Are you on the FIRE path or interested in learning more about early retirement? Three years ago I retired from my career at age 47 after reaching financial independence the prior year. This video is from a livestream where community members had the opportunity to ask me questions about what my experience has been like. Thanks to all who joined!
Don’t miss the extensive show notes below, which list all the episodes and resources discussed in the episode.
Show notes may be found below the video
Show Notes
Essential Background:
Here are links to the episodes Jason talked about in the show. In many cases these point to show notes, which contain not only the episode video itself, but also a variety of associated content meant to help support the content. Check them out!
- Eric and Jason have been friends for a long time – over 37 years as this episode was recorded. For more background on their upbringing, their relationship, and their FI paths, you’ll definitely want to watch these two early episodes: Our Financial Past and Our FIRE Present and Two Careers, Two Paths to Financial Independence.
- “How Not to FIRE” was an early two-part series we did based on Reddit tales of FIRE regret: How NOT to FIRE – (Pre-FI/RE) and Retired Early and I Hated It : How NOT to FIRE (Post-FI/RE)
- Several questions about financial advisors came up on the livestream. To learn about Jason’s decision to part ways with his advisors, see Breaking Up With My Financial Advisor? For those interested in consulting with a fee-only advisor as Eric and Jason did, check out We Each Hired a Flat Fee Financial Advisor. Was It Worth It?
- Jason referenced his conversation with Eric about their respective quarterly planning processes. Find that here: Our Net Worth Is Up! Sharing Our Financial Review Process
- It was no surprise that withdrawal strategies came up several times in the chat today. For one-stop shopping on all things relating to Karsten Jeske, the SWR Toolbox, Fritz Gilbert, bucket strategies, and more – you simply have to see What’s Wrong With This Popular Retirement Strategy? It’s a comprehensive landing page!
- For practical help with modeling your own safe withdrawal rate plan, don’t miss our very popular three-part tutorial series on the SWR Toolbox. You can find them all here.
- Healthcare costs are one of the biggest concerns for US retirees, whether on a FIRE path or a more traditional one. We mostly talked about Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) plans today, which is a central focus of Don’t Let the Cost of Healthcare Break Your Early Retirement Plan. On that page you’ll also find a link to our earlier episode on healthcare, which is more broadly focused: Healthcare is my Second Highest Cost in Early Retirement.
- Jason referenced his first year post-RE milestone Two Sides of FI episode today. Watch this episode to find out What I Learned in My First Year of “Early Retirement.
- Asset allocation is a topic that has come up often on Two Sides of FI – and our portfolios have indeed changed over time. For more on our history there, don’t miss our two-part series from 2021. The show notes for “Getting Your FIRE Asset Allocation Right. Here’s Ours (Part 1)” are a great collection of resources on this topic; and here’s Part 2: “Comparing our FIRE Portfolios + Asset Allocations”
- For more on asset allocation decisions, don’t miss how Eric decided to move from a 100% stock allocation and added bonds to his portfolio. We have a two-part series: “I Rebalanced My FI/RE Portfolio and I Hate It!” (Part 1) and “Buying Bonds. Still Not Convinced I’m Doing the Right Thing!” (Part 2). As you’ll note, this decision was made prior to the market downturn in 2022. As a bonus, check out the conversation with Eric + his wife Laura, “FI-nancial Decisions – Transitioning to FI with Laura + Eric”, for a behind the scenes look at how they decided on their revised asset allocation.
- Relating to asset allocation, rebalancing, and several other topics we hit on in this episode, Jason and Eric talked about the former’s Investment Policy Statement (IPS) in Is This a Part of Your FIRE Plan?
- Many seem to agree that our two-part series where we discuss our FIRE paths with our spouses, Lorri and Laura, is essential content. Check it out here: Part 1 and Part 2.
- We previously released a (non-live) Q&A episode to celebrate our 50th episode milestone. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out You Asked, We Answered. FIRE Q&A.
Resources Mentioned:
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In this episode we talked about the new Two Sides of FI Discord server. If you’re not familiar, this is an instant messaging social network. It’s totally open, free of charge, and is anonymous as you’d like. This makes it a safe space to talk about financial topics you might otherwise be sensitive about sharing. Come check it out and see if it fits your interests!
Did you know Jason resumed blogging? To be notified of his future posts, please consider subscribing here. He’s also archived his old blog, which documents the first 1.5 years after he retired from his career, and started even before Two Sides of FI began. Get more information on those archived posts here.
In this episode, Jason mentioned Empower (formerly Personal Capital) for summarizing his portfolio performance as a part of rebalancing. Both him and Eric really like this free tool for tracking investment accounts, understanding asset allocation + rebalancing opportunities, and monitoring net worth. Empower employs a simple account linking process to make it a more automated experience. Give it a try risk-free! (affiliate link; free program )
Do you have a copy of our free Rebalancing Calculator? This simple tool can help you make your own decisions about buying and selling in order to rebalance your portfolio. If you’d like something more DIY, this is a calculator you should consider.
In case you missed the link above, our popular three-part tutorial series on the Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) Toolbox can be found here.
The Retirement Income Style Awareness (RISA) is a tool by Wade Pfau (mentioned today) and the team at Retirement Researcher. It came from research performed on individual styles, risk tolerance, and other factors, and is aimed at deriving a personal retirement income strategy. Fritz Gilbert at Retirement Manifesto posted a nice write up on this last year, which we’d recommend. If you’re interested in learning more about this assessment, check out Wade’s book: “Retirement Planning Guidebook: Navigating the Important Decisions for Retirement Success”.
Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins, is discussed often in the FIRE community – so no surprise it came up in this episode. It’s intended as a “practical guide on how to get the most out of your money—and out of your life”. If you like the aim of prioritizing memorable experiences far ahead of simply accumulating money for later in life, you’ll definitely want to check it out.
You can find information on the tools we mention in each episode along with additional information in the Resources section of this site.
- Eric’s business: 30X40 Design Workshop
- Eric’s YouTube Channel
- Our podcast