About 16 years ago I started on a journey towards Financial Independence and Early Retirement. There weren’t a lot of resources available back then, so I pieced together a plan and strategy as best I could. In essence I applied my engineering degree to a personal finance and lifestyle problem. In some areas I did well, and others not so much, but overall it seems to have worked out.
Since you don’t know what you don’t know, I also sought out people who had been down this path; I was fortunate to be able to meet with Billy & Akaisha Kaderli in Thailand, who retired in their 30s in the early 80s. Winnie and I had our 2nd honeymoon in Hawaii and were able to have brunch with Doug Nordman (aka Nords!) who retired at age 41 after a career in the military. They were kind and generous with both their time and knowledge, but their greatest gift was simply instilling confidence in some young dreamers. Standing on the shoulders of giants, indeed.
When we ultimately opted out of the rat race ourselves, I told myself that I would always pay it forward. Over the past several years I’ve met with 100+ people for coffee, hosted multiple group meet ups, and did a Reddit AMA. Here are the mostly frequently asked questions.
Time… is on our side, yes it is (Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France)
A common way of thinking is that world travel is something only for the childless and empty nesters. “I would love to do what you do, but I have kids” is something we heard once or twice before becoming parents ourselves. Responsibility for a small human is absolutely life changing, yes, but in a way that opens new doors.
Two year old GCCJr has already been to 28 countries. Since he first boarded an airplane at 5 months old after we figured out how to pack our favourite baby gates up for the various hotels and AirBNBs, he has been putting his 2 passports to heavy use. He has already circumnavigated the globe twice, and enjoyed visits to large swaths of Asia, Western Europe, and North America.
Whether at home or in a far away land, The World through the eyes of a little one is an opportunity not be be missed.
It’s been 3 years since I evaluated moving our portfolio to 100% equities, and 2 years since I last published an update on our overall asset allocation.
