Financial independence essays
Galen writes the new work. The original Early Retirement Dude's first-person story stays clearly labeled in the archive.
Start with a FIRE decisionGalen Weston
Inventory accessible cash and Roth contribution basis first, test whether a former-employer-plan exception fits, document every conversion clock, and use SEPP only if its rigid schedule is acceptable.
Galen Weston
There is no universal taxable-first withdrawal order. Build the sequence one tax year at a time from spending, taxable income, account basis, conversion room, and the assets left for later years.
Galen Weston
Do not leave employer coverage until you can name the next coverage route, its enrollment window, its full household cost, and the fallback if income or timing changes.
Galen Weston
Keep some earned income when it materially reduces early portfolio withdrawals and the work still leaves you with the control you wanted financial independence to buy.
Galen Weston
You can stop adding to the portfolio only when the money already invested reaches your later FI target under assumptions you can live with—and current income still covers life before then.
Galen Weston
The spreadsheet can say enough while your nervous system says absolutely not. The useful question is whether another year repairs a real weakness or merely delays an unfamiliar decision.
Galen Weston
A FIRE number answers a narrow question about spending and assets. It cannot tell you who you are without the paycheck, the title, or the familiar weekly machinery.
Galen Weston
If financial independence means choice, choosing paid work cannot automatically invalidate it. The useful test is whether the work serves your life or has quietly reclaimed it.
Founding archive
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.
Founding archive
The original ERD introduction linked by Big Think, restored without turning one household’s path into a universal formula.
Galen Weston
The books, research papers, blogs, and forums that shaped the financial-independence movement.
Galen Weston
What free net-worth trackers do well, how advisory offers fit the business model, and how to assess the two separately.
Galen Weston
Savings rate changes both how quickly assets grow and how large a portfolio target needs to be. The common FIRE table makes that relationship visible.
Galen Weston
I bought Early Retirement Dude. I don't believe in retirement.