After I graduated from college and accepted an entry-level job, I received a starting salary of $21,000 per year. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $24,100 in today’s dollars. I was a diligent saver, even then. I directed 15 percent of my pre-tax income into my 401k and another 5 percent into a Health Savings Account. I…
This article is Part 2 of The Airbnb Series. Start by reading Part 1 here, and when you’re done, visit Part 3 and Part 4. Three months ago, I launched The AirBnb Experiment. I’m trying to satisfy a long-held curiosity: How much more (or less) could I earn by running an Airbnb vacation rental, as compared with…
One Afford Anything reader recently asked: “How do you stay motivated? I feel like all I ever do is work. “I don’t know how many hours exactly, but between my job and my real estate investments, I wouldn’t be surprised if I am pushing over 60 hours a week. “It sucks to see all of my friends…
Shortly after Martin and Sierra Black married, they bought a beautiful 2,200-square-foot Victorian home near Boston. From the outside, the couple looked like they had it all. But something was wrong. They were drowning in bills. They forked over $2,200 each month on mortgage payments, and another $600 per month on gasoline for their long…
What’s the purpose of money? That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m inviting you to sit with this question for a moment. Ponder it. Pray / meditate / reflect on it. Why do you want to create wealth on your life? What’s the ultimate purpose? I’ve thought about this on a near-daily basis for the past…
Ready to rumble? There’s a fight brewing. Two contenders have climbed into the ring. Both are clawing for victory. Only one will survive. In one corner: Crush Your Mortgage, and his team of anti-debt advocates. In the other corner: Keep Your Mortgage, and his cheering crowd of leveraged investors. Who will take home the title?
This article is Part 1 of The Airbnb Series. When you’re done, check out Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. “I wonder if …” The greatest adventures of my life usually begin with that phrase. When I say “greatest,” I don’t necessarily mean “best.” Sometimes I mean “weirdest-smelling” or “insanely-profitable” or “almost-gave-me-malaria.” “I wonder…
At first glance, Forest doesn’t seem to fit the profile of a successful entrepreneur and world traveler. He grew up in a working-class neighborhood. He dropped out of school at age 16. He endured a tragedy in his early 20’s. But our early life doesn’t determine our future. Forest is living proof. He’s been traveling…
Afford Anything turns 3 years old! (Which is 87 in blog years, as my friend J. Money says.) This lil’ website officially launched on March 1, 2011, with a handful of posts about (what else?) retirement and travel. Little did I know, at the time, that the Afford Anything tribe would begin brewing a rebellion ……
Finance nerds have strange habits. Here’s one of mine: Once a year, I lock myself in a room with nothing but a laptop, spreadsheet, and boatloads of determination. The mission: Decipher my savings rate. Am I saving 30 percent of my income? 40 percent? 60 percent? As longtime readers might recall, my then-partner (now ex)…