Finance My Fire: An Update

Let me start with this: I am the guy who wrote he'd keep writing posts on this blog no matter what, but didn't for 1½ years. The guy who started the #microfiction series (see the top menu), which was so small only one tiny story was ever published! The truth is I 'disappeared' for a …

Portfolio Update: July 2019

July was awesome! I had a three week break from work and the weather cooperated beautifully. And because I had refrained from planning any trips I could submerge myself in vacation bliss from the very first moment after leaving the office. No suitcases to pack, no rushing to airports, standing in line at check-in counters …

Portfolio Update: June 2019

Scandinavia isn't particularly known for its long and hot summers, but recent summers have been on fire. As a figure of speech. And literally. Half of Sweden was suffering from raging forest fires last year, as it was scorching hot for months on end. Luckily this years summer is a bit more modest temperature wise …

Adventures In Deep (Crypto) Space

Investing in digital - or crypto - currency is somewhat of a taboo in the FIRE community. Say Bitcoin and you are frowned upon. You want to be one of us?  Denounce your deeds of darkness! Repent your evil ways! Follow us on the true path to FIRE. I exaggerate. But we do pride ourselves on making …

Time-Weighted Return

I've been struggling a bit with keeping track of the performance of my portfolio and specific assets and asset classes that I own. I am not an accountant. My initial approach to measuring performance was to take the difference between current portfolio or holding value (V), subtract the amount I invested (I) and divide the …

Thought Experiment: Oh hi, Marc

SavingNinja published another interesting thought experiment. I always wonder how he does it: Ask inherently thought provoking questions that I simply have to respond to. I enjoy these thought experiments a lot, but I have to admit: This new one is not easy. "A different opinion is somewhat frowned upon in our clique based society, but …

Portfolio Update: May 2019

June has arrived, so it is time for another portfolio update. May passed extremely quickly as far as I am concerned, mainly because I had a break from work, visited family in my native Holland, went on a road trip with my brother and lost track of time. More about that later. During May I …

Investing: Embracing The Uncertainty

The other day I read 'the best investors are those with the patience and the perspective to do the opposite of what the masses are doing'. I've invested nearly all my invest-able money in one particular stock (my company's). The masses would never do that. The masses diversify. Now, it didn't only say 'those who …

Why Holland Sucks, part I

Read this first (especially if you are Dutch): Everything I say in this post is my personal opinion. It's wholeheartedly subjective and biased and probably says much more about me than about the country in the title. Just imagine that 'these are the reactionary rantings of an embittered old man' and don't get offended in …

Portfolio Update: April 2019

Time passes with the same speed as it always does. It only seems to slow down or speed up, depending on your frame of reference. Like when we say that time suddenly stood still. A figure of speech that we use when we are intensely focused on one particular event or moment. As in 'when …

Life’s a budget and then you retire

The title of this post is a variation of life's a bitch and then you die. I somehow always believed in the power of not budgeting. Of automated savings and conscious spending to avoid lifestyle inflation. I rather relaxed while the 'beginners' were deciding how much to spend on groceries, personal care, and entertainment each month …

FIRE #microfiction

Okay ladies and gents, here we go. The very first round of the Finance Your Fire #microfiction writing challenge. The word is fire (surprise, surprise). The challenge: Write a microfiction story of max 350 words in a genre of your choice and use the word fire, one way or the other (the title doesn't have …

Flood #microfiction

This post is an example of microfiction. It can give you some inspiration for your own tiny stories once I launch the Finance Your Fire #microfiction writing challenge on my blog. At the time of writing this post I haven't launched the challenge just yet, but stay tuned. If I deem there is sufficient interest I'll …

Life after FIRE: Practice Makes Perfect

It's Easter. And because I had a some personal time off (PTO) days to burn, I decided to unplug and recharge for two full weeks. And that's not all. In May - after only three weeks back at the office - I will have another two weeks to relax. This is before my three week …

Thought Experiment: FIRE. And Now What?

SavingNinja published another inspiring thought experiment. I participated in all of them thus far and once again I couldn't help to pour a glass of whiskey, fire up my laptop, light a cigar (okay not the cigar thing, but try to imagine it) and turn my thoughts into a rambling blog post. Not only are these …