Hello all.
I'm one of those notorious lurkers, decided to come in from the cold. I'm an avid reader/watcher/listener of all things personal finance. I just finished year one of OMY syndrome, gearing up to start year two of OMY.
I attribute my interest in personal finance to the following:
1) I started work at 14. Not long into my first day, I decided I wanted to be an early retiree. The work itself was actually quite enjoyable to my 14 year old self (mom and pop grocery store). The problem, as I'm sure many of you can relate to, was coworkers and management.
2) Back around 1980'ish, there was one TV in our house. Mom and Dad controlled the dial, so we kids watched what Mom and Dad watched. One show they watched was "Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser". They didn't watch for financial reasons, they had government / megacorp pensions and benefits, and could literally not save a dime, and still have a middle to upper middle class lifestyle until the end. They watched for the witty comments of the host. I, on the other hand, watched with rapt attention, thinking "Tell me more of this thing you call financial independence". The downsizing / benefit cutting mania was starting to really get going then, so I knew my ride to retirement would not be nearly as smooth.
3) In my early 20's, I picked up a magazine called "Changing Times" at the news stand. Anybody remember "Changing Times"? Somewhere along the way, the name was changed to "Kiplinger's Personal Finance". I don't remember now why I picked up the magazine, probably some headline such as "How to retire before you die". I became a subscriber, and that magazine has helped keep me on the path to the promised land.
4) Sometime in my 20's, I stumbled across a book (probably saw it in aforementioned magazine) called "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. The ideas in that book exploded like a super nova in my brain (hey, I was 20 something, I was still quite impressionable).
The book is somewhat dated now, but I would still recommend it to any current 20 somethings just starting out. I found it to be life changing.
Well, I've rambled on too long here, sorry for the long post. I thought I might fit in at this community. I sure don't fit in with my "shop til you drop" coworkers...
I'm one of those notorious lurkers, decided to come in from the cold. I'm an avid reader/watcher/listener of all things personal finance. I just finished year one of OMY syndrome, gearing up to start year two of OMY.
I attribute my interest in personal finance to the following:
1) I started work at 14. Not long into my first day, I decided I wanted to be an early retiree. The work itself was actually quite enjoyable to my 14 year old self (mom and pop grocery store). The problem, as I'm sure many of you can relate to, was coworkers and management.
2) Back around 1980'ish, there was one TV in our house. Mom and Dad controlled the dial, so we kids watched what Mom and Dad watched. One show they watched was "Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser". They didn't watch for financial reasons, they had government / megacorp pensions and benefits, and could literally not save a dime, and still have a middle to upper middle class lifestyle until the end. They watched for the witty comments of the host. I, on the other hand, watched with rapt attention, thinking "Tell me more of this thing you call financial independence". The downsizing / benefit cutting mania was starting to really get going then, so I knew my ride to retirement would not be nearly as smooth.
3) In my early 20's, I picked up a magazine called "Changing Times" at the news stand. Anybody remember "Changing Times"? Somewhere along the way, the name was changed to "Kiplinger's Personal Finance". I don't remember now why I picked up the magazine, probably some headline such as "How to retire before you die". I became a subscriber, and that magazine has helped keep me on the path to the promised land.
4) Sometime in my 20's, I stumbled across a book (probably saw it in aforementioned magazine) called "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. The ideas in that book exploded like a super nova in my brain (hey, I was 20 something, I was still quite impressionable).
The book is somewhat dated now, but I would still recommend it to any current 20 somethings just starting out. I found it to be life changing.
Well, I've rambled on too long here, sorry for the long post. I thought I might fit in at this community. I sure don't fit in with my "shop til you drop" coworkers...