Archive · Feb 28, 2018
We Lost $750,000 in the Housing Bubble, and I’m OK With That
The original ERD account linked by The New York Times: a 48% portfolio loss, a cash buffer, and the decision not to sell into the crash.
Read the preserved accountGalen Weston · operator and author
Financial independence, yes. Retirement as a goal? I don't buy it.
I'm Galen. For me, FI means cash flow: learn what I want to learn, build what I want to build, practice guitar, learn tennis—and keep doing work that feels like fun.
Start here
You do not need more content. You need the right next question.
Pick the decision in front of you. Each path stays honest about whether it is a model, a preserved life story, or Galen's point of view.
Am I close?Find the distance, not a magic numberPut a target, timeline, spending range, and durable-income bridge on one page.Will my money survive?Stress the order of returnsKeep the return set fixed, move the bad years, and watch withdrawal timing do the damage.The story so farStart with the archiveRead the founding Dude's first-person record—preserved under his archive identity, never Galen's.What I thinkRead the new argumentGalen's case for financial independence, useful work, and questioning the retirement finish line.
FI, not RE
Working is the journey.
“I would lean towards financial independence, which is what I have. Cash flow. Learn what I want to learn, build what I want to build, practice when I want to practice.”
Financial independence is worth pursuing. Galen questions whether retirement needs to be the finish line.
Meet Galen and the archiveThe founding record
The archive earned the links. It also earns clear attribution.
These are the original Dude's experiences, not Galen's biography. Dates and figures remain attached to the preserved account and its methodology note.
Archive · Apr 5, 2017
How I Retired at 36
The original ERD introduction linked by Big Think, restored without turning one household’s path into a universal formula.
Read the preserved accountA rule for every essay
A number must show its papers.
Every numerical claim links to a source or names the tool and assumption set that computed it. Every article ends with citations, method, and the boundary between a model and lived history.
Read the editorial standard