Free Money Finance

On Extended Leave

In case it's not completely obvious, I am on an extended leave from this site.

I currently do not plan on posting new content here, nor am I doing any of the following:

• Accepting guest posts
• Looking to add revenue/affiliate partnerships
• Wanting to sell the site (it's my baby, how could I?)

If you email me about any of these you will not get a response since I assume that 1) I've answered your question here and 2) you don't take your time to read/do research on who you are contacting, and who would want to work with someone like that?

If you'd like to read what I'm writing now, check out ESI Money.

And if you have any questions about partnerships with that site, I suggest you read the contact page in detail before you send me a note. ;) 

Happy New Year

Just want to wish you all a very happy New Year!

May 2018 be your best year yet!

I'll be back next week. As of now I'm in college football heaven. ;)

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish all FMF readers a very Merry Christmas!!!! I'll be taking the next couple weeks off to enjoy the season.

Hope you all have a great holiday!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Just want to wish you and your family a blessed and very happy Thanksgiving.

May we all take a break from talking about money and focus on the things that really make us thankful (like football!). ;)

Have a great, relaxing, joyful, thankful day!

Do You Have Any 2017 Vacation Plans?

This is the time of year when I've had enough of winter and begin thinking of getting away.

We had originally planned to take a cruise last month, but both of our kids got new jobs and couldn't afford the time off.

So instead, we're staying home.

We do live in Colorado and hope to hit the ski slopes sometime this month, but other than that, we have no winter vacation plans.

Somewhat on the radar for trips this year include:

• My daughter's senior trip (looks like Seattle)
• Trip to Iowa to see family around Easter
• A late spring trip to Destin, FL with my family and my parents
• Moving my daughter to college in Virginia in late summer
• Fall/late fall trip to Yellowstone that we put off last year

We're also thinking of renting a place on a beach in the Caribbean in January of 2018, but that's pretty far away to lock in at this point.

We live in a tourist area so there's always a lot to do in between "official" vacations.

One great thing about retirement is that time (when to go) is mostly taken out of the equation. This freedom allows us to go places at off-peak times which usually means lower prices and fewer crowds.

How about you? What are your vacation plans this year?

Final Call for New Site Details

Hey, gang! I hope this message finds you having a great weekend!

Last time I posted about my new site I still received several requests for it, though far fewer than in the past. As promised, I'll keep posting now and then as long as people ask for the new site, but this might be the final call for it.

If you want an email sent to you with my new site listed, you have two options:

• You can send me an email asking for the details
• You can leave a comment below like "please send me the URL to your new site". Include your email address in the email box when you leave your comment. I will get both the message and the email address, but no one else will be able to see the email address (no one wants their email to be public, right?)

And if you're wondering why you need to do that instead of me just posting it here, you can read this.

Have a happy New Year!

Resolve or Not Resolve: That is the Question

Here's a topic for discussion: do you make New Year's resolutions each year or do you think they are a waste of time?

I'll be interested to hear your responses.

Personally, I'm a big resolution maker. I break my resolutions down by subject (like "family", "finances", etc.) and make commitments that are both daily (i.e. "workout") as well as bigger-picture (i.e. "take three trips with family this year").

I then track them all via a spreadsheet each day and hold myself accountable to accomplish a vast majority of them (I actually have a point system that scores my efforts and I need to be above a certain goal to be "successful" for the year. Yes, I'm a resolution geek/nerd.)

I credit setting resolutions with helping me achieve financial independence. It's those day-by-day goals I've worked on for years and years (decades really) that have added up and created a large enough net worth for me to retire in my early 50's. Without them, there's no way I would be as far along as I am today.

How about you? Resolutions or not?

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish all FMF readers a very Merry Christmas!!!! I'll be taking the next few days off but will be back on Monday.

Hope you all have a great holiday!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Just want to wish you and your family a blessed and very happy Thanksgiving. May we all take a break from talking about money and focus on the things that really make us thankful.

Have a great, relaxing, joyful, thankful day!

Last Call for New Site Details

Hey, gang! I hope this message finds you having a great weekend!

Last time I posted about my new site I received several requests for it, though far fewer than in the past. I'll keep posting now and then as long as people ask for the new site, but this might be the last call for it.

If you want an email sent to you with my new site listed, you have two options:

• You can send me an email asking for the details
• You can leave a comment below like "please send me the URL to your new site". Include your email address in the email box when you leave your comment. I will get both the message and the email address, but no one else will be able to see the email address (no one wants their email to be public, right?)

And if you're wondering why you need to do that instead of me just posting it here, you can read this.

Have a GREAT day!

Interviews are Back!

Back in the day, I used to run several reader interview posts that were very popular here at Free Money Finance.

Well, it's my pleasure to announce they are back!!

The series are:

• Reader Profiles -- These were interviews with readers of all sorts, asking about their current finances, plans for the future, and their best financial advice. Reader Profile: KP was the most recent one completed.
• Millionaire Interviews -- As you might imagine, these were interviews with people who had at least $1 million in net worth. We asked how they became millionaires, what their future goals were, details on current efforts, and the like. I completed 22 of them with the last one here. I also wrote a summary of what we learned from the interviews and it can be found at What We've Learned from Millionaires. 
• Six Figure Interviews -- These were interviews with people who made at least $100,000 a year and I did 16 of them. The last one was appropriately named Six Figure Interviews 16. 
• Retiree Interviews -- This wasn't much of a series -- only two were completed -- but I would like to interview more retirees about how they retired, when, what they are doing in retirement, etc. The last one I did was Retiree Interviews 2.

