Recent content by EuropeOrBust

Great advice here—hold that $6k for a true emergency, keep saving (and save as much as you can while you're young!), make sure you have a RothIRA, focus on index funds (or ETFs, etc.)— these allow you to diversify without trading individual stocks; they are often the right choice for long-term...

Love it! And a post at 3am? No sweat! The Circadian rhythm style of sleeping/waking is the husband's dream :)

Thanks for such a great perspective. Funny you mention life insurance. We have it for my husband as he's convinced I'll outlive him (also, my father died young and left my mother penniless with kids; it's left a mark!). I've often wondered if we should hang onto it once we FIRE. We've put so...

Thanks for the recommendation—total book nerd here. Interesting to think about FI v. RE. I'll have to marinate on that a bit. :)

Thank you. It IS hard when the work is good, colleagues great, but the environment (and/or the boss) creates unnecessary stress. And my DH is 7 years my senior so time, and time with him in particular, is something I weigh quite a bit.

Saving is definitely a hard habit to break. It seems like it will feel really unnatural! Also, I LOVE this: The first rule of compounding: Never interrupt it unnecessarily

Thanks for this. If the past year has taught us anything it's that we need a lot less (of everything) than we thought.

What a great update! And so fantastic for the "kids" to see that consistency is where' it's at :) Congrats!

Thanks very much. We've thought about this scenario, too. The thing is we're one of those super-annoying, still-crazy-in-love couples—we're each other's best friends. He said he'd get bummed out if I was working and he wasn't. So, what we're loosely planning is to take a year off and then, at...

I really get this. The amount of worrying we can do never changes the outcome. Best to take the leap. Congrats!

Your thinking on "yelling" echo my reasons for starting a consulting business 9 years ago :)

ABSOLUTELY. That "moment" for us, I think, was Covid. Who saw that coming? (that's a whole 'nother thread...). But the idea of that BS bucket is huge. Even if you enjoy your work, I/you/we find that we have less and less room for all the other crap that comes with with a career, even if you're...

Oohhh. I like this LIfe Math. Thanks :)

Yes! We have dual citizenship (through grandparents) so no visa issues for us. Italy and Portugal are the final contenders, for various reasons. We love SA, but prefer a European vibe for day-to-day living.

That's a great way to think about it. We've both always been good earners, so letting that part of our life go is a strange notion. Although I'm open to starting a completely different business in Phase 3 (as we call it) like raising bees or something :)