FIRE the Family Podcast (Financial Independence Retire Early)

I deleted my YouTube Channel that had over 8,000 subscribers and 3 million views. Why would anyone do that? This is why! 

Resources Mentioned in the Episode:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com

I officially completed all of the requirements of the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree through Western Governors University (WGU). This is my review of the WGU Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. 

Full Article: “All About the WGU MBA Program.”

Financial Independence Resources:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com

Index funds are a great way to invest for the long term, but there are many to choose from. Each having there own strategy, expenses and other defining factors that set them apart. 

Full Article: “3 Steps to Index Fund Investing.”

Financial Independence Resources:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com

The higher your savings rate, the more you can invest each month the quicker you can reach financial independence. In order to increase your savings rate, you need to be able to save money each month. 

Full Article: “How to Save More Money.”

Financial Independence Resources:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com

Today's episode is about the upcoming recession. A recession is defined as, “a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters.”

It’s not so scary when you call it what it is. It’s a temporary period of time when there is a contraction in the economy, not expansion. We all know the saying, “what goes up, must come down.” The stock market wouldn’t be the stock market if it always increased in value. An indefinite bull market wouldn’t work. There would be no exchange. Just as the value of a single stock fluctuates throughout the day, week, month year, so too does the economy. It’s just the way it is.

Full Article: "Is a Recession Coming? The Definition of a Recession." 

Financial Independence Resources:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com

Today's episode is about budgeting. Developing a way to understand and control your finances. Too many times have we got to the end of the month and realized we didn't have enough money in checking to buy groceries or get gas. So we have to then transfer money from savings to checking. It's frustrating and can be the cause of many arguments. This was us about 3 years ago. 

Separating from the military and going through college on a shoestring budget was not easy. In fact, it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Luckily, when the idea of a budget came up, Kayla was all for it. Her mom was a budget believer and Kayla saw how much a budget allowed them to do on a lower income. 

Full Article: "How to Create a Budget in Excel using a Template."

Financial Independence Resources:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com

Today we just bought a 2017 Used Honda Accord from a dealership. In this post, I’m going to break down for you why we made the decision we did, how it fits into our budget and some tips you can use if you ever decide to purchase a car. 

Full article: 9 Tips on Buying a Car From a Dealership

Financial Independence Resources:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com

 Wow, that sounds like the ultimate clickbait title. It’s not. I got paid an average of $1200 a month to go to college for 5 years. Not only that, but I still received financial aid, grants, scholarships, and my tuition and books were completely covered. How did I do this? 

The reason I had this amazing benefit was because of my military service and the crazy generous benefits that exist today. This post is largely for those influential youngsters out there. Unfortunately, the older you are the harder it may be to join a branch of the military.

 The Post 9/11 GI Bill is an education benefit service members may be eligible for from serving in the United States Armed Forces. If you meet the criteria (time in service, honorable discharge) then you likely have access to this benefit. Here are the basics: 

 Doing rough math (because math is hard) my undergraduate was at an in-state branch campus university. The tuition was about $5,000 a semester. I attended for 9 semesters. Tuition alone would have cost me upwards of $40,000. I also received about $1400 a month in basic allowance for housing (BAH) to total about $55,000. It’s safe to assume that I received over $100,000 in value from my Post 9/11 GI Bill benefit.  

Full Article: How I got Paid to go to College

Financial Independence Resources:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com

 The Financially Independent Retire Early movement has swept the nation in recent years. Though the concept has been around for decades, it’s been seen as a millennial-driven craze. The same people that talk down on my generation about laziness, willingness to work etc… are the same ones that are about to be left behind when it comes to retirement. In other words, they’re salty because they seeing people half their age with 10x the net worth. 

Financial independence has various definitions. To me, it means that I have enough net worth to decide when, where and what projects I work on. It means I can walk into the office tomorrow and tell my boss that I quit (I can’t do that… yet). It means I can pay myself a salary from my investments. The basic definition is as follows: Financially independent people have assets that generate income that is at least equal to their expenses.   

Full Article: The Family Guide to Financial Independence Retire Early

Financial Independence Resources:

Imagine if your family could learn to budget, save and invest enough to become financially independent before the age of 65.

Hi, I'm Nick French! I'm here to show you through my own experience, exactly how you can get on the path to financial independence and reach retirement on or before the age of 65. FIREtheFamily.com