In our recent interview with ABC World News Tonight we covered a lot of topics that didn’t make it to the final cut. We spent a lot of time talking about investing… how we invest, how much time it takes, my level of investing expertise compared to a layman, and recommendations for the average individual.
The reporter I spoke with was really interested in our lifestyle, and the whole conversation felt very natural and genuine. After I answered all of her questions about safe withdrawal rates, cap gain harvesting, cash flow management, portfolio rebalancing, asset allocation, and all of that other mumbo jumbo buzzwordy stuff, she asked a really powerful question that really struck me…
“What about me? How would I ever be able to do all of that?”
Everything about that question…. intonation, tone of voice…. made me feel as though I had completely failed as a messenger. Sure, I answered the questions she asked… but I didn’t address the heart of the matter. It’s probably the same on this blog. (I’m an engineer, not a politician.)
For the United States, the past century is an incredible story of economic growth and prosperity. The Post WW2 era especially witnessed a tsunami of growth and expansion.
In recent times the media and political rhetoric seem less optimistic. Economic anxiety is highlighted as motivation for everything from voting patterns to the opioid epidemic. Sources of anxiety vary… globalization, income inequality, job insecurity, student loan burden, the gender pay gap, cost of child care, The 1%, and the robot revolution are all cited.
Some even go so far as to predict The End of the Middle Class. Is it really so dire?
Our story was recently shared with 8 million viewers on ABC World News Tonight. Awesome!
Hopefully exposure to a huge audience of normal people will inspire a few to think about retirement in a different light. If you haven’t seen the video yet, here is the youtube clip (less than 2 minutes.)
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Oops, I did it again.
For the 3rd year in a row we are headed to Europe and the United States for the summer.
For the 3rd year in a row, we will be circumnavigating the globe.
And for the 3rd year in a row, a substantial portion of our transportation costs will be zero.
(This post is the 1st in a series. Subsequent posts forthcoming… soon.)
The stock market has had a pretty good run over the last 10 years or so.
If you’ve been following financial best practices by contributing to Traditional 401ks and IRAs, the odds are good that those retirement accounts are reaching lofty heights.
Is it possible that those accounts have grown too large? Is your 401k TOO BIG?
Don’t Kiss Me Mom, people are watching! (Santorini, Greece)
2017 was our 5th full year of this thing we are doing. You know, life.
We completed another full circumnavigation of the globe, spending 4 months in Europe, a month in the US, 6 weeks in Japan, and the remainder in Taiwan. Along the way Jr collected his 28th passport stamp. This is the first year we intentionally remained outside the US 330+ days (cuz taxes.)
At year end, upon arrival in Taiwan we signed an 18-month lease, making it our official recharge center. Jr has started part time pre-school, and we are doing our best to be completely normal in every way that doesn’t involve going to work.
