T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 43

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #43!

Here are some things I really like and that you might too. 

Finance Articles

If Retiring at 30 is Scary, then Retiring at 60 is Terrifying (Trip Of A Lifestyle) – “The bottom line is that in good economic times or bad, the younger you start on the path to financial independence, the sooner you can achieve it.”

Having Enough is Having it All (Slightly Early Retirement) – “Assuming you are making more than a subsistence level living wage you can choose to live below your means and save and invest the difference.”

Video

If you don’t like your job and live for the weekend, you should watch this. Even if that doesn’t describe you, you should watch it. I went part time at my job after I achieved financial independence for a reason. This helps lay it out. 

Who’s Inspired Me

Justin Williams.

Bike racing is as big in Europe as the NFL is in America.  But in America, it’s a fringe sport.  The average American can’t name a single modern professional cyclist, and would likely just say “Lance Armstrong” if asked.  Justin Williams is setting out to change that.  He won multiple amateur U.S. National Championships in road, track, and criterium racing.  Then after dabbling in the European racing scene at the highest level, he did something crazy, he quit.  He came home, enrolled in college, and got involved in cycling for an entirely different purpose.  He started Legion Of Los Angeles, an independent elite cycling team focused on getting more minorities involved in the sport. 

And he has even bigger plans than that.  He has a vision to make criterium racing in America as big as NASCAR, with big name stars that everyone will know.  Cycling criteriums are basically the equivalent of NASCAR racing on bikes, without all of the unbearable noise and planet destroying volumes of toxic emissions.  I’m pulling for Justin, though the realist in me doesn’t see it working.  America is just too much of a car-loving culture.  But damn I hope he proves me wrong. 

Listen to Justin’s story and vision for cycling on his appearance on the Rich Roll Podcast.

What I’m Grateful For

The Federal Government and my state.  Whut?  Both allow me to underpay my income taxes during the year while I take an interest free loan from them and invest it on margin.  I then pay it back using my new Chase Sapphire credit card which in two clicks almost meets the $4000 spending threshold to get 80,000 points.  #winning

Lyrically Speaking

It’s a long hard road from creation to the grave
Too many lost souls down here, too few of them are saved
It’s a real big picture, starring one and all
Everyone here will play the fool, everyone will crawl
Everyone will crawl

From “Everyone Will Crawl” by Charlie Sexton Sextet

You’ve probably never heard of Charlie Sexton.  A guitar prodigy, his debut album in 1985 had him touted by the New York Times as the next rock teen idol.  The hit single “Beats So Lonely” from that record was heavily promoted by MTV in its heyday.  You can see why, he has movie star looks and his vocals sound like David Bowie on that song.  Funny enough, I saw him live when he opened for Mr. Bowie in 1987 on the Glass Spider tour, but didn’t know who he was at the time.  I was a teenager and was probably off trying to score beer during his set. 

His rock teen idol status never manifested, but his guitar playing and songwriting chops made him a sought after session musician for the stars.  He’s played on records from Lucinda Williams, Blues Traveler, Don Henley, Bo Diddley, Keith Richards, Wynona Judd, and countless others.  He then ended up in no other than Bob Dyan’s backing band, and remains there today.

“Everyone Will Crawl” comes from this third album titled Under The Wishing Tree, released in 1995.  The album is criminally underrated, and another song on it called “Sunday Clothes” is definitely in my top ten songs of all time.  James McMurtry, who I featured in T.G.I.F. Friday Volume 36, helped him write it.

And oh yeah, to get better with money, you’ve gotta learn to crawl before you walk, run, or fly.

Miscellaneous

Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and well being – “While the quantity and quality of evidence varies across outcomes, living in greener urban areas is associated with lower probabilities of cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, asthma hospitalisation, mental distress, and ultimately mortality”

Time-restricted eating: efficacy versus effectiveness – “What happens when people are prescribed a treatment vs what happens when people take the treatment are two different questions.”

The Universal Law That Aims Time’s Arrow – “A new look at a ubiquitous phenomenon has uncovered unexpected fractal behavior that could give us clues about the early universe and the arrow of time.”