My name is RAE. I'm going to become financially independent and wealthy.
This is a simple, no nonsense account of my journey.
The Canadian Money Saver (CMS) magazine offers independent, no frills financial advice for the common folk. It has been in print since 1981, and its claim to independence comes from the fact that it is a membership-funded magazine without paid advertising. It is a also not connected with any bank, brokerage or financial institution.
CMS is what started it all. I came across it by chance at a bookstore, and bought it for $3.95. This was at a time when I had less than $50 to my name. Something felt right about the purchase, and I've never looked back. It is surprisingly affordable for the quality of information it provides.
DESTINATION: EARLY FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE
Ross Grant 'retired' at the ripe old age of 43, using advice from the Canadian Money Saver magazine. He employed the Beating the TSX (BTSX) strategy to achieve his goals, the approach I'm emulating to achieve mine.
He wrote Destination: Early Financial Independence as an e-book that was my instruction manual to get my investing started. At the time of constructing this website (2016), the book goes for $5.99.
In 2012 Mat and Danielle set out to simplify their lives, and now are minimalist nomads. Their YouTube channel is chock full of videos about alternative living.
Alternative living is not for everyone, but that doesn't mean you can't learn from it. You'll notice a common theme in their videos: people trying to get the most out of limited resources. This often includes money, and how to save instead of spending when you are generating a surplus.
Their tip about equating every inessential purchase to time required to work to earn the money to make the purchase was critical in getting my spending in order. This allows me to save consistently, so I can invest consistently.
Kirsten Dirksen and her husband Nicolás Boullosa produce a web video series called '*faircomapnies', which tells and explores the stories of people who have chosen to build/live in unconventional spaces.
It is storytelling of the highest order: simple and to the point, the kind that is rare to find in this day and age. They routinely focus on minimalism, especially when thought of within the framework of Maslow's hierarchy of needs: when your physical needs are made smaller and easier to achieve, self actualization and self-transcendence needs can be worked on sooner.
"What a man can be, he must be."
MORGAN HOUSEL - COLLABORATIVE FUND
Morgan Housel is belongs to a truly rare breed of writers: There’s nothing he ever writes that isn’t just pure gold.
It is a mixture of history, psychology, finance and investing - all packaged up in a narrative that grips you from the very beginning right up to the very end.
I have no doubt that I will look back upon stumbling on his writing as one of those pivotal moments in my life where I understood the world better.