Early Retirement Extreme Forums

What do y'all think? It seems ironically appealing to make money with fake money. Well I bought a few (too, too few) when they cost about $5. I reckon that trade's appealing! As I don't "trade" with any asset class, I'm not about to start with anything as volatile as BTC. It's a fascinati...

Reading the posts here and having looked at their website, it looks like a very different rail experience to here in Europe! It might not have the security drama of air travel but it seems you have to prove your identity in order travel. I've travelled all over Europe by rail and love it (it's so ea...

Wow, thanks for all the replies! I really appreciate it. I have a few follow up questions: 2. How can I compare these results to other possible investments? For example, the target 2055 fund that I have all of my retirement fund in? There are a lot of different metrics. https://personal.vanguard.co...

I'm a terrible investor; I have only the vaguest methodology or process and my records are practically non-existent. I buy dividend paying shares when I have the money. I simply filter for yield (3.5 to 5.5% approx) and divi cover (2 is the ideal) and glance at previous years divis in the hope of se...

If I'm right (and I'm often not), the reference to Socrates is from Xenophon: “Very good, Critobulus; for, to be sure, the illiberal arts, as they are called, are spoken against, and are, naturally enough, held in utter disdain in our states. For they spoil the bodies of the workmen and the foremen,...

I could bore you with my 75 expenditure subcategories but I won't! The overarching categories are: Home expenses - utilities, maintenance etc, Transport - car, public transport, bike etc, Health & Personal - toothpaste, hairdresser (I'm happy to DIY - but reluctant to enforce austerity on the fe...

Thanks for posting.

Exeter Uni has a reputation for being very rewarding to the demands of the flesh. More Bacchic than Stoic. At least it did back in my day; one of the fallbacks if you didn't make Oxbridge but were intent on spending three years on an epic bender.

Good to see another from this sceptered isle! Which is, IMO, the best place on earth for ERE (I'm biased - I live here).

So how's it going for you so far[1]? Good luck, whatever stage you're at. And do tell us more.

[1] I'm at the could-(probably)-quit-if-I-had-the-nerve stage.

I find it hard to understand (or even believe) that you can be fined for not mowing the lawn! I find it even harder to contemplate spending hundreds of dollars or pounds watering it. Surely that's a bit of a hint that you're working against nature and not with it - a battle that King Cnut demonstrat...

There's two sides to this question. One is preparation, as some posters mentioned. But I noticed that the op didn't asked about ways to become better prepared, or safer ways to allocate your wealth; but he was asking about mindsets instead. The way he formulated the question hinted to me that he be...

I retired. I think FI can be an obstacle to overall happiness in that regard. Golden handcuffs are no fun, especially not the self-imposed FI kind in which the argument is "just 3 more years". We hang onto the known factors and plans because of fear of uncertainty thinking that something ...

Just to clarify, is it an "investable", that is yet to be invested, or invested pile of loot? Are the concerns over investing the money correctly or watching already invested money fluctuate? I suppose I just meant "capital" as opposed to "income". Being capital-wealth...

Does having an investable pile of loot make one paranoid, gloomy and pessimistic? I can't say the "old me" ever really spared a thought about bank runs, money printing or even incompetent boards of directors. These days, such thoughts trouble the "new me" far too much. And that's...

I buy and hold dividend paying shares. Capital gains (beyond the slow slog to keep up with inflation) was never part of my plan. I just want the divis to roll in every month/quarter/year. So I'm resisting the lure of the increased SP of my holdings. However, if I had debt, I might have a different v...

I'm currently buying "sh" which is an etf that lets you short the S&P 500. I will continue buying "SH" each month until the stock market starts correcting. Good luck.... I'm not sure short ETFs can be used like that. Certainly, this article http://monevator.com/short-etf-mat...

Good to see another fellow Brit here. Interesting story as well.

Are you talking breakfast cereal? You have to be insane to waste money on something as bland, boring and expensive as cornflakes. Have a proper breakfast; toast as a minimum and then add whatever you fancy - maybe just jam or go for the full English. Alternatively, we have porridge (is that what you...

Anyone else with "one more year" syndrome out there who has experimented with living off their post retirement budget pre-retirement? In other words, pretend that your earned income doesn't exist (it goes 100% to new investment or debt repayment?) I'm currently playing with this idea - se...

<t>Scary.<br/> Our house is around 2500 square feet (if I've done the metres to feet conversion correctly) and the garden is an acre.<br/> This is excessive. Big by ERE standards. Big by UK standards (average UK house is 900 square feet, I've just looked up). Big, too big, for our needs. There are t...

<t>I've turned over minimalism in my mind but have largely rejected it as a maxim. Preferring, instead, the words of William Morris:<br/> If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.<br/> Fol...