Category: Uncategorized

Today I have the honor of speaking with Wendy Bunnell, whose Success Through Failing podcast has explored the stories of incredible courage in the face of adversity.

My story isn’t as harrowing as many of Wendy’s guests’ tales, but I highlight how feeling trapped and lost when by all outward appearances you seem to be in a great place in life can be a struggle itself. Wendy and I talk about the path that led to me leaving my job, taking a mini-retirement, and launching my financial coaching business at the beginning of this year.

It’s a great conversation, and I hope you’ll stay to check out many of the amazing women who have been part of the podcast before! (I’m humbled to be her first male guest.) Click here to listen to it.

My first personal finance podcast appearance is in the books!

Denis and Katie of Chain of Wealth invited me on the show shortly after I began my break in April. Continue reading

Welcome to I Dream of FIRE! I’m glad you’re here.

As Isaac Newton found, a body at rest stays at rest without the help of an outside force. That is as true in finance as it is physics. We tend to exhibit the same behavior we’ve settled into unless something gives us a reason to change. On the flip side, a body in motion stays in motion. Once that initial nudge gets us moving in the right direction, it becomes easier and easier to keep going.

Isaac Newton was introduced to Abraham Lincoln by Bill S. Preston, Esq., and Ted “Theodore” Logan while Honest Abe was president of the nation. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time for a photo op.

I got my push toward the financial independence/retire early (FIRE) scene about three years ago (more on that later). What I’ve noticed is so many FI bloggers and early retirees were able to get started relatively early in life, often before they had kids or certainly when they had very young kids. Not me. I’m 37 and have been married for nearly 7 years. I have two older stepsons, one soon to be in his final year of college and another who just graduated high school, and a 5-year-old daughter headed to kindergarten next year. When I first learned about FIRE in mid-2014, my wife and I were paying for college for our oldest son, a car for our other son, and diapers and daycare for our daughter. Continue reading