Happiness Through Luxurious Frugality and Financial Independence
When I started my new job in 2019, I "restarted" my 401k. Six years later, I've hit a quarter million in my account---a number that finally feels substantial to me. But unlike my Roth IRA, sheer brute force was the driver. With the pedal to the metal, the dollars accumulated twice as fast.
In the office environment, I was forced to take regular breaks from staring at my screen. Distractions came in the form of coworkers stopping to say hello, long walks down to the campus Starbucks and in-person meetings. A commute signaled the start and the end of the day, making it easy to shut everything off. Working from home took away all of those automatic triggers for a mental break. It's now on you to own your time.
Are you even a blogger if you aren't busy telling someone how to start a blog?
I'm leaving my old company behind and starting somewhere new. What about my old retirement accounts?
I went to a conference on Thursday that was focused on women in leadership. They had different backgrounds, both professionally and personally. These women were passionate, driven, successful in their careers, and genuinely enjoyed their work. Another major commonality among them: They were the breadwinners and had a stay-at-home husband, or they were single/divorced. There wasn’t much gray area when it came to the household.
A mentor can be a key role for your career development. Always come to your meetings with your mentor prepared for a conversation. Be open and honest with your mentor, and always be willing to listen and learn. Make sure your conversations stay fresh by focusing on the four main types of questions:
As you advance in your career, the onus will be on you to call the shots. Sometimes, that involves rejecting perfectly good applicants from a program they are overqualified for. In these situations, it’s really important to remember how you felt in the past so that you can help them move forward in the future.
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How. by Daniel Coyle was a much-needed and well-timed reminder of how sitting idly by won’t lead anyone to greatness.
“When I grow up, I want to... *crickets.*” This is one of the hardest questions to answer. It seems like no one is working in the field they earned their degree in anymore. Who knows how long a career in a certain field will even last? With all the positions you’ve held, what has your career path even been? And how do you find the job you really want?
I’m the kind of person who loves to learn. I’ve always enjoyed the classroom setting and had a knack for school. My company offers tuition reimbursement of up to $5,250 – the IRS limit – for every calendar year for any pursuit of higher education. I decided that it would be worth pursuing a free MBA (although at a slow pace) since it would ultimately be a free degree, and hey, why not? The annual reimbursement amounted to two and a half classes a year, so some of it was out of pocket, but I had planned to be in corporate America for the next 20 or 30 years anyway and most of my mentors had graduate degrees.
Frugal means sparing or economical with regard to money or food. Reckless means without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action. How can you be frugally reckless? It seems impossible. A perfect oxymoron.