September’s a big birthday month in our house, and it made me think of something missing from so much financial advice distributed by social media gurus peddling concepts like FIRE, when they clearly haven’t even considered their own retirements: Family #familymatters 1/9
Concepts & schemes including popular ideas like geo-arbitrage, or moving from high cost of living areas (HCOL) to lower (LCOL), sometimes including attempts to avoid taxes, like Reason’s latest suggestion to move to Puerto Rico, ignore the F word. reason.com/2022/08/03/the… 2/9
I love the idea of moving where my dollars go further, and some might say I already did, going from NYC to Chicago to Atlanta, but I did that when I was single. Now, with a working spouse & grade school child, that idea is much more complicated. #FamilyMatters 3/9
I’m also in the sandwich generation, which makes me more aware of family responsibilities than your average Twitter HODLer or TikTok coach. Our son is in school, which we don’t want to leave, and my mom moved into a senior living building down the street. 4/9
On top of that, my (ex military) in-laws actually moved closer to us (to a higher cost of living area) to be closer to their grandson. Who thinks moving to save some money is a real possibility for me? 5/9
It’s not just moving. Children cost money. We’ve seen the studies. Can you raise children more cheaply? Of course. Do many folks already do it? They sure do, but most of them do so because they’re forced to. If you can afford it, you buy the new soccer cleats for the kid. 6/9
I’m not trying to be a downer. I’m just saying that if you’re lucky, life gets more complicated as you get older & closer to retirement, traditional or “early,” and options you thought you would have or used to have simply no longer exist in real life. 7/9
What’s the solution? Save early, save often. Give yourself the flexibility and grace to deal with life’s curveballs. Money can give you flexibility, but mindset is important too. Some years you won’t be able to save. Don’t beat yourself up over it. 8/9
Don’t let yourself feel like you’re doing something wrong or missing out because you can’t FIRE to Vietnam because you have make sure your mom has a roof over her head or your daughter really wants to take extra robotics lessons. And have a great weekend! 9/9
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