I'm now accepting new contributions for all of these.

In addition, if you completed one in the past and would like to do an update, you can do that as well (I already have a couple of these in the hopper).

To be featured in one of these, simply send me an email saying which you'd like to be featured in and I'll get back to you with some instructions.

Should be lots of fun!

FMF Back Up and Running

As many of you have noticed, I have been posting more frequently here on FMF.

I plan to continue that trend and begin posting here three times a week. The posts will be more "commentary-like", just like I used to post back in the day.

Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts.

A Year Ago

It's been almost a year since I announced I was starting a new blog. And believe it or not, I'm still getting requests for links to the new site.

So I'm posting here again until no one asks for the site's address.

If you want an email sent to you with my new site listed, simply leave a comment below like "please send me the URL to your new site". Include your email address in the email box when you leave your comment. I will get both the message and the email address, but no one else will be able to see the email address (no one wants their email to be public, right?)

As a reminder why I'm sending emails instead of simply announcing the new site, you can see my reasons here.

BTW, I am posting here on FMF at least once a week for the time being. I'm doing shorter posts here (mostly commentary on interesting pieces I find around the web -- what this blog is known for) and longer posts on the new site. I hope you enjoy both!

Requests Every Day

I'm still getting emails requesting access to the new blog.

So, as promised, I'm posting here again until no one asks for the site's address.

If you want an email sent to you with my new site listed, simply leave a comment below like "please send me the URL to your new site". Include your email address in the email box when you leave your comment. I will get both the message and the email address, but no one else will be able to see the email address (no one wants their email to be public, right?)

As a reminder why I'm sending emails instead of simply announcing the new site, you can see my reasons here.

Posts of the Week: Living on Nothing, Dividend Investing, Financial Freedom, and Retiring Abroad

Here's my weekly dose of interesting articles from around the web:

• Here's a contradiction. First, there's This Is What It’s Like To Live On $2 A Day about how hard it is to live on $2 per person per day. Then there's Heidemarie Schwermer, Who Doesn’t Need Money, a piece about a woman who doesn't use money at all. Uhhhhhhh......
• The 8 Rules of Dividend Investing - This is more of an ad than a post, but the rules seem good to me. I'm interested in dividend investing so I found the article worth a read.
• Do You Think About Financial Freedom? - Ask yourself this question, "How would you spend your remaining years if money weren’t an issue?"
• 9 Great Properties to Retire Abroad - I've considered retiring overseas and may actually do it one day!

That's it for this week! Enjoy!

Index Funds, Retiring Early, and Real Estate Investing

Here's my weekly dose of interesting articles from around the web:

• Warren Buffett’s Bet with Hedge Funds - Here's the quote from the Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Buffett showed a chart comparing the cumulative returns of the two sides of the bet since 2008. As of the end of 2015, the S&P 500 index fund had a cumulative return of 65.7%, outdoing the hedge fund team’s 21.9% return. The S&P has outperformed in six of the eight individual years of the bet too. The chart was preamble to the real point Mr. Buffett wanted to make: that passive investors can do better than “hyperactive” investments handled by consultants and managers who charge high fees.” Costs matter. And they are one of the main reasons I invest using index funds. For a bit of a spin on this same issue, see When Mediocrity Trumps Brilliance and 4 ways Vanguard lowers the cost of investing.
• Retiring After 65 May Help People Live Longer - Talk about dashing my hopes of early retirement! :) Seriously, am I going to limit my life span if I retire early?
• How to Invest in Real Estate without Buying Property - You know how once you become aware of a topic you start to see posts about it all over the web? That's me and real estate crowdfunding right now. In addition to this piece, I ran into Part 1: The State of the Union in Real Estate Crowdfunding recently. Is someone trying to tell me to invest this way?

That's it for this week! Enjoy!

New Posts at FMF

Here's something that FMF fans might be interested in...

As many of you know, I have started a new website. On that site, I post more in-depth articles. They are longer than what was usually posted on FMF and generally much more detailed. I like the format as it makes the pieces more thoughtful IMO.

That said, I do miss a few things about the "here's a quick quote and my top three thoughts" sort of posts that were the majority of what was on FMF. And as I'm looking at posts and ideas for the new site, I'm finding more and more articles that I simply want to make a quick comment on -- not write an entire piece about. I'm also seeing other articles that I'd just like to point to and say "check this out -- I liked it." But neither of these sorts of posts will work on the new site.

So...I'm going to start posting the short stuff on FMF. They will be concise, more opinion pieces or even simply links to great articles I've found elsewhere. For now I'll just do it once a week on Mondays and we'll see how it goes from there.

So with that said, here are a few posts I found interesting:

• Side Hustle (FAIL): Becoming a Sperm Donor -- I laugh out loud just about every time I read Budgets are Sexy. J. Money just has such a different take on money (and life) than I do that I find his voice refreshing. And this post in particular was both humorous as well as informative (what a process these donors have to go through!)
• Blogging For A Living: How Much Can You Really Make Online? -- Financial Samurai is currently my favorite blog to read for my personal education. Sam and I are at similar wealth levels. He's ahead of me, but just enough I can learn and apply what he has to say to what I'm doing. This post is a great insight into how a person can build a blog from $0 to $175k per year in four years (which I'm certainly up for). :)
• Real Estate Crowdfunding Experiment #1: Patch of Land Final Update -- This piece interested me because I'm thinking of investing in RE Crowdfunding myself, so it's good to hear about someone else's experience. It's really not that much different than P2P lending as you're not investing in real estate but simply making a loan. The difference is that this is a loan for an investment and you have some collateral versus a loan to consolidate credit, buy a car, etc. I'll be watching this industry and may jump in to see how well it performs for me.

