Sunshine Blogger Award

I’d like to give a thank you to Fervent Finance for nominating me for the Sunshine Blogger Award. FF started blogging at the start of this year and is an accountant in Manhattan.

 

Here are my responses to the questions FF has asked me:

 

1. If you had to have a traditional 9-5 job for the rest of your life, what would you choose do?

It would have to be something local and outdoors, I think working in an office setting all year would drive me crazy.  I would push to shift my hours to 7 -3 though,  it is nice to be off work before the kids get out of school.

Recently I have become interested in land surveying and think that would be a fun job.  My county is in a decades long process of re-marking all of the original section posts and quarter section posts in the area.  I think this would be a fun gig to have. Surveyors also plot out boundaries when there are disputes, when fences are built and sometimes when properties are sold.

Surveying is helpful to individuals when done for specific job, and is institutionally helpful to society for centuries to come when working on projects like remonumentations of the section posts. I could see getting a lot of job satisfaction from this, it is something you can see the results on on a daily basis.  The concept of dividing land into square mile sections and using those sections to title all smaller parcels revolutionary changed property descriptions and greatly reduces disputes.  The job is mainly outdoors, but would also include drawing maps and writing down descriptions which would also stimulate the analytical side of my brain.

 

2. Index funds, real estate, dividend growth stocks, or something else?

Gold and silver buried in my backyard, lol j/k.

I have to go with index funds, even though a larger part of my wealth is currently in real estate.  I find dealing with tenants to be a pain in the ass and at least at this point in my life I don’t have the time or the patience for it.  Maybe in 20 years or so I may try being a landlord with multiple properties.  I love how at this point with 10 and 15 year amortizations my houses build more equity every month than I pay in interest.

I like index funds because you can get the best of both worlds.  One of my index funds is a REIT index fund, so I get some additional real estate exposure through this.  With real estate you buy the property once and what you paid for it is what you paid for it.  With index funds you buy a little at a time and can get an edge through dollar cost averaging.  I currently have index funds in both Roth and Traditional retirement accounts.  I plan on adding a taxable account in the near future, once our income exceeds the point where I can max our tax advantaged accounts and pay our house off at a rate that will have the mortgage gone in 8 years.

 

3. Favorite Beer?

I drink extremely rarely (typically socially a couple times a year with the guys I work with), so I don’t have a favorite beer.

4. If you have a significant other, how important is their view on your financial independence goals to you?

Mrs. C’s views are extremely important, especially because if I try to do something with money that doesn’t work out and she disagreed with it, I never hear the end of it.  Being on the same page makes things a million times easier.  Think of it as swimming with the current instead of against it.

5. If you were to move abroad, what country would it be to and why?

I haven’t really thought about this too terribly much, I plan to retire in in the small town I live in.  I have a beautiful piece of land and am near most of my inlaws.  I have yet to travel out of the country, but from what I know of other places I think Peru would be a good place to live.  The country has a stable government and living can be inexpensive.  It is an incredibly beautiful place and the historical sites would be amazing to see.

Rules Of The Sunshine Blogger Award: 

  • Thank the person who nominated you
  • Answer the questions from the person who has nominated you
  • Nominate some other bloggers for this award
  • Write the same amount of questions for the bloggers you have nominated
  • Notify the bloggers you have nominated

My Nominations Are:

Engineer Cents

Be Smart Rich

Think Save Retire

 

Questions:

1. What is your biggest financial regret?

2. In 5 years how do you think your finances (and your blog) will change?

3. What are your top 5 favorite books?

4. What is your projected Financial Independence date?

5. What, if any pets do you have?
In general I am against the concept of chains and rules but I thought this was an interesting concept; so by all means for those I nominated if you don’t feel like answering a question on here, (or any of them at all) no offense will be taken ;).

John C. started Action Economics in 2013 as a way to gain more knowledge on personal financial planning and to share that knowledge with others. Action Economics focuses on paying off the house, reducing taxes, and building wealth. John is the author of the book For My Children's Children: A Practical Guide For Building Generational Wealth.

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