by Michael
Correction 6/24/2023: Corrected date of graduation from 2023 to 2021.
It’s the end of the month, and that means it is time for another monthly roundup. As usual, this is a curated selection of my favorite posts for the month from around the web. Some of these I’m a regular reader, some came from other people’s roundups (credited when possible), and others popped into my feed.
I try to keep the focus on FIRE-related topics but it could be anything. At the end of the day, I found every post or article included in these to be interesting and thought they were worth sharing with others interested in FIRE.
I thought this article from the Best Interest blog about the fungibility of money was really interesting. Check out Money is Fungible.
This post was extremely interesting in my opinion. It’s about a lot of the items I try to touch on a lot with my philosophy of what works for me may not work for you. Check out A Wealth of Common Sense’s Find the Torture You’re Comfortable With.
Curious about how historically interest rates have affected the stock market or how the current environment may affect your existing investments? Check out How Interest Rates & Inflation Impact Stock Market Valuations from A Wealth of Common Sense.
Sometimes what makes or breaks a time to invest is simply luck; being born or having money at the right time. A Wealth of Common Common Sense looks at some of the challenges facing homebuyers in the current environment.
Some index fund investors might be concerned that their indices have too much focus on the stocks that don’t return as much, after all, a majority of the gains are concentrated in a smaller number of stocks. Check out Concentration in the Stock Market from A Wealth of Common Sense if that describes you.
None of us can tell the future, it’s a common problem with the stock market, so for most of us the answer is to look back into the past. But that doesn’t always mean the same will happen in the future, the 4% rule isn’t an absolute after all. A Wealth of Common Sense has some thoughts on that in Roughly Right or Precisely Wrong.
Over different periods, different asset classes have been better investments. Since we don’t know the future we can’t exactly say for sure what it will be like this time. But What’s the Best Long-term Investment takes a look at some of the recent polls on what Americans think the best asset class is now, and some thoughts on it.
One of my biggest crusades in the Personal Finance space is balance. The Escape Artist talks about some of the ideas that I’ve used for that philosophy in Get Rich Holistically. This post came to my attention from this post by AccidentalFIRE.
Another post I’ve stolen from another roundup, this time from this post from Can I Retire Yet. This time, the Oblivious Investor takes a look at asset locations. Check out Asset Location Fundamentals (Which Investments to Own in Which Account).
Interested in anything regarding current monetary policy and how that intersects with the market? Check out Early Retirement Now’s May 2023 Macro and Market Musings: Monetary Policy and Inflation.
I’m fresh out of college myself, having only graduated back in 2021. While this advice from Financially Alert is mostly focused on those in school, some of it is fairly universal. Check out 8 Things About Money that I Wish I Knew in College.
For those that read this post from me on my musings on CoastFIRE, you already know that this post from His Her Money Guide came out around the same time. Check out Why I couldn’t deal with CoastFIRE or BaristaFIRE.
Which is a better way to gather travel hacking funds; cash rewards or points? Money with Katie takes a look in the post Cash or Points for Travel.
While I have yet to be at my current position long enough to ask for a raise, in my opinion, some of you might be. Check out Negotiation Strategies That Helped Increase My Salary by 15%–60% from Money with Katie to get some strategies that might help you.
As anyone who’s been in this space for too long knows, there are plenty of studies that show that past a certain point, money doesn’t provide much more happiness or at least it did until a 2021 study challenged that. Of Dollars and Data takes a deeper look in the post Money Can’t Buy Happiness…Or Can It?
The ultimate question of the FIRE community is should I sacrifice now to retire even earlier or should I splurge a bit while I’m younger? At what point does it become worth it to save a bit more? If you’ve been wondering this yourself, read Should You Save More to Retire Earlier? From Of Dollars and Data to find out,
With some of the recent bank failures, people are worried about their money, and rightly so. Find some answers in the Physician on FIRE post, Is My Money Safe In a Money Market Fund at a Brokerage and What Happens If It Goes Bankrupt?
Sometimes you don’t always start saving when you’re in your 20s, some people don’t start until much later. In a guest post from Humble Dollar over on Physician on FIRE, they take a look. Check out Saving Our Retirement. Some opinions from me, no matter when you start, I applaud anyone working to do better with their finances, be they 18 or 100.
I like examples, they help me wrap my head around complex subjects. Having a plan for how much you’ll spend is great and all, but that’s only part of Creating a Retirement Plan. This White Coat Investor post even comes with an example.
While I don’t think frequent travel will be a huge part of my retirement plan, maybe a little bit the first year or two after FIRE, this White Coat Investor post had some good points about how FI lets you design the life you want. check out It’s a Lifestyle, Not a Vacation.
Retirement accounts are great. I love all of mine. Want to hear some of the reasons why, check out Early Retirees Should Max Out Retirement Accounts from the White Coat Investor.
I have mixed feelings about bond funds, even though they make up a portion of my portfolio. I have trouble stomaching how their difference in returns compared to stocks during the accumulation phase. But The White Coat Investor had some other items I had not considered with my dislike of them. Check out Why I Hate Total Bond Market Index Funds.
There are some huge milestones when saving money that deserves to be celebrated. While only some may apply to you, 14 Financial Milestones Worth Celebrating from the White Coat Investor may give you some ideas.
How would you describe FIRE to someone who has no exposure to the idea? I like this Early Retirement Now Guest post on Physician on FIRE about the Basics of FIRE.
Nothing good in life comes without sacrifice, sometimes even bad things come with sacrifice. This is just as true in money as Of Dollars and Data shows with The Liabilities of Success.
A common refrain in the personal finance community, at least that I’ve seen, is that The Stock Market is Not a Casino. While the post from A Wealth of Common Sense only briefly touches on that concept, I liked this post.
Interested in tax policy and how it may affect you? Take a look at Congress Keeps Passing Stealth Tax Increases: Secure Act from the Wealthy Accountant.
It’s really hard for a lot of people in the FIRE community to quit playing once they’ve won the game, and that can come back to bite you. Stop Ironing Shirts has a fantastic interview transcript touching on some of these concepts. Check out FIRE: Wealth and Risk Management.
Sometimes I think we in the FIRE community focus a bit too much on the money side of things. I have done this at times. Accidental FIRE talks a bit about some of that in Don’t Let Money Be Your God.
There are lots of things that can pose a threat to your retirement portfolio. Can I Retire Yet takes a look at some of them and what you can do about some of these risks in Investment Risks: What You Don’t Know CAN Hurt You.
I liked episode 54 of The Best Interest Podcast (Website link) (Google Podcast link to the actual episode). It had some interesting thoughts on FIRE and the 4% rule. It was great to listen to while I was on a run.
That’s it for this month. I’ll see you next with my May Expense Report. It’s going to be an interesting one.
