Latest Posts
Thoughts on reinvention, clarity, work, money, and the quiet decisions that shape a life. New essays each week as we explore what it means to build a life with intention.
Landing the Plane, Part 1: Building Your Drawdown Framework
Eight years ago I drove through the Valley of the Sun for the first time and knew Arizona was exactly the change we needed. Learning to live there required an entirely new set of rules. The transition from accumulation to distribution is exactly like that.
How to Find Your Next Endeavor
Last week I waded through a red-rock canyon in Glacier's Canadian twin with the people I love most. This week I am at 31,000 feet over Kansas, racing the other direction. Here is the framework I am building toward, and the five paths worth exploring before you leave full-time work.
The Sequence That Determines Whether Your Retirement Lasts (And How to Sleep Through the Chaos)
I graduated from graduate business school in May 2007 into a city buzzing with possibility. By 2008, I was watching people carry file boxes out of high-rise towers. What I learned about markets in that season, no classroom ever taught me. This post is about the one retirement math concept most people skip entirely, and the three protections that let you sleep at night when markets do what markets inevitably do.
The Seven Signs You're Ready for a Next Endeavor
After years of following the same personal finance philosophy, I was getting bored. Then a Saturday morning podcast introduced me to a then-foreign language: tax credits, Roth conversions, higher savings rates, and something called FIRE. A whole new world was opening to me. But the concept I couldn't find anywhere was the one I actually needed: how do you retire earlier, at a comfortable spending level, but continue to serve others and do work that genuinely matters? This post is about that question, and the seven signs that tell you whether you're ready to answer it.
Why $20K a Year Changes the Retirement Math More Than You Think
Most retirement planning tools assume a fixed rate of return and skip the most dangerous math entirely. Here is what happens when three real households add a modest Next Endeavor income during the decade that decides everything.
The Harder Trail: Why FINE is the Adventure Worth Taking
Financial Independence, Next Endeavor (FINE) offers a third path beyond traditional retirement and FIRE. This post breaks down the math, the mindset, and the real stories behind choosing meaningful work over full stop retirement.