Hello

Hi all, I'm a 40 yr old male with 18 mo. old twin girls. I work in the financial svcs. industry and am a real cynic of Brokerage houses. I invest in Dividend reinvestment plans and Treasuries. I hope to payoff all debts within 10 yrs. and leave the rat race. I could be very happy doing something other than making money for others. Paul Terhorst and Your Money or Your Life are my inspiration. Jon

[MRGALT2U]

I think you are on the right track. Re. Terhorst, he kind
of put some meat on the bones of ideas which had been
bouncing around in my head for some time. Confirmed
that not only were my ideas doable, but here was a
guy who had done it. Loved the book. Still reread it
from time to time.

One big mistake I made (warning for others) is that
I never really was a good saver while I was in my peak
earning years. Even after I had decided to retire very
early, I found it extremely difficult to wean myself off
my big spender ways. I am paying a price for this now.

One thing which turned out not to be a problem was
cutting down on my pile of "stuff". My divorce in 1998
took care of that .

[WRBT]

My wife and I have a pile of stuff that includes a mortgage and student loans. We do live way under our means and are on track to have those paid off right around the same time our savings are where they need to be to enter the FIRE kingdom.