investing Archives - Kind-of-Lost

Barista FIRE vs Coast FIRE: Which Half-Exit Fits You?

I retired early, and I still work — which sounds like a contradiction until you learn the vocabulary. The FIRE movement splits the “quit your job before 65” idea into flavors, and the two that generate the most confusion are barista FIRE vs coast FIRE. Both are half-exits: you leave the career, but you don’t fully unplug from income or from math. The difference between them is what does the heavy lifting afterwards — your part-time paycheck, or compound growth you banked years earlier. Having lived on the far side of this decision for over a decade (boss-free, but rarely idle), here’s how I’d explain the two to a friend deciding which door to take.

Coast FIRE number by age: portfolio needed today to reach $1M at 65 with 7% growth

FU Money

Hello, brave souls and fellow seekers of the almighty FU Money. You’ve stumbled upon my little corner of the internet where I share tales of my quest for the ultimate financial freedom. If you’re expecting a dry, step-by-step guide, you’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere. But if you’re here for a sprinkle of wit on a bed of honest finance advice, grab your favorite beverage and settle in.

Selling Tradelines: My experience

In the past three years, my financial landscape has been significantly reshaped by an unexpected (ad)venture: selling tradelines. This journey wasn’t just a sideline hustle; it became a pivotal part of my financial strategy, offering insights into credit markets, personal finance, and the dynamics of credit score improvement. In this post, I’ll share my firsthand experience, the lessons learned, and the strategies that worked (and didn’t) in the world of tradelines. Whether you’re considering selling tradelines yourself or simply curious about this niche financial practice, join me as I unpack the layers of this journey.

“Set for Life” by Scott Trench: Book Review

“Set for Life” by Scott Trench is one of those books that’s more useful in your late twenties than your late thirties, which isn’t a knock — it’s just the honest audience. Trench built his framework from his own experience going from broke recent grad to financially independent relatively quickly, and the whole book is oriented around aggressive early-stage wealth-building. If you’re past that stage, you’ll still find useful ideas, but the action items are most relevant when you’re starting from zero.

The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin: Book Review

Here’s something most people don’t realize when they pick up “The Way to Wealth”: it’s not really a book. It’s a short essay Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1758 as a preface to the final edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack. The whole thing takes maybe 30 minutes to read. What you’re getting on Amazon is usually a very slim volume — the essay itself, possibly with some historical notes. That’s it. Which means if someone tells you “this book changed my life,” what actually happened is that a 30-minute read from 1758 changed their life. That’s either impressive or concerning depending on how you look at it.