That's it for now. Hope you enjoy!

Emails Keep Coming

It's been almost two months since I posted here last and I'm still getting emails requesting access to the new blog. 

So, as promised, I'm posting here again until no one asks for the site's address.

If you want an email sent to you with my new site listed, simply leave a comment below like "please send me the URL to your new site". Include your email address in the email box when you leave your comment. I will get both the message and the email address, but no one else will be able to see the email address (no one wants their email to be public, right?)

As a reminder why I'm sending emails instead of simply announcing the new site, you can see my reasons here.

Still Looking for an Email from Me?

It seems that every time I think I've reached everyone who wants to be notified of my new site, another 100 people or so seem to show up asking for access.

So my plan is to keep posting here every couple of weeks or so until no one asks for the site's address.

If you want an email sent to you with my new site listed, simply leave a comment below like "please send me the URL to your new site". Include your email address in the email box when you leave your comment. I will get both the message and the email address, but no one else will be able to see the email address (no one wants their email to be public, right?)

As a reminder why I'm sending emails instead of simply announcing the new site, you can see my reasons here.

Do You Want an Email from Me?

I'm still getting quite a few people saying they requested and didn't receive an update to my new blog. So I'll post here a few more times just to make sure whoever wants to be included gets a notice.

If you want an email sent to you with my new site listed, simply leave a comment below like "please send me the URL to your new site". Include your email address in the email box when you leave your comment. I will get both the message and the email address, but no one else will be able to see the email address (no one wants their email to be public, right?)

In case you're wondering why I'm sending emails instead of simply announcing the new site, you can see my reasons here.

New Site Launched

Just wanted to let you know that I have launched my new site and have sent out emails to all those who requested them.

If you did not receive an email but wanted one, please drop me a note and I'll try again. You may want to check your spam folder too.

Note, there were a couple that had spam protection levels where I needed to verify myself to send an email to a particular address. I'm not going to do that.

Hope you all are having a great New Year!

Latest Update

Hello! I hope this message finds you all having a wonderful holiday season.

Just wanted to share a quick post to give you all an update on the new site:

• The logo has been completed and the site is roughly 75% completed. I just have all the nit-picky things to do to get a site up and running. Unfortunately, those are very time consuming tasks.
• I have written several posts and put them on the site. Most are basic "about the blog" posts at this time. I hope to add a few more over the Christmas break so the site launches with 10-15 posts for readers to browse.
• My best guess is that the site will launch in mid to late January or early February. At that time I will email those of you who have sent me requests to be informed of the new blog. Rest assured I haven't lost anyone's email address and there's no need to send me a note asking if I've received your email request. :)
• Once the new blog goes live, I will make another post here. If for some reason your email does not go through (spam filters exist after all), you can know that I at least tried and send me another note. We can then try to sort out the issue.

That's all I have for now.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and all the best for a great 2016!

Update on New Site

Just wanted to give you all an update on the new site.

Things are progressing at a good pace. I have selected a designer and given her my guidelines, logo design has started, and I've written the first few articles. They will be pretty standard "launch" posts and very familiar to FMF readers.

My plan is to soft launch the site in late November, fill it with a post a week or so through the end of 2015, and then officially launch in the new year. This is when I would send emails to those of you requesting notification of the new site. So look for those in late December/early January.

If anyone else would like to be added to the announcement list, just email me.

Hope you all are doing well!

Checking in and New Blog

Hello, all. I hope this message finds you doing well.

A lot has happened to me since I went on hiatus, very interesting stuff indeed (many twists and turns). One major change is that my time has freed up and I'm going to be starting a new blog.

You may wonder why I'd start a new one and not just keep this one. There are a couple reasons for that:

1. The main reason is that too many people I know personally know that I write this blog. That limits what I can say, how much personal info I can share (and I like to give details/specifics), and so forth. It cramps my style and doesn't allow me to write the in-depth, personal content I like to.

2. FMF is on Typepad and I'd like a Wordpress-based blog. Yes, I could convert FMF, but it's earning a decent monthly income without me doing anything and I don't want to screw that up (links can be lost during conversion, so why risk it?)

Based on #1 above, I won't be announcing the new site on FMF. If you were a regular FMF reader and would like me to let you know when the new site is available, you can email me to put your name on the announcement list. Be sure to give me the name you used here to post (or your real name if you prefer) as well as your preferred email address. I will not be accepting email addresses only since I can't verify who they are coming from (and I'm trying to be anonymous.)

When the site comes up (likely early 2016) I will send you an email letting you know the URL. From there you can decide whether or not you'd like to keep reading.

Hope you all are well and blessed.

FMF on Hiatus

Well, as they say, all good things must end. Or at least take a break.

I started this blog over nine years ago simply to chronicle my financial thoughts and progress. Now, nearly a decade later, it's time to put down my keyboard. Whether that's for a moment or forever is yet to be determined. But as of now, it's clear that I need to take a break.

The simple reason for this is that maintaining the blog is much more time and effort than I have at the moment. Even to write one post a week. Even to manage guest posts. It's just too much. Because running a functioning blog is not just posting. It's also managing comments, answering emails (and I get 30-40 a day!), keeping up with trends, looking for story ideas, and on and on.

