Goal Setting

The Power of Tracking & Setting Goals – My 2016 Financial Goals

Gen Y Finance Guy Financial Freedom, Goal Setting 35 Comments

I would like to say that I have always been a goal oriented person, but that would not be the truth. Although I have been AMBITIOUS for as long as I can remember, I haven’t always given myself a clear path to success. It wasn’t until I read the Slight Edge for the first time in 2011, that I became OBSESSED with SETTING GOALS and ACHIEVING them. It’s pretty amazing what you can accomplish when you actually set SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE goals. As humans, we tend to overestimate what we can do in a day or a week. But we also tend to under estimate what can be accomplished in a month, quarter, or year. Writing (or typing) out your goals and then reviewing them on …

The Kirby

Rant #6 – The Kirby Salesman Got Me in 2010 (for $2,200)

Gen Y Finance Guy Rants 19 Comments

Have you ever come across a salesman that was just so good that you forgot you were actually being sold to? When the Kirby salesman came to our condo in 2010, he did such a great job demonstrating the demo that I had to have one. He went on and one about the features & benefits: Kirby vacuums are made entirely of metal, they are real tools instead of your plastic toy vacuum. All Kirby vacuums come with a lifetime warranty. The Kirby had two motors so the sucking power would never be degradation like other vacuums that only ran on one motor. One motor is used to propel or drive the vacuum, while the other is used to suck …

Taxes Suck Sometimes

Year End Planning – Minding the $13,000 Tax Gap [One of My Oh Shit Moments]

Gen Y Finance Guy Taxes 35 Comments

The GYFG blog recently picked up a new reader (Sean), who finally asked the question I have been waiting for all summer. It was around how my taxes were so low on such a high income. It’s a good thing we have smart readers that ask good questions (someone has to keep me honest). It makes for nice opportunities to continue to provide full transparency. On other blogs I see many commentators get ignored when a question like this is asked. Not here!!! Not us!!! See his original comment below: Although I was prepared to answer this question as taxes have been on my mind a lot lately, but I kept putting off finally building accurate tax calculations into my spreadsheet. …

Early Retirement

[Guest Post] Freedom Fighter Interview #17 – Selina @ Financial Buddha

Gen Y Finance Guy Freedom Fighter, Interview 12 Comments

Today we have our 17th Freedom Fighter interview in this series. Selina calls the Pacific North West home at the moment, but plans to potentially settle down somewhere in California or Colorado in her future plans. At only 25 she is currently enjoying what Tim Ferriss calls a mini retirement in the 4 hour work week. After getting out of college, she used her 9-5 to amass a nice chunk of F-You Money. She plans to go back to work to start stashing cash away in order to hit her goal of financial independence by the time she is 30 (she is already 1/3 of the way there). But I will let Selina tell you all about it in her interview below… Who are …

First Year of Blogging

The First Year of Blogging – Under the Hood [Post #100]

Gen Y Finance Guy Blogging 49 Comments

Well, we made it to the one year mark. Did you know that most bloggers give up within their first 3 months? I have lost count as to the number of blogs I saw pop up over the last year that are no longer active. It’s sad, but it is also why you never really have to worry about competition. Most people are not willing to put in the work to get through the dip. The other reason you don’t have to worry about competition is that the internet has absolutely crushed the bell shaped curve. Not to geek out on you, but before the internet, there was a lot more conformity (normal distribution) in the world. Before the internet …

Cost of Use

Calculating Cost of Use – A Simple Solution to the Buy vs. Rent Choice

Gen Y Finance Guy New Rules, Real Estate 22 Comments

One of the interesting ways that I have come to look at things is by using the concept of the “Cost of Use.” Today I want to apply this concept to answer the ever controversial question of buying vs. Renting. As you have probably witnessed firsthand, like just about every topic in personal finance there is always a polarized stance on these types of topics. On the one hand you have the camp that believes you should buy a house no matter what and on the other side there is the camp that says you should never buy and rent for the rest of your life. But in reality, where you and I live, the answer to whether you should …

September 2015 Financial Report

September 2015 – Detailed Financial Report #9 – Net Worth $248,578 [+37.1% YTD]

Gen Y Finance Guy Monthly Financial Reports 17 Comments

GYFG here checking in for the September monthly financial report. If you have been reading these reports for a while you will notice that I introduce each month with the same intro month after month. I do this for two reasons, a) for the newbies to the site (which make up about 50% of the sites traffic) and b) to remind everyone what these reports are all about. By all means if you have read the intro at least once, then please feel free to skip down to the “Summary of September 2015” section where the new content begins (click the orange link to be taken there automatically). For those of you that are new around this corner of the internet, …

2015 content curation

September 2015 Content Curation

Gen Y Finance Guy Curated LInks 6 Comments

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” —Winston Churchill Books|Blogs|Videos|Podcasts This monthly series is my attempt to curate the web for you. I probably consume more content than one person should, but I am kind of a knowledge junkie. I don’t just consume content for the sake of consumption. The goal is to always learn something, gain a new perspective, contribute to the conversation, and fuel the idea factory. Reading is exercise for the brain and just like the body it needs plenty of it to stay healthy. In any given month I try to read at least 3-5 books. I also have over 100 (now down to 50 as I simplify) different blogs that I …