Twice a year we rummage through the reader mailbag to air your questions and do our very best to answer them. Well, we can’t believe it’s that time again! The previous Q&A still feels fresh in our minds. There really is truth to time passing more quickly as you age. …

Has money become less meaningful to me? Let’s put it this way: Would I sell our pet cat for … $10,000? $20,000? $30,000? Well, we’re now at a stage where we can make/lose that much in a single day. And I’ve become so used to the machinations of the share…

The only thing certain in life is death and taxes. But even that knowledge doesn’t help your early retirement plans very much. Unfortunately you need to make a number of long-term assumptions when you’re undertaking the multi-year ordeal that is planning for early retirement. And yes, those assumptions include…

The most common complaint about saving money is that by not spending it now you’re depriving yourself. “But I need that new computer game! I want that haircut! Having that big brunch on the weekend makes me happy!” I’m not denying that any of those things — or many, many…

If there’s one thing about doing my job — both current and past — that I hate, it’s pointless inefficiencies. And there is no bigger outrageous inefficiency than doing something, having another go at it in a different way, and then going right back to where you first started. I…

Low wage growth, inflation, rising interest rates, geopolitical upheaval. Recession? Depression? Armageddon? Either way, it hasn’t been good lately. Neither my wife Ellie or I are worried about us very much. Regular readers know that we’re good shape financially, thanks to our long-term efforts towards reaching financial independence. Whatever happens…

With summer fast approaching, it’s time to think about getting our sweat on. It’s not exactly comfortable to think about, but I’m sure you all know what a hot and humid summer day is like. While our northern neighbours in the likes of Townsville and Darwin know true humidity, our…

If cased you missed it, a few months ago we switched to a nine-day working fortnight. We’d previously talked about how you should be careful of part-time hours when employers and clients still expect full-time outputs. In our case, we’re still doing full-time hours. The days we still work have…