At this point I just have other things in my life that are more pressing/important. Namely:

• My kids are in high school and making decisions on college/jobs that I need to help with.
• My wife will need my help/guidance as she moves from a homeschool mom to whatever is next for her.
• My job is great and very fulfilling, but also very demanding. The time at work I once had (for the first several years of FMF) to write is now gone, which means the only time I have left is time that would be spent with my family or in leisure. Which is time I don't want to spend writing.

This doesn't mean I'll never blog again, but it does likely mean FMF will never be what it once was. Perhaps I'll post now and then, but the truth is most readers will move on (and who can blame them?).

So as I bow out, I thought I'd give you all a list of where I intend to go from here financially. Consider this the best guess at the next financial chapter of my life:

• The kids will be off to college in a year or two. We've saved a good amount, but whether it's enough or we'll need to supplement it remains to be seen. This is our last major expense before retirement.
• I'll keep saving, of course, to try and hit the don't-spend-principal retirement. I'd like to have. At the current rate, I should be able to hit that level in 5 years or so.
• I think I've mentioned here previously that I could retire in five years if I wanted. As of now, I'm having a blast at my job and can't see leaving anytime soon. Perhaps I'll work until 59 1/2 (closer to 10 years) when all my IRA funds will become available.
• A key part of my retirement plan is my rental properties. I think they will conservatively generate about $50,000 after all expenses. If all goes well, I could earn $60,000 a year.
• If my wife decides to go back to work (which I think is unlikely), that would be an unexpected extra income.

As I go, I want to thank all the readers and commenters here over the years. It's been you who have made this site so great. I've learned so much from you and appreciate you being part of FMF.

I can't connect with everyone, but if you're a regular reader here and want to connect, send me an email with your FMF commenter name (so I know you) and we can link up via LinkedIn.

As for now, I'm signing off, and wishing you all God's best blessings.

Happy Labor Day

Just wanted to say "Happy Labor Day" to my readers in the U.S. I hope you are enjoying a day off.

I'm not blogging today -- plan to spend time with the family today. I'll be back on Wednesday with more money news, commentary, tips, and thoughts.

Unwanted Emails

I received a couple emails this morning from FMF readers saying that they are getting emails from me trying to sell all sorts of things. I am not sending these out.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly where the emails are coming from (neither of my email addresses have been hacked as far as I can tell). But at this point I wanted to get the word out: I am not sending these out.

If you receive an unwanted email claiming to be from me, plese send me as many details as you can about it -- what email address did it come from, what did it say, when did you get it, etc. I'll figure it out from there.

But in case anyone comes here wondering, I am not sending out any emails selling any products.

What Does It Mean to be Self Made?

On my post about what we've learned from millionaires there was a bit of discussion about what it means to be "self made". One commenter suggested the following:

If you started off middle-class or inherited anything from your parents, you're not "self-made." Which is fine. There's no shame in your parents' having been able to give you advantages. But it's not the same experience as having come up out of a housing project.

Another responded:

The comment above: "If you started off middle-class or inherited anything from your parents, you're not 'self-made.' " irks me.

First, being middle class means what? You didn't have to dodge gangs to get through high school? You didn't have to work after school to help feed the family or deal with a drug addict parent? What, exactly do you believe middle class implies, that they had no worries and just because the parents aren't struggling they shower wealth on their kids?

Wow, tell that to my middle class friend who had the step mom from hell who convinced his dad to kick his butt out his senior year of high school or my buddy whose dad was an alcoholic who liked to whip the belt out after a six pack. How about my pal's wife whose father not only refused to pay for college but because of his income she couldn't qualify for any financial aid to include loans the first year because he refused to share his financial information with FAFSA. She got to move out, work full time, and then after a year go back and prove she was independent. As a matter of fact, most of my friends were hardly coddled; we all worked through college even those whose parents appeared they could have afforded it.

And as far as inheritance, if your parents are living until their 70's or beyond, you pretty much cannot count on getting an inheritance since you're in your 40's or 50's by the time they pass and someone who has worked hard and become a millionaire by that time should definitely be considered to have made it on their own.

Another took a more "what's it mean" approach:

Self-made - what does that mean, and what should it mean? I've typically seen it applied to anyone who ended up becoming far wealthier than their parents. I don't have a problem with that definition, though it likely means I will never be "self-made" as my wife's family is quite wealthy. However, our own wealth is our own - the result of our work, our investment risks, and our saving. We've had great examples, mentoring, and opportunities that many don't have, but does that count against what we have achieved?

Personally I try hard not to worry, care, or compare. There are always people smarter, harder-working, more accomplished, and wealthier in any case.

Then another replied to the original commenter:

I found your comment a bit insulting and sad to an extent. Just because my family was considered lower middle-class ($38000 for a family of 4), I had nothing handed to me. My parents knew nothing about college, nothing about what I should study, spent all their money, provided little to no guidance, and left me to deal with everything. They agreed to help with a loan, but then defaulted on it leaving me to deal with a $14,000 bill. The school told me I was not going to be allowed to finish my degree until I paid. I could have whined and complained but in the end I had to work 3 jobs and negotiate with the college to get loans. When the money the school loaned me was not enough to pay for everything, I ate food from a local Christian food bank and lived in a single room in a basement. Worked through college delivering boxes, lowered my rent by cleaning the basement area and helping out the owner. In the end, I made it through just to not find a job due to a downturn in the market. I owed $40,000 and $12,000 in credit cards and was working for or at near minimum wage or not working at all. When I finally got my first job in my field, everything I made went out the door to pay loans and the normal costs of living.

