finances

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It’s that time of year again. Time to look back on 2017 and what a year it has been. Our budget was blown but what made up for it was a spectacular return on my investments. It was a mixed bag but I must admit, I think I must land on a positive note for us personally. The blown budget Let’s begin with the not so successful feature of 2017. When I retired, our budget was set at $65,000 a year. Due to extremely high and continuously high medical costs, I upped the budget to $71,000 going forward (increasing each […]

2017 in Review

 in finances / financial independence / retirement by
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With all the support and extra traffic coming from my friends at FreedomIsGroovy.com, I feel compelled to put down some thoughts. I tend to not write about politics, but never has politics hit home as hard as this year. The first effects are already felt and potential upcoming changes may hit even harder. ACA Renewal It’s ObamaCare renewal time. Last year, I received probably 50 timely emails/messages letting us know it was coming up. This year I received a single text. I’m personally aware of what’s happening but it makes you wonder, how many will miss this year’s enrollment due […]

The month of unknowns

 in finances / healthcare / retirement / Taxes by
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At last year’s dentist appointment, it was pointed out that our son has an overbite. As it could destroy his teeth, left untreated, certainly something that should be addressed by orthodontics. Normally, when a doctor or dentist tells you your child needs X, Y or Z care, you don’t hesitate; you take care of it. We immediately saw an orthodontist. Course of treatment would be internal braces that would be screwed outward a little each week, squeezing his upper cleft outward a little at a time. It would last for about 6 months to a year, to be followed up […]

I’m glad we waited, NO orthodontics!

 in family / finances / healthcare by
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I just came from the dentist to have my new crown fitted. We’ve been in a bit of a disagreement on pricing (and procedure) and I think one of the issues maybe a misunderstanding of the Millionaire Next Door. My dentist has known me for a while, he even knows I’m a millionaire. He thinks I’m loaded. While I’m trying to tell him, the hard time I’ll have finding the funds to pay for the root canal and crown (and dental induced migraine ER visit), he’s trying to sell me on getting all my filled teeth crowned (probably a whopping […]

The Millionaire Next Door and his/her money

 in Building Wealth / finances / millionaire  tagged Millionaire Next Door by
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Mid April, I received the dreaded call. It was actually a Facebook messenger video request. There was no doubt, I knew before I answered, my father had just passed away. My brother called me from the nursing home where my dad took his last breath just seconds prior to Mom and him walking in. We knew this was coming and arrangements were in the works for my dad’s care for the next few months. Months we knew would end in his eventual demise. Having it happen, there and then, so early, came as a shock. We talked, we consoled my […]

An alternative to funeral or cremation, worth thinking about

 in family / finances by
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That’s what I learned 2 weeks ago when I was in the Netherlands. That, and the “fact”, I’m a direct descendant of King Willem II of the Netherlands (albeit from his illegitimate child born in 1842). But let’s get back to the wealth tax. The estate my father left my mother, after his unfortunate passing some weeks ago, revealed my parents still had a mortgage. My brother replied to that, that it was better to have debt, as the alternative would be paying taxes over their assets. They call it Box 3 tax, as that’s where you capture this info on […]

OMG, They’re paying a wealth tax over there

 in finances / Taxes by
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Well, I would have liked to have written this with nothing but good stuff that happened this year, but I can’t. 2016 may well go down in memory for us as the worst year of our lives. Yes, financially things have been great, early retirement is now two and a half years in and going strong but 2016 is also the year that our 6 year old son was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. An autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system systematically attacks the pancreas no longer leaving it able to create insulin. Our six-year-old now needs to […]

2016 in Review, spoiler alert: for us it sucked!!

 in family / finances / healthcare / Insurance by
This is what it means to be financially independent 16
It’s been almost a month since I’ve written a post and I should be embarrassed. I’m not. This is what it means to be financially independent. To do whatever, whenever and however I want it. I quit my job to get away from deadlines, I don’t want to self-impose them again by means of this blog. Will millionin10 survive? Will it hurt the ranking of my blog? Yes, probably, but since I’m not trying to sell you anything, nothing lost. For those of you who are wondering what ranking has to do with anything (or even what it means)? For most […]

This is what it means to be financially independent

 in Building Wealth / finances / financial independence by
screw-ups on my way to a million 6
Let’s put it out there, making assumptions is making an ass out of u and me. Mostly though, making an ass of out myself. On my way to wealth, I’ve made a few of them. Today in the series on Screw-ups on My Way to a Million: Making Assumptions. As you can guess, most of them wrong. Is making assumptions bad? That is a tough question. I’ve made several wrong ones but at the same time my entire path to wealth and my continued growth/stability of my wealth is premised on the biggest assumption of them all: The stock market will go up […]

Screw-ups on My Way to a Million: Making Assumptions

 in Building Wealth / emergency fund / finances / millionaire / retirement by
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If it’s your business why do you write so much it? No, my money is my business as in: it is my business business, it is there to generate our income. A modest income at that. My business isn’t running that well to be honest. The year I took the helm (the year I retired), SPY saw a high of $208.44, yesterday SPY closed at $209.28. In that time span we’ve also seen SPY drop to a mere $182. Since my business is build on a foundation of mostly SPY one might say we’re off to a rocky start. As any […]

My Money is My Business

 in 5 keys / finances / investing / millionaire by
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The following article is a guest post by Stacy Barbee. How I wish money tricks were taught in schools. In our times, schools and colleges primarily focused on obtaining good grades at the end of the academic year. And, that trend is still going on. The 2 fundamental aspects of an awesome financial life are: (i) Making money (ii) Managing money In the last few years, I have interacted without countless people who are not happy with their financial life and have been compelled to enroll in debt reduction programs. And, after hearing their stories, I have come to only one […]

8 Money Tricks That Can Save Young Adults From A ...

 in Budgeting / debt / education / finances / healthcare / Saving by