With any goal, I’m a believer in routine check-ins. I want to know if I’m on track, consider making changes, and ask if the goal is still important to me. It’s now been just over six months since I started The FI Equation. That seems to me like a good time for a check-in.
Let me start by thanking all of you. Whether you’ve been reading since the first post or found your way here more recently, thank you for being here.
I’ve got to say, it’s been both fun and challenging.
I’m not known among my family and friends as particularly handy or tech-savvy, so the idea of building a site for my content to live was intimidating. I also find it hard to make decisions that feel definitive so early in a process, and I tend to prefer leaving myself room to second-guess. I can’t believe how long I stared at the ‘publish’ button after rewriting my first post for the umpteenth time.
But waiting isn’t always an option when you’re building something on your own and each decision has to be made before you can move on to the next.
The same could also be said about financial planning. You might choose where or how you want to live or what career interests you. Then everything quickly cascades from there and you don’t always feel confident in the choices that keep stacking on top of one another. Take a moment here and there to check in with yourself. It’s okay to change course or maybe just reassure yourself on what you’re doing.
One of the first decisions I made around The FI Equation was how often to publish new content. I was torn between weekly, monthly, or whenever I had something ready. As those of you who’ve been getting a new post every Friday morning know, I went with weekly. And that’s worked out to this point.
It kept me accountable and built up a base of content quickly. It also put me in your inbox on a regular schedule (assuming my emails didn’t land in spam), which led to early feedback I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.
Half a year in, three things have become clear:
I enjoy writing and plan to continue.
Everything I write here will stay free.
I’m considering changing how often I publish.
That last one deserves a little more context.
I still have a full-time job, and I have no plans to turn this into one. My goal from the beginning has been to write something useful for anyone working toward financial independence (FI), or already past it. I want to help you think through the money decisions and tradeoffs that matter to you, rather than pretend there’s one right equation everyone should be solving.
And as I check in with myself, I can confirm that goal is still important to me.
To keep doing that well, I’m considering expanding into new formats and going deeper on certain topics when they call for it, while still leaving myself time to work your questions and feedback into what I write. If I can do all of that while still publishing each week, I will. If I can’t, I may adjust the schedule, and I’m okay with that too.
Some of that has already started. Beyond the writing, there are free calculators and tools on the site for working through your savings rate, your FI number, and a few other things. Check out the FI Tools tab, and let me know if you have questions or feedback.
So if a Friday morning or two comes and goes without something from me in your inbox, know that I’m not gone. I’m probably working on something else I think will be more useful to you.
I don’t need to have this figured out today. I’d rather treat it as a range of possibilities, which is the same way I try to approach my own FI equation.
I’d suggest you do the same occasionally with your own goals too. Have that honest check-in with yourself. See if things are on track or if a change or two would help. And make sure the goal that mattered to you at the start still matters now.
One housekeeping item before I go. Every couple of weeks I get a text from my mom or dad saying my email went to spam again. They may just be looking for a way out of telling me what they thought of the latest post, but if you haven’t been getting a Friday email, check your spam folder.
Thanks for being part of this. I appreciate all the feedback I’ve received so far. If you have a topic you’d like me to write about, a particular financial decision you’re struggling with, or just something you think I could be doing better, reply here or email me at brad@thefiequation.com.
— Brad
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This is meant to help you think through financial decisions and tradeoffs—not tell you exactly what to do. It’s general in nature and not personalized advice (see full disclaimer).