Recent content by Jack_Key

Well, thank you  :D Exactly. I have friends who are professional artists (particularly in the writing and musical domains). While they are doing what they like, all of them work elsewhere to pay the bills (McJobs for most of them). They often feel bitter about life in general, since they work...

We live nearby downtown in a city with a population of about 500,000. It's actually a very pretty neighborhood (one of the costliest area in town), and even if the condo is not a palace (rather small, 700sq.f. two bedrooms apartment), it's nice. The condo we bought $85k three years ago...

Hiya. I'm 30 and my ultimate goal is to retire in 7 years. I have a blog (retireat37.blogspot.com) on which I detail my progress. I think it should be possible for you to reach your goal with $650000 (or even less than that). I also have cumulated about $100000 net assets to date and I earn...

We actually just do that (we don't share every single bill, see my personal $15k budget as our household $30k budget, divided by two). But as you say, we both have our separated finances and I didn't want to include my wife's finances on my blog, to simplify things for me.

$50 a month makes $600 a year, that's my share, so for the two of us, its $1200. Jack

Here in Canada, the income tax rates are so high for the rich that they end-up being mid-class, poors don't pay tax at all, so that we are all getting equally poor.

I save nearly 60%, living on a 15k budget. If you are interested to see how I can do it, read my blog, http://retireat37.blogspot.com, sorry for the plug ;D More particularly, I detail my budget here: http://retireat37.blogspot.com/2004/10/my-15k-budget.html. Regards, Jack K.

When a writer writes a book, is that vanity? When people write diaries, is that also as a consequence of vanity? Blogging and discussion boards are two different things, just as writing books, writing diaries and posting on forums are different things. I read some blogs and can state some...

I'd say that obviously, different people have different reasons to blog. I've read someone telling that vanity would be the main reason: it might be a reason for some, it isn't for me. I'm running my blog to help me stick on my plan. Since I've been blogging on "The Blog of a Man Who Plans to...

Hello, I don't want to give you advices about your portfolio composition - you seemed to have been very successful so far. My suggestion of regrouping is to help you track your portfolio. With so many funds/ETFs, I suppose it is quite difficult for you to tell, for instance, what is your...

Hello, I think you should consider using asset allocation strategies. (See for instance my humble article on that: http://retireat37.blogspot.com/2005/05/asset-allocation.html and the much better http://www.investopedia.com/articles/04/031704.asp). I personnaly use four asset classes: -...

Being young (30), FI is more important now than ER. And even if my blog is named "The blog of a man who plans to RETIRE at 37", actually, I plan to be able to retire at that time, but FI is the real goal there. People already have said here many reasons to seek FI: - having options (you can...

"Having a life" would be defined in many ways by different peoples. Some people don't save much, spend a lot, work a lot until they are old or sick. Since they have two cars and a big home that cost a lot, they feel they shouldn't pay for theater, or to travel, or they can't afford a dinner at...

Hi grlcndream, I'm on a similar plan (but a 7-years plan, I'm 29), see my blog on my plan at: http://retireat37.blogspot.com. There is nothing wrong with your wanting to "retire" early. I wish I could retire at 31 like you, but I just can't. How much money do you plan to have by the time...

That's exactly what it is. Actually, I think then that "Financial Independance" is more closely related to what you say than "Early retirement". Jack