Category Archives: Military Life & Family

Sea Story: Standing Duty During A Volcanic Eruption With A Typhoon


This post doesn’t have a financial independence theme, but it certainly helped me develop attitudes of gratitude and abundance.  I’m also sharing it to help others. June 15th is the anniversary of the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the … Continue reading

Posted in Military Life & Family, Sea Stories, Travel | 3 Comments

Fear And The Just One More Year Syndrome


  “If you could stop working, why haven’t you?” “If you’re financially independent, then why are you going to work this week?” Those quotes were posted on ESIMoney’s Millionaire Money Mentors forum. I spend an hour or two there almost … Continue reading

Posted in Financial Independence, Military Life & Family, Money Management & Personal Finance | Leave a comment

20 Years Of Financial Independence & Military Retirement 


After 20 years of military retirement, life is better than ever! We’ve made the shift from accumulating assets (and our former insecure attitude of scarcity) to philanthropy and gifting (from a mindset of abundance). Continue reading

Posted in Financial Independence, Military Life & Family, Military Retirement, Money Management & Personal Finance, What Do You DO All Day?!? | Leave a comment

From The Mail Buoy: “The Truth Behind Budgeting– It’s Not The Budget”


A reader writes: “My spouse and I need a budget. What should we do? What type of budgeting do you recommend? I know it’s not a ‘one size fits all’ world, but how much is too much saving? It feels … Continue reading

Posted in Financial Independence, Military Life & Family, Money Management & Personal Finance | 2 Comments

Slow Travel Is Wonderful, Yet We Still Had Challenges


I’ve had a bunch of reader requests for our lessons learned from slow travel. I’ll mention parts of our trips during this post, and the “Related articles” section at the bottom will have more information about our destinations. All of … Continue reading

Posted in Military Life & Family, Travel | 8 Comments