Preaching to the Choir

When I see who is commenting on the blog, sometimes I have to ask myself why I write about personal finance at all. I mean, most of you who read and comment here have your own personal finance blogs, and, let's face it, you know at least as much about this stuff as I do. We may differ on the varying approaches of debt repayment or investing strategies. But if you read the blog and leave a comment here, my guess is that out of the hundreds or thousands of people in your network of friends, family, and coworkers, you are the person who least needs to read a blog about personal finance. You already have your stuff together. You know how this money thing works. Heck, you know enough about cost cutting, budgeting, investing, tax efficiency, and financial independence to actually write about it three times a week.

Wait Till I Get My Money Right...

I had a dream I could buy my way to heaven.

When I awoke, I spent that on a necklace.
I told God I'd be back in a second.
Man, it's so hard not to act reckless....

I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny.
And what do I do? Act more stupidly.
Bought more jewelry, more Louis V.
My momma couldn't get through to me....

I'm just saying how I feel man.
I ain't one of the Cosby's -- I ain't go to Hillman.
I guess the money should've changed him.
I guess I should've forgot where I came from.
-Kanye West

Bill and Ted's Excellent Investing

Today we have a guest post on investing from a new blogger: Islands of Investing. Hey, where are you going? Wait! Don't leave! I know your first instinct when being told of a guest post is to click away and read some other post from one of your old standbys. But this is a legitimately good post on investing, and the mistakes we can make with our money. If you don't stay and read it, you will probably be poor and unpopular forever, and will likely regret this one key decision when you look back on your life from your deathbed.* Don't let this day be another wasted one, filled with feelings of what might have been. Carpe...something.

*Disclaimer: reading this post will probably not have any material impact on your wealth, popularity, or anything else. The blog does not recommend any specific form of investing, such as picking single stocks. Like everything on this site, the following post is for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered investment or financial advice. Consult real professionals before making financial decisions.You have been warned.

What Are You Going to Do When You Retire?

That's the big question I eventually get whenever I share the idea of retiring at forty with friends or family. What am I going to do with all that time? What am I going to do with my day?

And my answers are really unsatisfying to them. I can tell, because they tell me they'd be bored (and if they're especially blunt, that I will, too). Instead of doing what I want to do (which would be crazy), they suggest that I should volunteer full time somewhere, or write a book, or go back into teaching.

Basically, the assumption is that I should trade fifty hours a week of one activity for fifty hours a week of some other, singular, lower-paying or non-paying activity that I would like more.