Today we’re sitting down with Chris Mamula, the primary author of the book Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence, to get his take on lessons learned about financial independence/retiring early. Chris retired at 41, and is a welcome part of the FIRE community. Let’s jump right in to the interview.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about FIRE?

The biggest lesson that I’ve learned is if something isn’t working, change it. Even if change is painful in the short term, doing nothing is more painful in the long run.

Einstein has been credited as defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. I agree. If you want a life that is different from most of the people around you, you have to choose a different path and have the courage to go down it. [Read more…] about Interview with Chris Mamula: Lessons Learned About FIRE

If you’re in the FIRE community and you’ve heard of lifestyle creep, it’s probably been in negative context. Outside of questioning the 4% rule, it’s hard to think of bigger sin for FIRE folks than succumbing to lifestyle creep.

However, I’m not so sure it deserves such a bad rap.

Is spending more as you earn more money really such a bad thing? Can it derail your retirement plans? Shouldn’t you be investing more your index fund portfolio?

The short answer is, “yes” to all of the above.

The longer answer is, “yes, but there are ways you can smartly experience lifestyle creep without getting off track.”

We’ll dive into all those reasons and more, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First things first, what actually is Lifestyle Creep? [Read more…] about An Argument for Lifestyle Creep

When Can I Retire? is a question many have asked. There’s no perfect answer, because everyone has a set of unique circumstances that makes the answer different for them. But We can give you a ballpark answer to the question: When can I retire?

[Read more…] about When Can I Retire?

Your retirement may be far off, but you need to start your retirement planning early. That’s because whether you like it or not, sooner or later, you’ll have to retire someday.  Putting off retirement planning is a huge mistake. Below are six of the biggest retirement mistakes people make, and how you can avoid them.

[Read more…] about 6 Biggest Regrets Retirees Have (And How to Avoid Them)