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.”

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Dave @ Accidental FIRE

I reached financial independence and semi-retired in my mid-40's through hard work, smart living, and investing. This blog chronicles my journey and explores many aspects of personal finance including the psychological and behavioral factors that drive our habits.

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8 Responses

  1. I do the same as you with my taxes, except this year it was Amex and 100k MR points.
    When you’re not spending much otherwise it’s nice that the govt makes it so easy to take my money so I can hit the minimum spend requirement.

    • Dave @ Accidental FIRE says:

      Nice score – great minds think alike! For me I have 85% of the minimum spend in two clicks. I’ll hit the minimum in a week or two

  2. good to see a steveark feature. i think i’ve always had enough even when i was technically poor. i’m thankful not to have gone hungry ever.

    • Dave @ Accidental FIRE says:

      I’m practicing intermittent fasting now so I’m choosing to go hungry. Crazy how life works

  3. Shannon@RetiresGreat says:

    What a satirical video Dave!

    I confess I used to look forward to weekends, but not because of my job. It was more about never having quite enough time time to do everything I wanted to. Now that I’m fully retired, weirdly, l still don’t have enough time. That makes absolutely no sense!

    Then it hit me between the eyes. Between blogging about retirement and living in the present, I found myself inspired in ways I never dreamed possible. For me, it’s about making the most about what time we have left. Life is precious and each of us has a “best before date”.

    At the risk of sounding somewhat arrogant, the number of visitors to our site has almost doubled over the past few months. I suspect it’s about living a full and purposeful life. I couldn’t agree more with you, my friend, that people need to live for more than just the weekend.

    • Dave @ Accidental FIRE says:

      Dude your site is getting more popular because you’re walking the talk. Set the example and they will come

  4. Mr. Tako says:

    Great post Dave. I too have enjoyed the interest free loan from the U.S. government, but you have to be careful … sometimes you get hit with penalties!

    • Dave @ Accidental FIRE says:

      One year I got hit with a penalty, and it was a whopping $34. I calculated the money I made in the stock market from investing Uncle Sam’s money on margin that year and it was in the thousands. The penalties aren’t a big deal unless you’re underpaying by huge amounts

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