Why I Write This Blog

 

I am a 67-year-old guy who basically stumbled into financial independence and early retirement when I was 53. If I had known in my 30’s what I know now, I could have freed myself from wage slavery much, much sooner. And that is the whole point of Retired To Win. To share with you what I have learned and what I have done that could help you become financially independent sooner rather than later. And hopefully sooner than me.

I have done smart things and I have done dumb things. And I am sharing those things through this blog so you can, hopefully, benefit from my experiences. This includes my investing, spending and financial planning strategies and decisions. Both what has worked for me and what has not. Both the good and the bad. And even some of the ugly.

 

My Story in a Nutshell

I left home at 17 to live on my own. In time, I ended up getting college degrees in business management (at age 36) and in marine science (at age 42). But, really, I learned to do my jobs on the job. That included — in chronological order — working as a lab technician, advertising copywriter, scuba diving instructor, short order cook, telephone bill collector, bookkeeper, telephone solicitor, sales rep, advertising account executive, marketing branch manager, marine researcher, regulatory lobbyist, technical writer, and — for the last 10 years of my working life — chief executive officer of a nonprofit organization. Along the way, I was sole owner or partner in 2 small publishing companies, one advertising agency, a specialty industry trade show, and a one-man marketing consultancy.

I have lived in 16 cities in 8 different states. I have rented a lot of apartments as well as a couple of houses, and owned with my wife 5 different single-family homes. At times, I have made a lot of money; at other times, barely enough to mention. I have sued and been sued. I have gone from being bankrupt in my late 20’s to reaching an 800-plus FICO credit score in my 50’s. And it all culminated in my attaining debt-free financial independence at age 53.

 

And Now I Am All FIREd Up

I am now at a place in my life where it’s all overwhelmingly good. I reside in a Reasonable Cost of Living Area where homes don’t cost a fortune, and where taxes and insurance costs don’t eat me alive. I live in a very comfortable single-family house with a minimal mortgage that I can pay off any time I wish. I have built up my passive income and trimmed down my basic living expenses so that my incoming cash covers those basic living expenses about 3 times over. And that means that my time is now all mine to enjoy with way more than enough discretionary surplus income to enjoy it.

The articles that I post in Retired To Win tell the story of how I navigated my financial ship to reach this great way of life. They cover the what, how and why of the personal finance strategies and tactics that I have used, still use, and keep tweaking to improve.

And its my hope that those stories and this blog help you to also reach a great free-from-jobs way of life. Soon.

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