Plain English on the path to FI

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Inside the 5-Part Machine: What We Cover, Week by Week

The five parts of the FI machine, income, expenses, investing, financial education, and how it all connects, and how the free weekly workshop works through them one at a time.

October 1, 2026 · 9 min read

The Latte Fallacy Is Wrong (and What Actually Matters)

Skipping your daily coffee will not make you rich, and trying will make you quit. Housing, transport, and food decide your savings rate. The rule that works.

October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

The 60-Minute Spending Audit

A one-hour method to find your real savings rate: twelve months of statements, three buckets, one circled total that becomes found money. No shame, just data.

October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

Sequence of Returns Risk, Explained With Two Retirees

Two retirees, same portfolio, same average return, reversed order. Why a crash in your first years of withdrawals does the most damage, and the three defenses.

October 6, 2026 · 8 min read

The Lifestyle Ratchet: Why Raises Don't Make You Rich

Why your raises never build real wealth, how the hedonic treadmill quietly absorbs each pay bump, and the one rule that lets lifestyle and freedom both win.

October 6, 2026 · 8 min read

HSAs: The Triple Tax Win Nobody Uses

Deductible in, tax-free growth, tax-free out for medical costs: the HSA is a triple tax win. Invest past your deductible buffer, and keep every receipt.

October 6, 2026 · 8 min read

Your Emergency Fund Has a Number Too

Three to six months of essential expenses, in a high-yield savings account, never invested. It is insurance, not an investment, and it needs a refill rule.

October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

Tax Drag: The Invisible Fee Eating Your Returns

Fees and taxes shave your returns every year, and the shaving compounds. Learn the 0.2% rule, and keep tax-hungry assets where the tax bill never arrives.

October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

Roth vs Traditional: The Only Explanation You Need

Traditional means a tax break now, taxes later; Roth means taxes now, never again. One question decides: will your rate be higher now or in retirement?

October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

The 401(k) Playbook: Free Money First

Your employer match is a 100% return you cannot get anywhere else. Capture it first, then fill the account, automate it, and cut this year's tax bill.

October 6, 2026 · 8 min read

The Index Fund Core: Boring Is the Strategy

An index fund owns the whole market for 0.03% a year. See what a 1% fee really costs over 30 years, and why boring, automatic, diversified is the strategy.

October 6, 2026 · 6 min read

Why a Small Room Beats a Stadium Webinar

A webinar scales the teacher; a small room serves the student. Every question gets answered, worksheets get checked against your numbers, and nobody hides.

October 6, 2026 · 6 min read

The 5-Part Machine: How Everything Connects

Income is the fuel, expenses the master lever, investing the engine, knowledge the compounder. The plan ties them, and automation makes five parts one machine.

October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

Core and Satellite: A Portfolio That Knows Its Job

Your money belongs in a boring, automatic core; conviction bets live in small satellites sized by a written checklist. Sizing first, never the reverse.

October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

Will Your Money Outlive You?

Monte Carlo runs your retirement through 2,000 simulated futures and reports the odds. What that probability means, and how your withdrawal rate moves it.

October 6, 2026 · 6 min read

Your Expense Sheet Is Lying to You

Memory forgets subscriptions, annual bills, and cash, so expense sheets lie. Use twelve months of statements, check the $68,700 average, and fix the big three.

October 6, 2026 · 6 min read

The Raise Rule

Half of every raise goes to savings automatically, the week it lands. Your lifestyle still improves, but the ratchet stops pushing your FI number further away.

October 6, 2026 · 6 min read

The 4% Rule, Explained Without Jargon

The 4% rule comes from Trinity study tests of withdrawals on market history. In plain English: what it tested, what 3% and 5% mean, and what it leaves out.

October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

The Savings Rate Is the Master Lever

At 5% real returns, a 10% savings rate means 51 years to FI, 30% means 28, and 50% means 17. One number moves your freedom date by decades. Here is why.

October 1, 2026 · 7 min read

Find Your FI Number in 60 Minutes

Your FI number is not just 25 times spending. One-time expenses, inflation, and your withdrawal rate change the math. Here is the honest 60-minute version.

October 1, 2026 · 8 min read