“Acknowledging that I’ve spent most of my life blissfully ignorant about personal finance, I’m not entirely surprised that my colleagues, like me, struggle to proactively talk about money. But as an educator myself, I think there are at least two reasons for this — not wanting to admit what we don’t know and not knowing what we don’t know.”
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- Why 59 1/2 Is the New 30
- What Is Your New (School) Year Resolution?
- How To ‘Catch-up’ On Retirement Saving
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Pages and posts based on your current level of financial knowledge and experience.
If you’re new to Fire Me or just starting to build your financial intelligence, these resources are a great place to begin.
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Four Legs are Better Than Two When Planning Retirement
This post will introduce the idea of a multi-legged strategy for retirement planning and why many educators — pleasant surprise! — start with extra stability.
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How Can an Educator Catch FIRE?
I think FIRE has done a lot of good to help adults build financial intelligence and think differently about financial independence. But I also think educators are a different breed of cat.
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Six Reasons You Want To Be Financially Independent
Financial independence is about control and choice, defining what work or retirement looks like for yourself — regardless of your age.
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Three Good Reasons Why Educators Hate Talking About Money
Money is not what teachers talk about during their 30 minute lunch. Beyond the usual chatter about kids, colleagues, and bosses, educators are more likely to talk about their new bidet or their craft bootlegging than they are about sharing or talking about personal finance.
These guides to pensions, investments, and other personal finance topics give you the basics to build your knowledge and understanding.
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Are You Ready For the Big One?
Financial independence is not easy. If it was, more people would be financially independent. We all know we’re going to get old(er). We all know we can and should save more — for emergencies, for college, for retirement.
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Artificial Affluence and Cash Flow
Understanding cash flow is essential to determining your financial health and determining if you are living in a state of artificial affluence.
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Artificial Affluence and Net Worth
In addition to the challenge of cash flow, artificial affluence can also impact saving and investing for the future. When monthly living expenses consume or exceed income, the willingness and ability to set aside money for retirement, college expenses, or emergencies suffers.
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How To Understand and Measure Net Worth
Speaking from experience, calculating your net worth is far funner when your assets are greater than your liabilities. But you cannot be financially independent without knowing, monitoring, and building your net worth. Period.
These guides build on the basics to cover more detail as you grow your financial intelligence and confidence.
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How To ‘Catch-up’ On Retirement Saving
Regardless of your age, retirement and financial anxiety can be paralyzing. But educators can take advantage of a variety of strategies to save more money for retirement AND save on taxes.
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How To Hack Your Educator Pension
In my humble opinion, if you are vested, keep your pension intact and let them pay you for the rest of your (and perhaps your partner’s) life. Even if it’s a small payment, it’s going to be there every month you spend in retirement.
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