I think everything is about your attitude. The old saying that God helps those who help themselves is true. I didn't give up, but kept fighting. In the end, people noticed this and I was very blessed to have had people in my life that helped me when I needed it the most. When professors told me I wouldn't succeed I proved them wrong. When jobs dried up, I found something else to keep income coming in.

Fast forward 20 plus years and my lovely bride and I have been very blessed. This year is our 20th anniversary. We roughly live on 25% of our income; pay 25% in taxes and save the rest. It is again our attitude, our choices and great blessings from above that have led to our success. We chose to pursue the careers we are in and sacrificed in the beginning to reap the rewards we now get. Nothing has been handed to us. It was the choices we made and our attitude to stick to it that made us able to contribute to the millionaires series.

And finally, there was this:

My interpretation of self-made is that your station in life is a function of the combined effort of you and your wife. These days I would tend to exclude help given towards a child's college tuition since with the large increases in tuition it has become such a common occurrence.

Our 3 children ages, 50, 53, & 55 have each received help from us on a few occasions but they are good savers and although I manage their investments for them the contributions are all their own. I have also given them loans at various times which they have always repaid.

Interesting conversation, huh?

Shortly after that, I stumbled upon this article from Dr. Thomas Stanley. He didn't define self made, but made some clear statements as follows:

In my thirty plus years of surveying and studying millionaires, I have consistently found that 80 to 86% are self made.  That also applies to decamillionaires.  In 1982 according to Forbes about 38% of America's wealthiest people were self made.  In 2012, the percentage jumped to 70%.

He rambled on about the politics in Washington for a bit, then made this comment that I loved:

Economic opportunities abound in this country.  Yet most Americans are not wealthy.   It is easy to blame the so-called inequities in our economy.  But it is more about the fact that Americans spend all or most of their income on things that have little or no lasting value! They lack the discipline required to accumulate wealth. Most households are on a treadmill of working and consuming.  The typical American household has a median annual realized income within the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket.  Only 6.3% of these people have any realized capital gains income.  Thus an update is in order.  Remember what I wrote in The Millionaire Next Door: big hat, no cattle. And now the update: no capital, no capital gains.

Very true. Americans do have a tendency to spend, spend, spend.

But that doesn't get us any closer to defining what it means to be self-made. So I'll take a shot at what it means and let the rest of you make changes or offer other options from there.

I would say someone is self made if they:

• Have a built a sizeable net worth (vague, I know)
• Done it on their own with no help from family, friends, etc.
• I would not include college as help, but would include things like large loans, the gift of a job, etc.

What I don't think is important:

• The net worth doesn't have to be "millions". It may simply be a few hundred thousand dollars. The key is they did it themselves.
• They need to make/have more than their parents. If my parents have $1 million and I have $500k, I'm still self-made as long as I earned that $500k myself.

So, what is your definition of self made?

Thinking About Vacation

For the past two years, we've taken our "big" vacation each January. We're trying to take fun and exciting trips with our kids while they are still home, before college kicks in and they scatter to one place or another.

For reference, we took a 10-day Caribbean cruise in 2012 and a 12-day one in 2013 (which was preceded by two days in New York City). In January 2014 we did not take a big trip for several reasons:

• We were just getting settled in our new home and didn't really have the time.
• The winters in Oklahoma seem so nice/warm compared to those in Michigan, why did we need to leave? It was great here!

That said, we're already getting used to the warmth and have even caught ourselves complaining it's "too cold" when it gets down to 50. :)

So with that said, we're thinking of taking a vacation next January and the top candidate so far is...Hawaii!

My parents love Hawaii (they may go with us), I have never been, and now just seems like the right time to go. But I have a gazillion questions! This is where I thought you all might help.

Here are a few questions I have about Hawaii:

• What island(s) should we visit? (I'm thinking two islands at the most)
• What attractions are must-sees?
• Where should we stay? (I'm thinking of renting a house, but maybe there's a better option. I do have almost 200,000 Hilton points I could use.)
• When should we go? (Is January a good time to be there?)
• Is there anything I should really think about but I may have missed?

I do have a Hawaii travel guide, but I want to hear from those of you who have been there -- the real people with real experiences.

Any advice on a trip to Hawaii?

In Case You Were Wondering

You may have noticed that my site has been down for the past few days.

Typepad, the service I use to run this blog, was attacked system-wide and most, if not all, of their blogs have been down since the weekend.

Thanks to those of you who emailed or tweeted me. I appreciate your concern and thank you for looking out for me.

Anyway, I hope we're back to normal and things will proceed as usual.

Thanks for reading FMF.

Update: Here's a newly posted piece featuring advice from top personal finance bloggers. Click through to see what I had to say. :)

Share Your Financial Experiences with FMF Readers

I love sharing stories from people who are working through financial issues, have made significant financial progress in their lives, or just need a bit of advice. And FMF readers like these as well, as evidenced by the comments I receive on these posts.

If you'd like to tell your story or get some advice, there are many ways to do so including:

• Reader Profiles - Answer a few questions and ask for advice (if you like) in the process.
• Millionaire Interviews - Is your net worth over $1 million? If so, FMF readers would love to hear from you and learn from your experience.
• Six Figure Interviews -  Do you make over $100,000 a year? If so, FMF readers would love to hear from you and learn from your experience.
• Retiree Interviews - Are you retired? If so, we'd love to hear what you did to get there, how it's going, and so on.
• Help a Reader - Do you have a financial question for FMF readers? If so, ask away and we'll all share our thoughts.

