I Dream of FIRE

In pursuit of financial independence and personal fulfillment

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Financial security is at the foundation of human needs

Most people have heard of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs at some point in their lives.

The basic notion is that human needs are grouped and ranked such that the basic needs — food, water, shelter, sleep, clothing — are the most important. Unless those needs are met, higher needs such as friendship, self-esteem, career advancement and the like do not become primary motivators in day-to-day life.

In Maslow’s pyramid, financial security is in the second layer, along with personal and emotional security, health and well-being, and safety.

I think it’s more important than that. For the majority of people, financial security is a base-level concern that directly affects all of those other basic needs.

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Check me out on the Success Through Failing podcast

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.

Airport lounges – the travel perk I never knew I needed

“We’ll put out bacon and eggs at 7. There’s coffee, cereal and bagels on the counter and a full bar in the back,” the chipper hostess offered as she scanned our boarding passes. “Drinks are complimentary. Welcome to The Club at LAS. I’ll show you around.”

It’s 6:58 a.m. on a Sunday in Las Vegas’s McCarran International Airport. My wife and I have already been awake almost 5 hours – our 6-year-old daughter, Vivian, about 4 hours. I expected to spend the next three hours eating McDonald’s off my lap and trying to tune out whatever TV news station was sure to be droning even above the pings and payouts of the cluster of slot machines in the center of the terminal gates.

Instead, I’m being led to a magical land of free bacon, free coffee, free drinks, a muted TV (still showing the news, of course), comfortable chairs, tables, and really good jazz playing softly in the background.

What voodoo is this? Continue reading

My advice on mini-retirements, one year after my own

A year ago, I was wrapping up my last day of work, shaking hands and enjoying sugary goodness with co-workers, kind of freaking out over having my name and picture on CNN and being unmasked as the guy behind I Dream of FIRE. I was starting my mini-retirement.

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Want to make a change? Make it now

There’s no time like the present to get started on that change you’ve been meaning to make.

No, really. Do it now.

Otherwise, you’re likely just going to keep putting it off.

Let me explain. Continue reading

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