I still don't know how people who write books and blogs for a living can claim they are retired. Maybe they left punching the clock behind but they all seem to be looking for easy ways to make money.
Yep, seems there sometimes are hidden agendas. It would be best if those people are very up front in disclosures. I never know how much of this to ascribe to the profit motive.
Why is it OK to trade stocks in retirement- but writing a blog is considered employment?
Trading stocks is like playing poker. You enjoy the game and hopefully make some money.
Writing a blog might be for enjoyment. It depends on whether there are ads on the site. The Calderlies and Terhorsts both write for money, and they do travel a lot. I think it would be more forthright if they say they began independent living at 35.
It is simply a matter of degree.
As far as blogging negating the use of the term retired... Look at Nords - he blogs, and has ads on his site.... But he donates the money to military charities. So... is he retired? I'd say he is.
Thanks, Rodi-- I appreciate the support.
I suspect that if the Terhorsts have made any money from blogging, then it didn't even pay their hosting fees. Writing one book about reaching financial independence and early retirement won't make you rich, either:
Book Sales, Military Charity, a Linkedin Book, and Military Discounts - Military Guide
Just to be clear, I no longer own the blog (or the ads):
I'm still donating all of the book royalties to Wounded Warrior Project and Fisher House Foundation. You can see the numbers (as of April 2014) at that link.
I started the blog in September 2010 on WordPress.com (the free hosting) and blogged for two years with zero revenue.
In October 2012 I moved to Bluehost (using WordPress.ORG open-source software) and turned on the revenue faucet.
I sold the blog in August 2013 to a U.S. military servicemember. (He's planning to retire in a couple of years, and blogging is one of his income streams.) The purchase price was a large donation to Wounded Warrior Project. He keeps all of the blog revenue (whatever he can earn) and I keep marketing the book through the site. Even clicking on "The Military Guide" book link sends the Amazon affiliate revenue to him (although the royalty still goes to me).
The buyer and I have a three-year earnout agreement. For every year that I contribute a certain number of posts to the blog, he donates more money to WWP. Next month he's making another large donation, and I expect to keep up the pace for two more years.
I'm working on a second book ("The Military Guide to Good Insurance Decisions") and I have plans for three more. "Whaddya DO all day?!?" indeed. But I do not have deadlines.
I started working on the first book in 2005. Over the years I'm about $800 in the red: paper, toner cartridges, postage, phone calls & Skype fees, hosting fees, business card stock, bits & pieces of software, books to give away. But SamClem bought me lunch when we reviewed a draft together, so there's that. I also paid taxes on all of the royalties and blog revenue, and of course I deduct every self-employment expense that would reduce those taxes. But I don't even move any of the writing money into my Roth IRA-- I don't need to.
If you're writing purely for the money then you're going to be very disappointed by the hourly wages. When blogging is done for profit, it's only 10% writing and 90% promoting. The visibly successful authors do the same-- that's why you notice their visibility and it's what makes them successful. There are hundreds of thousands of good writers in America alone, but most of them suck at marketing.
I enjoy writing, and it's a good thing that I do because I can't shut it off. I work on a blog post for at least 20 minutes every day, but almost every day for the last decade I have written for at least a couple of hours-- e-mail, social media, planning, analyzing, or other personal projects. When I want to think through a problem or a question, I write about it. It helps me understand things better. Why, if I stopped wasting so much time on the writing and focused on the marketing then I could retire... oh wait.
Anyone who feels that I'm not really
really retired is welcome to join me for a surfing session at White Plains Beach. If you can swim then you can learn to surf, and I'll teach you how (for free). But you'll have to wait until I get back from FinCon14, where I'll be hanging out with dozens of friends I've met over the last three years who understand why we write and when we're retired. A surprisingly large number of them are military, although perhaps it's not so surprising that we find each other in the crowds.
If you're attending FinCon14 then you know how to find me. If you're not attending FinCon14 then let me know what questions you'd like me to ask the other rank & file personal-finance bloggers. Everyone there has something to sell, but they're all giving value for their product.