If you'd like to participate in any (or several) of these, drop me an email and I'll get you started.

Thanks!

Happy Birthday to Me (It May Be My Last)!

Today is the 9th anniversary of Free Money Finance! Yes, nine short years ago I began this blog with one simple post -- on how to contact me. :) I followed that one up with a short piece noting what the site would be about. I summarized it as follows:

This site is about one simple thing: growing your net worth.

And that's what I've written about for the past nine years.

But it may be time for a change. Let me explain.

Most of you know that I took a new job last summer, moved from Michigan to Oklahoma, and pretty much changed everything in my life over the past eight months. It's been a good move overall, but there is so much to do to transition the lives of four people from once place, where they lived 14 years, to another hundreds of miles away. Initially I thought we'd be "all settled" in six months, but I've revised that to a year now, and it may eventually be longer.

Work is great but much more challenging. The kids are older, approaching college, and need more guidance. We bought a new house (literally new -- no one else has ever lived in it) and none of our furniture matched. So we're decorating the entire place. On top of that, EVERYTHING is new. Where we shop for groceries, where we go to church, where we have our dry-cleaning done -- EVERYTHING.

And we still have so much to do. It's an almost endless list of stuff to do.

Something has to give. It may be this blog.

You've probably noticed that I'm down to three posts per week. This is the maximum I'll have for the near future and probably all of 2014. I may post fewer times some weeks. I might not post at all.

In my last job, in the other state, where all was settled and comfortable, I had lots of time. I don't have lots of time now and it may be that FMF will need to take a break or even go away.

But it may not. I'm not sure yet. But I wanted to let you all know where things stand because this may be my last blog birthday.

I guess we'll find out together. :)

Whatever happens, I want to take this chance to thank all the readers, commenters, guest posters, and everyone else who has helped make Free Money Finance a resource for us all. You all have helped make this site much more than I ever thought it could be and you've been a blessing to me.

Happy New Year

Here's wishing you all the best in 2014! May your net worth climb to the sky!!!!

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish all FMF readers a very Merry Christmas!!!! Hope you all have a great day celebrating!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Just want to wish you and your family a blessed and very happy Thanksgiving. May we all take a break from talking about money and focus on the things that really make us thankful. Here's my list -- still the same after all these years (except maybe the KFC part.) ;-)

Have a great, relaxing, joyful, thankful day!

Great Christian Products

Many of you have probably seen that I have a relatively new site sponsor here at Free Money Finance. For those of you who have been here long enough to remember when I posted on the Bible and Money every Sunday, the sponsor shouldn’t surprise you. It’s Mardel Christian and Education stores, a chain of stores that sells a wide variety of Christian, education (teachers), and homeschool products.

Based on the comments I’ve received over the years, I know many of you would be interested in the products that Mardel sells. As such, I’m sharing a link to their Black Friday ad. You can find it here. From what I’m told, it features their best deals of the year, something those of you who like to watch your pennies can appreciate. 

In addition, if you want to shop (from home) on Thanksgiving, they have a 20% off sale on their entire website this Thursday.

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving and the best of holiday seasons!

Need More Reader Profiles

The Reader Profiles series has been pretty popular around here. So far we've done over 110 posts and, while I still have a few in the hopper, I wanted to let you all know that I NEED MORE of them to keep the series going.

So if you're willing all you have to do is email me the answers to the following questions (it's all anonymous -- don't worry about your name getting out, I use initials to hide real personalities):

• Please tell us a bit about yourself.


• Describe your financial situation (who works in your family, how your income is (general), how your expenses are, etc.).


• What are the current financial issues you're facing (saving, paying off debt, etc.)?


• What are your plans for the future (retire early, build your career, etc.)?


• What's your best piece(s) of financial advice and/or your general philosophy on personal finances?

Take as much time/space as you like answering them, but don't be too short or people won't get the "meat" of your situation. If you want to see what others have done, all the posts can be found here.

Thanks!

Happy Labor Day

Just wanted to say "Happy Labor Day" to my readers in the U.S. I hope you are enjoying a day off -- and basking in the glow of some of the last days of summer.

I'm not blogging today -- plan to spend time with the family today. I'll be back tomorrow and the rest of the week with a series of interviews with millionaires. I think you'll like them.

 

Update on FMF and WL

It's been a couple months since I launched Wealth Lion (WL) and thought it was time for an update on where I’m going with both sites.

If you recall, having an extra site started because of two issues:

• I was having problems with my blogging platform, Typepad (too much spam and not enough flexibility)
• Readers had conflicting thoughts on what they wanted to read on a personal finance website.

I had some options available to me (like switch FMF to Wordpress), but I thought it could kill FMF (I've seen sites try to make the switch and it's been a technical disaster). Besides, I was up for creating something new and learning a new blogging platform, so I started WL using Wordpress. I also thought that if the new site took off, perhaps I'd risk converting FMF to Wordpress and if it tanked the site, I'd still have one site that worked.

Almost from the start, WL really took off.  Readers over there took to it quickly and a good community of people developed.

As for FMF, I have focused more on reader provided content (namely reader profiles) and excerpts over the past few months. I have done this for the following reasons:

• Readers told me they like Reader Profiles. :)
• These are easier posts for me to "create" and I was busy getting another site up and running.
• These are easier posts for me to "create" and I was busy getting a new job.
• The summer is a slow time anyway, so if there was ever a time for "less of me", it's June, July, and August.

So everything is peachy, right? Not really. Not everyone liked the changes. I received several comments on a post a couple weeks ago or saying so. Hopefully the information above explains to everyone why I did what I did.

