Most people I know think of Labor Day mainly as an excuse for a long weekend or the unofficial end of summer. But the history of Labor Day is that it was born out of the labor movement as a tribute to workers. This pandemic and the demands it has placed on frontline workers should make this Labor Day particularly meaningful. I’m a cynic and assume that people will be too wrapped up in election news or the zig zag volatility of the stock market to give workers their full due. Another factor vying for attention is labor-related but not [...]

An important concept that makes achieving financial independence even more urgent is artificial intelligence. The keyword here is urgent….many times we procrastinate the notion of saving money because we think we have many years to build up our mountain of assets – from Overcoming AI by Scott Gamm But you might have fewer earning years than you think, so that quote sums up the thesis of Scott Gamm’s upcoming book, Overcome AI: How to Build a Secure Financial Future in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. (I think the subtitle of the book should actually have been the catchy title of [...]

Is it better to have a product or service to offer as a small business? There are pros and cons to each. Frankly, being a small business owner is difficult enough, regardless of the business you choose, that the best answer to the product v. service debate is whichever offering you care most about. There are so many times when you’re in the thick of your business that you’ll want to quit, and genuine desire for the product or service you offer can really help you stick with it. Having been in business for 13 years and counting, I have [...]

The 2020 IMN Single Family Rental (SFR) Virtual Forum was a two-day event that featured 2,000 attendees and 80 speakers in keynotes and breakout sessions. I was only able to attend Day One, since the next day we were en-route to dropping off our youngest at college. There were many sessions to choose from. I elected to listen to: the keynote, which gave a state of the SFR industry;a financing overview;an economic overview of where are we in the real estate cycle;a panel of CEO’s talking changes and future trends in real estate;a breakout on buy and hold acquisitions (since [...]

Related product in our Etsy shop: 40 motivational journal prompts for your FI journey Continuing our focus on good health (since August is National Wellness Month), I wanted to share one of my favorite stress management techniques. Managing stress feels good, and it’s also one of the five key factors in maintaining brain health. Being calm and collected, after properly taming your stress, is also helpful for negotiating – e.g., for a raise, more flexibility on the job – and in this way, stress management is helpful for your FIRE journey too. The acting teacher who originally shared this technique [...]

I scored an advance copy of Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s new book, Keep Sharp: Build A Better Brain At Any Age, which aims to be a science-driven guide to protecting your mind from decline. (If you’re an avid reader, look into building a profile on NetGalley, which is where I get many of my free review copies.) As August is National Wellness Month, it is timely to cover a health-related book, and I was excited to hear what Gupta, a CNN journalist and neurosurgeon, had to say. As it turns out, the recommendations that Gupta shared for keeping the brain healthy [...]

August is National Wellness Month, and we are celebrating all month with posts related to wellness and self-care. ===================== Well, I did it. Ran every day in the month of July! 31 runs and 147.9 miles. Early in the month I wrote about why I was attempting this challenge, and why I wouldn't be upset if I didn't finish. But I did finish! Here's the proof - 31 days of running! My average was 4.77 miles per day. Even though the challenge called for 3.1 miles as the minimum run, the minimum I ran was 4.2, and the most was [...]

When we signed the closing paperwork last year to sell our entire Indy rental portfolio, I happened to be speaking at a business conference. When my colleagues figured out that I was dashing in and out from my presenting duties to take care of a closing, I was met with several high-fives and other forms of congratulations, since for many people, a real estate transaction is a major milestone. Unfortunately, I was so flustered with the multitasking I didn’t take any time to savor. Since then, we have hit other milestones – we finally updated our estate planning starting last [...]

HELOC, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: Using a HELOC for investment property so you can look like a cash buyer even when you’re financingSmoothing out cash flow when you’re a small business with lumpy earningsHaving money to tap for emergencies in lieu of a rainy day bank account earning negative return after inflation Apologies to Elizabeth Barret Browning for swiping a line from her beautiful sonnet, but if I had to write a love letter to a financial instrument, it would probably go to the HELOC. We have tapped our HELOC for all of the [...]