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Financial Independence

Our highest-rigor, highest-stakes library. Start here once you're running real numbers on an early exit from full-time work.

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16 Entries
01Barista FIRE and Part-Time Work: The Middle PathCover today's expenses with part-time work while a portfolio keeps compounding untouched: a middle path between full financial independence and staying at a job you've outgrown.02Building a Bridge Account for the Gap YearsA taxable brokerage bridge account covers the years between early retirement and penalty-free access to your retirement accounts. Here's how to size one.03The Case Against Stock Picking, From Someone Who Gets the AppealPicking stocks is genuinely fun and not irrational to enjoy. The evidence just says it usually loses to a boring index fund, and the reasons why are worth understanding.04Coast FIRE: When You Can Stop Saving and Still Retire on TimeCoast FIRE is the point where your existing balance, left alone, will compound to your retirement number by your target age, meaning further contributions become optional.05How to Access Retirement Money Before 59½ — LegallyThe Rule of 55, 72(t) SEPP payments, and the Roth conversion ladder are the three main legal routes to retirement money before 59½, each with strict rules and real penalties for getting it wrong.06How to Calculate Your FI NumberYour FI number is 25 times your annual spending — the inverse of a 4% withdrawal rate. Here's the math, the assumptions behind it, and a worked example.07Geographic Arbitrage: Making Your Money Go FurtherMoving somewhere cheaper can shrink your FI number or stretch a fixed withdrawal further, but the spreadsheet math skips the parts that actually make or break the move.08Health Insurance in Early Retirement: The Real OptionsACA marketplace coverage, COBRA, and an HSA bridge are the three real paths to health insurance before Medicare, and managing your income matters as much as picking a plan.09Designing a Life, Not Just a NumberWhat actually comes after reaching financial independence: the identity and purpose questions the number was never designed to answer.10The Roth Conversion Ladder, Step by StepA Roth conversion ladder moves traditional retirement money into Roth accounts on purpose, years ahead of when you'll need it, so each conversion clears its own five-year clock.11Safe Withdrawal Rates Beyond 4%: Sequence Risk and GuardrailsA fixed 4% withdrawal isn't the only option. Guardrails and floor-and-ceiling approaches let spending flex with the market instead of following one rigid number.12Your Savings Rate Is the Whole GameReturn assumptions get all the attention, but the percentage of income you save drives years-to-FI far more than what the market does in any given year.13Sequence-of-Returns Risk, Explained With a Bad-Timing ScenarioTwo portfolios can average the identical return and end up hundreds of thousands of dollars apart, because of the order the returns arrive in, not the returns themselves.14How Taxes Change When You Retire EarlyNo paycheck means no automatic withholding, and it opens a real, sourced window where long-term capital gains can be taxed at 0%.15The 4% Rule: Where It Came From and How to Use It CarefullyBill Bengen's 1994 research and the Trinity study gave retirees a starting point, not a guarantee. Here's what they actually found and where the rule breaks down.16What FIRE Actually Means — Lean, Fat, Coast, and BaristaFIRE isn't one plan. Lean, Fat, Coast, and Barista FIRE trade off differently on spending, risk, and how soon you actually stop working for a paycheck.

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01Foundations02Investing