In addition to the comments, a few things happened over the past couple months that have made me reconsider everything:

• Typepad has settled down. It's still not as flexible as I'd like, but the spam is certainly under control now.
• Wordpress is taking me much longer than expected to "master." I'm enjoying the process, but it's going to take a long time to get where I'd like to be (especially compared to Typepad which I've used for years and completely understand.)
• I got a new job. As you might imagine, I'm going to be pretty swamped over the next several months.

So, given the above turn of events, here's my plan for the foreseeable future. These could change, but here's my current thinking:

• WL will go on slow decline. I won't be posting there and actually will be moving some posts from WL to FMF. This is unfortunate given how the community has grown over there, but at this point I'll be lucky to keep one blog running time-wise.
• FMF will post at least three times per week and will get closer to normal in September. It will include the following types of pieces: short “commentary” posts by me (which is historically what FMF has featured), Reader Profiles, and Help the Reader pieces. I will also run some guest posts and excerpts as long as I feel they are good.
• I will move several types of posts from WL to FMF. These include: my millionaires series, a few new, longer pieces, some articles that I had originally run at FMF but then had removed, and the above-mentioned posts that originally appeared on WL. This means that some readers will see "re-runs" here on FMF as I re-post them. Please be patient with me through this process.

In the future, I might take the risk and change FMF's platform to Wordpress. But not at this time. I have all I can handle for now.

So this is my current plan. I realize it's been a bit of a rollercoaster for FMF readers as I've focused more on WL, and I apologize for that. I'm also sorry for WL readers who embraced the site only to see it go by the wayside. Hopefully the "new" FMF will fill the needs of both sets of readers.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read...this blog would be nothing without you.

FMF Update

For those of you wanting to be in the know, I've just posted a special Thursday edition on Wealth Lion. It details my new job. ;)

Check it out if interested...

Happy Fourth of July

Just want to say a big happy Fourth of July to all of you out there -- and Happy Birthday to America! I hope you're having a great day (like I am) celebrating the freedom we enjoy in the U.S.

Interviews with Millionaires

If you have a net worth of $1 million or more, I'd like to interview you for an upcoming post (you would be anonymous, I just need you to answer some questions.)

If interested, drop me a line.

Will You Spend More on Vacations This Year?

Money magazine asked readers of their June issue if they will spend more on vacations this year. The results:

• 29% will spend less this year
• 27% will spend a little more
• 25% will spend about the same as last year
• 19% will spend a lot more

My answer depends on how you define "this year". If you literally mean the 2013 calendar year, then we will be spending a lot more versus 2012. We took a bigger cruise this year than last year and took my parents as well. In addition, we're planning a September trip to Disney (tentative) which is incremental to 2012.

If by "this year" they mean the summer months of 2013 (or even the rest of 2013 -- May through December), then I'd say we will spend a little more since we have the potential Disney added to the agenda.

We are consciously spending more on vacations since our kids will end of their high school careers in the next 2-3 years. Once they get into college, everyone will likely go his/her own way, so we're trying to take as many family vacations as possible while we're still together as a group.

So how about you? Will you spend more on vacations this year?

New Post on Wealth Lion

Just a heads up that there's a new post on Wealth Lion today titled Welcome to Wealth Lion. It gives a summary of the few posts already there plus lists upcoming posts for the next couple of weeks (hint: some details on real estate properties will be shared). :)

If you're interested, you can see the post here.

And as noted earlier this week, you can subscribe to Wealth Lion here.

Need Reader Profile Updates

On my recent feedback post, FMF readers said they'd like to read what I'm calling "Reader Profile Updates." These would basically be an update on what has happened financially to a person since writing an FMF Reader Profile. Did they take any advice? What happened? Are they better or worse off? Why?

I already have one of these scheduled for later this month, but would like more. So if you've done a Reader Profile here and there's been enough time pass for some interesting things to happen, we'd love to hear about them!

By the way, "Help a Reader" posts could work for this as well. So if you've asked a question here, we'd love to know what you ultimately did and how it turned out.

For either option, just drop me an email and we can take it from there.

Introducing Wealth Lion

For the eight years that I've been writing FMF, I've used Typepad's service for the site. They include both the content management system (how I publish posts and control the site's design) as well as the hosting (how readers see/access the site on the web). It was a great beginning blogging service since it was very easy and my technical experience was zero.

For several years, Typepad served me well. Yes, there were occasional hiccups and I was limited by what I could and couldn't do on the blog (with design, marketing, "extras", and so on), but for the most part, things were fine.

Then Typepad recently changed spam providers and things went haywire. Comments couldn't get through, they would post and then disappear, long comments were eaten, and I would have days where hundreds of spam comments hit the blog and I would have to go through one-by-one and delete them. When I contacted Typepad customer service, their response was "wait and it will get better" and "set comments so users have to log in to leave a comment" (something I didn't want to and shouldn't have to do). I did implement a couple of their more practical suggestions, but the results were mixed.

At the same time, I have been hearing more and more about WordPress as a blogging/website software provider. It's been around since I started blogging, of course, but over the years it has really developed into quite a remarkable system. In addition, it has become very easy to use WordPress to install and host your own blog (something that used to intimidate me.) It has all the bells and whistles that make both the front and back ends of a site work really well. Finally, it's mostly under my control, not under the control of a company that makes decisions for me (like Typepad does).

