re supposed to be putting money into your retirement accounts.  If you were doing that, then you’d eventually want to know which retirement account you should put your money in.

So, what is an IRA?

IRA is short for India Red Ale.  It’s like an India Pale Ale except it’s less hoppy and it’s red.  IRA also stands for Individual Retirement Account, if you’re a nerd.  Continue reading “Traditional vs. Roth vs. India Red Ale- Which IRA is Right For You?”

Where Fi and Frugality Intersect

By now you’ve heard me rant about pursuing financial independence (having enough passive income to cover your expenses) and you’ve heard me rant about frugality (not buying dumb sh*t).  If you don’t give those ideas any context, they can each come across as pointless pursuits.

If you haven’t been slapped across the face with the ‘aha!’ moment, then I’m guessing you’ve felt something similar to this while reading my posts on financial independence:

“Oh, it must be nice for them to be able to pursue this rich person lifestyle of Financial Independence.”

Or this, when you’ve read my posts on frugality:

“Ha, what a weirdo.” Continue reading “Where Fi and Frugality Intersect”