Archive
Category: Financial Independence
The arithmetic of walking away.
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The Optionality Trap
Optionality is useful until it becomes a religion. Some people keep working not because they need more money, but because every extra dollar preserves a life they will never choose.
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Your FIRE Number Should Shrink Every Birthday
Most FIRE plans treat your number as static. It should not be. Every birthday reduces the amount of life your portfolio has to fund.
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Sequence of Returns Risk, Explained in 600 Words
The risk that ends FIRE plans is not the average return — it is the order the returns arrive in. A short, sharp explainer.
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The Real FIRE Number: How Much You Actually Need to Retire Early
The familiar “annual spending × 25” formula was designed for a 65-year-old in 1994 — not for you. Here is how to calculate the FIRE number that is actually yours.
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The Math of Walking Away
A 1994 paper about American retirees taught everyone to multiply their spending by 25. Here is why that math may not be yours.