So I considered moving FMF to WordPress. But as you might imagine, this process is far from easy. Specifically, the site has thousands of links coming into it (a great benefit for FMF) which were likely to be messed up in part or whole in a transition. This could reduce me to basically starting over from scratch, something I wanted to avoid, but had to consider.

After I thought it over, my feeling was that if I was going to start over, I wanted to do it from the ground up -- to both see if I could do it as well as avoid the mistakes I had made in the past (yes, I've made mistakes, written not-so-great posts, and refined my thinking a lot in the past eight years). I would want to start fresh.

As I considered the options, I asked FMF readers what they wanted to see more of on the site. There seemed to be two competing sets of answers. One group wanted the sorts of pieces that FMF has always done: Reader Profiles, short commentary pieces, and the like. The other group wanted deeper and broader topics covered. Some liked the real estate posts and others didn't. Some wanted more in-depth Reader Profiles while others wanted follow ups to past ones. Many wanted more of "what I'm doing."

So I took all this feedback into consideration and came up with the following solution:

• FMF will continue as it always has on the Typepad platform. For now my plan is to publish three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (beginning immediately). The posts will be Reader Profiles (using the same format as I've used all along), shorter commentary pieces (where I see an article, take a paragraph from it, and offer my thoughts on it), and a few smatterings of this and that (what I want to write about). It will pretty much be what I've done here for eight years, with a few exceptions as noted below.
• I'm starting a new WordPress website called Wealth Lion (If you're wondering about the name, you can read Why the Name). For now my plan is to publish three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The posts will focus on the basics of building wealth (some), how to manage wealth once you have it (more), real estate investing (with details of how my investments are going as well as a calculator or two), and details on what I am personally doing as I now work my way through paying for college and planning for retirement/early semi-retirement. In general the posts will be longer and more personal than what I've written at FMF.

I have already seeded the site with several basic pieces (many of which you've seen on FMF) just to get it started. A few of them are:

• Why Another Financial Website?
• Who Is the Wealth Lion?
• How to Measure and Track Wealth
• How to Become Wealthy
• Becoming Wealthy is Simple, But Not Easy (Unless You Have These Characteristics)
• Why You Should Track Cash Flow

For the first few weeks you may see posts/themes on Wealth Lion that you've already seen on FMF. These are put here for the new reader who comes along, knows nothing about FMF, and wonders where I'm coming from. I want to at least have my general thoughts on wealth building, careers, and the like on both sites.

You can also subscribe to the new site by either email or RSS feed.

I will transition to the three posts on FMF and three posts on Wealth Lion per week set-up starting this week for FMF. Wealth Lion will begin posting the first week in June. For the first month or so (and maybe a bit longer), you will likely see some design changes in Wealth Lion as we finish construction. If I waited until everything was 100% completed and perfect to launch the blog, I probably wouldn't do it until 2014. So please bear with me. (And if you find a glitch, please email me!)

I want to thank FMF readers Old Limey, Apex, Mike Hunt, and Money Wise Pastor for looking over Wealth Lion while it was in development. Their feedback was very helpful and appreciated.

So that's how we'll operate for now -- one writer of two blogs, each with its own personal twist. How will it work? Who knows?  We'll play it by ear, see how it goes, and adjust as needed along the way. I hope you decide to join me for the ride.

Happy Memorial Day

Just wanted to say Happy Memorial Day to everyone (it's a holiday where we remember the service and sacrifice of those who have given their lives for our country.) Like most others in the U.S., I'm taking the day off -- I'll be back tomorrow.

In addition to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for America, I like to remember and thank all our veterans, enlisted personnel, officers, and their families on this day. Words are inadequate to express our great appreciation for your service.

Comments Wacky on Typepad

The original post (below) was made on March 8. Here it is May 2 and we are all dealing with the same issues!!! Typepad is being no help at all!!! I am sorry if any of you are inconvenienced.

We interupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this public service announcement:

Typepad (the platform that runs this blog) is changing over to a new spam provider and it's messing everything up -- good comments are getting eaten and spam comments are getting posted.

I am handling the latter myself, but I can't do much on the former. I have submitted a ticket to see what they can do, but based on past experience I probably won't get much help.

For now, all I can suggest is that we wait it out. If you are having a problem commenting, give it a week or so. If you try and comment then and can't, shoot me a note and I'll figure out a way to get you on.

Sorry for the problem...

Summer Posting Schedule

Just a programming note that I will be changing my posting schedule for the summer. Instead of a new post every day, I'll now be posting something new every weekday. Yep, I'm taking the weekends off! I'll be doing this in May through August for sure, and may extend it if I like the pace better. :)

Hope you all have a great summer!

Feedback for FMF

It's been some time since I've opened up a post for general feedback, so I thought I'd do so today.

I generally write about what's going on with me financially, what I'm thinking about, what I'm interested in and so forth. And in many cases, I believe these topics interest you.

But not always, of course. And since there's no other way of really determining what you like/dislike (I can get some feedback through comments and email but it's incomplete), I thought I'd ask you.

I will start the discussion by listing what I believe FMF readers like to see here (by subject area, but not in any specific order) as well as what I like to write about:

• Reader Profiles
• Real Estate Investing
• Making the Most of Your Career
• Retirement/Early Semi-Retirement
• What I'm Doing Personally (even if you think it's stupid/crazy)

Did I get it right? If not, which of the above do you like and which don't you like? Also, what topics would you like to see more/less of here on FMF?

This is your site too, and now's your chance to give me feedback on what you'd like to see. I'm not promising that just because you mention it, I'll write about it (the topic has to appeal to me as well), but I will listen to your suggestions.

Fire away...