The Top Ten Downsides of Financial Independence & Early Retirement

The Top Ten Downsides of Financial Independence & Early Retirement

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A regular reader of this site;  Jim took the FIRE exit in January 2015 at the age of 51, a situation somewhat planned for, but in reality an issue forced through departing from his employer. Although Financial Independence had been a partly considered and achieved objective, no real plan had been put in place for what to do with the Retiring Early part of the FIRE equation. Thus, following thirty years of moaning about work, he now has time to…

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July 2015 Income/Expenses

July 2015 Income/Expenses

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It was payday yesterday which means time for this month’s Income/Expenses! I think it’s important to keep track of your income/expenses every month as it allows you to spot trends and areas for improvement. I find it really useful to track the spending changes each month, and really motivating to see the networth improvements. Sometimes it can seem like financial independence is so far away, but by watching your networth steadily increasing you’ll know you will reach that point eventually….

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I don’t want to be rich, I want to be free

I don’t want to be rich, I want to be free

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The poor weather this week caught me slightly off-guard and put a stop to my original plans of tidying up the back garden. Instead; I felt it had been an adequate time since having read The Millionaire Next Door and so with the rain lashing outside and the knowledge that my garage was slowly flooding.. I settled down on the sofa for a re-read of this absolute classic. Although almost 2 decades old now; the research, stories and information given…

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My Top 10 things people waste money on

My Top 10 things people waste money on

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The battle between personal wants and needs is a hard one, made even harder by the constant bombardment of media advertising we receive each day. Not-so-special offers, visions of the perfect lifestyle and the infamous ‘Keeping with the Jones’ all contribute towards some ill-advised purchasing decisions. Here is a list of My Top 10 things people waste money on:   1. Gym Membership You see them through the windows every January, working hard with the bright lights blazing and high…

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The new ERGs Forum!

The new ERGs Forum!

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Following much positive feedback here and elsewhere relating to starting a more UK focused early retirement/personal finance forums, I’m pleased to announce the opening of the EarlyRetirementGuys forum! http://www.forum.earlyretirementguy.com Please do go over, take a look around, signup for an account and contribute to the conversation. I’m always open to suggestions and feedback so get in touch if you’ve any comments. Hopefully this can be a further step in prompting and expanding the UK Early Retirement community

Is it possible to finish University debt free?

Is it possible to finish University debt free?

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With the recent budget announcement around the removal of maintenance grants to be replaced with additional student loans, a number of online outlets have begun reporting on the mountains of debt our university graduates will now be saddled with at the end of their degrees. Indeed; with tuition fees currently standing at £9000 a year, plus the costs of living.. it’s to be expected that many will graduate with well over £30,000 worth of student debt. This got me thinking…

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One year closer to Financial Independence

One year closer to Financial Independence

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This month sees the first anniversary of www.EarlyRetirementGuy.com and with it.. 1 year closer to financial independence! I can’t believe it’s been a year since beginning my online journey to detail the financial ups and downs of a 20-something trying to retire early in the UK. Since then so much has happened, so much has changed and I’m now so much closer to the dream of financial independence. Now very much in my late 20s, I’ve been extremely fortunate this…

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June 2015 Income/Expenses

June 2015 Income/Expenses

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It’s payday today which means time for this month’s Income/Expenses! I think it’s important to keep track of your income/expenses every month as it allows you to spot trends and areas for improvement. I find it really useful to track the spending changes each month, and really motivating to see the networth improvements. Sometimes it can seem like financial independence is so far away, but by watching your networth steadily increasing you’ll know you will reach that point eventually. I’ve…

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Reasons to retire #2 – There’s a whole other world out there

Reasons to retire #2 – There’s a whole other world out there

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Following on from last time’s Reasons to retire #1 – Appraisals and targets and the excellent discussion it generated, I thought we could continue with producing a list full of reasons to retire. Many of us take for granted our belief that early retirement is something good to work towards, indeed most of the personal finance information and blogs I come across go into great lengths about how to save money and retire earlier.. without giving too much consideration into…

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Reasons to retire #1 – Appraisals and targets

Reasons to retire #1 – Appraisals and targets

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Back when I was at university studying Business Management I wrote a lengthy research based article on the motivational aspects of workplace target setting. Ever since we first enter the schooling system we’ve been continually exposed to targets against which our achievement has been measured. Infact almost all jobs I’ve worked in have attempted to use targets as a method of assessing and motivating employees (with the exception of when I was a lifeguard; the only target then was to…

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