One of the fun perks of writing for a well-known publication like Forbes is that I wind up on PR lists and hear about leading-edge developments early. Recently, I was invited to a webinar with a LinkedIn product director to promote the new Career Breaks feature. With this feature, instead of just posting an employment gap of months or years (and employers don’t like gaps), you can choose the Career Break category and then specifically select the reason for the time off (e.g., caregiving, gap year or another of the 13 reasons currently listed). FIRE isn’t in the drop down [...]
Generational wealth for my kids, their kids and beyond is a key priority for the same reason I also prioritized financial independence – as a hedge against an increasingly difficult job market. It’s not that I don’t expect my kids to work. I just don’t want them to get stuck if AI reduces job prospects considerably, or if future careers (and therefore earning potential) are even shorter than careers are now. FI ensured I had options, and generational wealth ensures my kids will, too. In the last few years, there have been several life changes that have made me more [...]
It's early February, but I'm still keeping up with the 300-day good habit-building program I joined as my 2022 personal development focus. (It’s called Optimize, and they have a lot of free resources and a new app coming soon). Depending on which statistic you believe, most people get derailed from their new year’s resolutions as early as January or February! If you’ve already fallen off track or are feeling momentum waning, here are 7 tips to get moving on your goals again: 1 - Shorten your timeframe I dedicated an entire previous post to Miho Kubagawa’s tip on making 12 [...]
At the end of each year, I pre-fill my Time Diary for the upcoming year with activities I know I will be doing. This includes three entries for checking my credit report. I make three entries because I check each of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and Transunion), and I separate when I check each of them by four months. Why four months? You can check your credit report for free once each year* (go to AnnualCreditReport.com to get your free credit report from any of the three bureaus). By spreading out the use of my free reports [...]
I have kept an Excel log of the books I have read since 2000, or 22 years and counting. In total, I have read 732, or an average of 33 books per year. In 2020, I read exactly 33 books. In 2021, I also read exactly 33 books! This was a bit of a cheat because I realized during the last week of the year that I had just 32 books, so I plowed through one just to get to 33. I had an erratic reading schedule last year so would probably have finished with just 32. In addition to [...]
Several media outlets report that people give up on new year’s resolutions by as early as mid-January. It’s the second Friday of January according to Best Life. Forbes is more optimistic but still mid-February! One of my favorite hacks for sticking to new year’s resolutions is setting monthly goals instead of annual (hat tip to educator Miho Kubagawa for introducing me to that one!). If you make 12 monthly mini-resolutions instead of a sweeping proclamation that will take a year, you’ve potentially outlined baby steps to the big resolution anyway, and you can notch some quick wins along the way. [...]
If you work for a company that has an official review process, take advantage of it! I wouldn’t dread it as too many people seem to do. Embrace the chance to get some candid feedback, better understand your manager’s priorities and come up with a gameplan for next year. Preparing for a performance review also gives you an opportunity to advocate for yourself. If you had a breakout year on the job, use the performance review to advance your career. If you didn’t have a strong year, prepare proactively for a negative performance review so you can get back on [...]
From 2007 to 2018, 12 full years, I had a business partner in my career coaching business, and there were pros and cons to having an official partnership. In the plus column, I wouldn’t have started the business without a partner. I’m risk averse and felt that two people building a business from scratch would enable us to get up and running faster. My partner at the time had more experience and a big network. Two additional pluses were credibility in the early days from her deep experience, as well as landing some early sales from her established network. On [...]
October marked the four-year anniversary of our first purchase in Tamarindo, Costa Rica! While we had owned long-term rental real estate for over 12 years at that point, Condo Boom was our first vacation rental. Even with a strong property manager with vacation rental experience and SuperHost status on Airbnb, we still need to manage the manager, and it’s been a steep learning curve. Guest interaction has been one good way to get up to speed on the nuances of vacation rentals v. long-term rentals. While our property manager is the on-the-ground contact with guests, Scott still sees the communication [...]
Four million US workers quit their job in July 2021 alone. So many employees are quitting that the phenomenon has been dubbed the Great Resignation all over the media (Harvard Business Review, NPR, the BBC and more). The dearth of employees makes this a great time to earn more money and jumpstart your FIRE goals. Here are four ways to make the Great Resignation work for you, whether you are a consultant or employee and whether you plan to stay where you are or quit for greener pastures: Whether you have an existing consulting business or have been thinking about [...]
