Since retiring early, we’ve been traveling a lot more, but it sure gets expensive. Naturally, we’d like to keep costs as low as possible without giving up too much convenience or comfort. I’ve looked into popular travel hacks such as credit card point churning and searching for alternative airports. But a lot of them remind me of extreme couponing: They might save us money, but they also sound like a lot of work. And that's not exactly what I had in mind when I retired early.

Our COBRA coverage expires this year. And next year, we plan to switch to an ACA insurance plan. As mentioned in an earlier post about ACA health insurance in early retirement, we're hoping to qualify for ACA subsidies. Doing so could dramatically lower our insurance premiums. The catch? We need to manage our household MAGI (Modified Adjusted Gross Income). It’s a major factor in determining whether we qualify for subsidies and how much we can receive. How ironic is it that w

After putting together our FIRE plan in 2009, my wife and I adopted several frugal habits—not because we enjoyed deprivation, but because we wanted to spend more intentionally. Those habits helped us reach financial independence in 2019 and eventually retire early in 2025. What surprised me is that even after FIRE, we never stopped doing them. Some habits stick around long after reaching FIRE. Sure, we occasionally splurge on business-class airplane seats or a ridiculously ex

Last week, I shared what our first year of early retirement looked like financially. Going from a paycheck and employer-subsidized health insurance to being fully self-sufficient was a big shift. At the six-month mark, I wrote about some of the early adjustments and surprises we were already experiencing. But money is only one part of the equation. Leaving my job also meant losing structure, schedules, social connections, purpose, and identity. This post is about what the ear

When I hit the six-month mark of early retirement back in October, I was still adjusting. The sudden abundance of free time was overwhelming, and not having a job title or clear responsibilities felt… strange. I wasn’t just figuring out the financial side—I was trying to picture what life would actually look like for the next 30+ years. Now, after our first year of early retirement, that picture is a lot clearer. There’s a lot to unpack after a full year of retirement, so I’m

I got really excited when I finished filing our 2025 tax return last week. You might assume it’s because we’re getting a huge refund. Nope. The real reason I was excited? My tax optimization spreadsheet actually worked. Last year, I shared a spreadsheet I built to estimate how much long-term capital gains we could realize while staying in the 0% capital gains tax bracket . I had tested the math every way I could think of. But until you actually file a tax return, you never

Nine months into early retirement , managing healthcare costs is still top of mind. Health insurance options in early retirement are limited—and expensive. The bigger worry, though, has always been what happens if we have an expensive medical procedure. A single medical episode can derail even a solid FIRE plan . It gets scarier when the safety net of a steady paycheck is no longer there. That’s why maintaining and improving our health has been such a big focus for us. But

Over New Year’s Eve and the first five days of the new year, my wife and I did our annual FIRE (Financially Independent, Retire Early) reset , which includes creating our 2026 Goals Bingo cards and completing our no-spend challenge. This reset helps us stay intentional about health, spending, and how we want early retirement to actually feel—not just how it looks on paper. This will be our first full year in early retirement since exiting the rat race in 2025. Last year, we w

As part of our year-end tradition , my wife and I reviewed our Goals Bingo cards and reminisced about the places we visited and the things we did throughout the year. For fun, we also voted on our personal “Best of 2025” across a few categories—including Best New App. This year, we both chose an app that saves us money, helps the environment and businesses—and creates a little excitement. Our Best New App of 2025 is Too Good To Go. Note: I am not affiliated with Too Good To G

As the year comes to a close, I still find it hard to believe that we actually retired before turning 50 this year. When we were in our 30s, retirement at any age seemed like a pipe dream . Despite having low-paying jobs and no direction, we somehow still managed to cross the rat race finish line early. With less than a week left in 2025, we’re now making preparations for two annual traditions to close out the old year and ring in the new one. A few friends started copying u

I’m so excited to share a new spreadsheet I recently created to estimate tax liability and optimize long-term capital gains (LTCG)! I know this sounds like an odd thing to get excited about—but hear me out. Since retiring earlier this year, early retirement tax planning has become a major focus for us. We have more than a decade before we begin to collect Social Security. And without steady paychecks, we’ll be relying solely on our savings and investments. Of course, we’d li

In my last post , we talked about how long-term capital gains stack on top of ordinary income when calculating your federal taxes. We also looked at the magical unicorn of tax brackets: the 0% long-term capital gains bracket. This “stacking” concept doesn’t just help reduce your taxes today—it can also shrink your tax bill years from now by intentionally using the 0% tax bracket. And that’s where capital gains harvesting comes in. Yes, “harvesting,” as if we’re out in a fiel

So you have health insurance. But do you know what you’re actually paying for? If the words premium, deductible, coinsurance, and co-pay sound like gibberish, keep scrolling. I’ll break down the most common health insurance terminology you’ll come across—without the jargon. Trying to understand your health plan can be as painful as hemorrhoids UNDERSTANDING THE COSTS BEHIND YOUR HEALTH PLAN Before diving into the alphabet soup of plan types, it helps to understand the basic

As the six-month mark of my early retirement approaches, I’ve started looking back at how it’s gone so far. Before I retired, I pictured waking up late, spontaneous adventures, and maybe a new hobby or two. And while some of that has happened, the reality has been a little less “vacation mode” and a little more “figure out how to make retirement enjoyable” mode. Many people assume retirement is like flipping a switch—you leave your job on Friday and wake up Monday in permanen