retirebyforty

My Very Cheap Day

05.17.2013

On Wednesday, I was sitting at the library trying to come up with an idea to blog about. Actually, I had a “to blog” list, but none of them struck a chord with me, so I started reading some magazines instead. Luckily, I found an article in Money Magazine that I can comment on – “My very cheap day” by Kristen Bellstrom. (Thanks to Brian for finding the link for us.) It’s not easy for frugal folks to cut expense Her mission was to spend one day trying to cut every expense she encountered. Aha! I already found something to [...]

29 comments Read the full article →

What advice I would give my 23 year old self

05.15.2013
What advice I would give my 23 year old self

Recently I read an article asking what advice you would give your 23 year old self. (Sorry, I forgot where I read this.) This is a very interesting question because it is a very personal question. It is not a generalized topic like the series I wrote about retirement advice for young folks. Everyone has a different life experience and this kind of question makes you think about what you could have done differently. Let’s see where I was when at 23… I got a Master degree in Electrical and Computer engineering and was already working at Intel. Future Mrs. [...]

59 comments Read the full article →

Why I’m not getting an iPad for our toddler

05.13.2013
Why I'm not getting an iPad for my toddler

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that children under 2 should avoid television completely and older kids limit screen time to one or two hours per day. Studies have shown that excessive screen time can lead to attention problems later on. What about the iPad? This is a much more interactive device than a television. Should we let kids play with it? Many parents are exposing their kids to the iPad from a very young age.  Is that a good idea? We don’t have an iPad and I hadn’t considered getting one for Baby RB40.  That is, until we played with one [...]

47 comments Read the full article →

Is The Disability Program The Ticket To Early Retirement?

05.10.2013
Is The Disability Program The Ticket To Early Retirement?

A few weeks ago, I heard a story – Unfit For Work on This American Life and it’s quite startling. Do you know there are 14 million people currently on the disability program?  People on disability are not counted in the unemployment rate because they are not part of the workforce. You can read more and listen to the story by following the link above. Here is a just a short recap. People on disability receive about $13,000 and healthcare coverage via Medicare. Medical conditions like back pain is a lot more disabling for laborers than office workers. Ethel Thomas would [...]

39 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries