Key Takeaways:
- Our Next Life is an award-winning Financial Independence Retire Early blog by Tanja Hester and her husband, Mark Bunge.
- She has written two successful books: Wallet Activism and Work Optional.
- Hester’s FIRE concept is broken down into 3 simple phases: Accumulate, Early Retirement, and Traditional Retirement.
Ever heard of the blog Our Next Life?
You’ve come to the right place.
We’ll explain who the author is, the excellent financial advice offered there, and more.
Let’s check it out.
What Is Our Next Life?
Our Next Life is an award-winning blog about early retirement, money, and how to live a happy and fulfilling life. The blog’s author, Tanja Hester, has been sharing her thoughts and insights since 2015, when she was on her journey of saving up for early retirement. Often, this requires taking a detailed look at your finances and delving into the non-financial areas of early retirement.
She challenges you to look deeply into what you would like to do in retirement. How do we want to define ourselves after our career, and how does our mental and physical health improve (but not instantly cure) when we retire from our job stress (and what we do for healthcare!)? What we miss about work and the new anxiety that could arise when there’s no steady paycheck. Unfortunately, the trickier aspects of retirement sometimes get ignored while mapping out income or savings rates.
Tanja’s blog includes hundreds of posts, so you’ll likely find something to help you along your FIRE journey!
What Books Did Tanja Hester Write?
Wallet Activism: How to Use Every Dollar You Spend, Earn, and Save as a Force for Change
In Tanja Hester’s earlier book, Wallet Activism, she examines the consequences of a financial choice on society and the world around us. She also offers easy questions to swiftly determine the “quality” of a product or entity you’re considering purchasing from.
She discusses how to construct a unique spending scheme based on your principles and the economics of moneymaking, as well as what meals to eat, whether to hire others, how to invest responsibly, where you should live, and how much money you should give away.
If you want to make a difference in the world, Wallet Activism can help turn your good intentions into lasting habits. Hester’s exciting writing inspires readers to consider their financial independence and early retirement.
Work Optional: Retire Early the Non-Penny-Pinching Way
In Tanja’s second book, Work Optional, she helps readers map out a plan for financial independence and early retirement without sacrificing their quality of life.
Tanja discusses how to create a picture of their ideal happy life, considering factors like medical care, children, protection from recessions and future unknowns, and purposeful retirement.
Tanja’s step-by-step guide helps readers learn how to achieve financial independence and retire early without cutting back too much on their lifestyle.
If you’re interested in financial independence and early retirement, Work Optional is the book for you!
Advice From Tanja’s Next Life Blog
Hester broke the FIRE movement down into 3 simple steps:
- Accumulate
- Early Retirement
- Traditional Retirement
See below to get started on your path to financial independence.
The Accumulation Phase
Tanja’s early retirement blog expresses the importance of having a laser-focused accumulation phase to obtain enough money to retire early.
For six years, she saved aggressively and paid down their mortgage to build up her assets. This way, she could retire early and achieve financial freedom without relying on an income.
Tanja’s personal finance advice is simple: “If you want to retire early, you need to be super focused during your accumulation phase. It’s not about making small changes here and there. Making big changes, like a 50% savings rate, and being willing to make sacrifices is what you want to do. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it.”
The financial rewards can be great if you’re willing to make sacrifices. So if you’re dreaming of early retirement, the most significant thing you can do is start saving now and make it a priority. It may seem daunting, but it’s achievable if you’re willing to put in the effort.
And it would be wise to use user-friendly budgeting and investment tools like Personal Capital and Betterment. You’ll be glad you did.
Early Retirement Phase
This is where life can truly begin. But to do so, you must be mindful of your spending and ensure that your stock market income and cash flow from your real estate assets will last as long as you need them.
You should now have some passive income from a rental property or enough in your taxable account to cover your living expenses. For health care, you might want to look into private insurance like Policygenius.
And lastly, don’t forget to enjoy your time! You’ve worked hard during your fire journey, and now it’s time to reap the rewards. Retiring early is about discovering your own path by traveling, spending time with family and friends, and doing things that you love. Life is too short not to make the most of it.
Following these steps can make the most of your early retirement years and enjoy a wonderful life.
Traditional Retirement Phase
You’ve finally made it! You’ve worked hard your whole life, and now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. But wait, one more important step before you can truly relax as early retirees: confirm your financial planning.
Hester stresses that you’re no longer working in this phase. You must ensure that your money will last as long as you do. That means taking a close look at your expenses and making tough choices about where to cut back. It also means figuring out how to generate income from your tax-deferred/advantaged investments, like a 401(k), IRA, or maybe even social security. And if you’re eligible, enroll in Medicare to help cover your health care costs.
But don’t worry. Once you have a plan, you can finally start enjoying your retirement years stress-free! So go ahead and book that trip to the Bahamas. You deserve it.
FAQ
What does FIRE stand for in retirement?
FIRE stands for financial independence retire early. This movement is about successful people seeking to build wealth, achieve financial success and retire a lot earlier than the average retirement age of 65.
How do I calculate my Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) number?
The formula is simple: your annual expenditures are multiplied by 25 to get your FIRE number. So, if your yearly spending is $40,000, your FIRE number would be $1 million. It might take more than a couple of years to get there, so it might be a good idea to talk to a financial advisor in your free time. They can help you think of different choices for ways to increase your net worth and maybe lower taxes on your capital gains.
Does Tanja Hester have a Twitter that talks about the Fire Movement?
Yes! You can follow Tanja and her husband, Mark Bunge, at @our_nextlife. They share financial independence and early retirement news, simple living tips, and resources to help you make the daily grind a little easier.
Does Tanja Hester have an Instagram?
They most certainly do – you can find them at www.instagram.com/our_nextlife.
Does Tanja Hester have Pinterest?
Yes! You can find it at www.pinterest.com/our_nextlife/.
Summary
So there you have it – a little bit about the FIRE blog Our Next Life, Tanja Hester’s books, and some advice from her on becoming financially free. We hope this article has provided you with new insights and motivation to take control of your financial future. Don’t forget to sign up for our email list before you leave to stay up-to-date on all the latest news and information from Our Next Life. Until then, good luck!
Related Articles:
- Vicki Robin (Bio, Books, Advice)
- Mr. Money Mustache (Bio and Financial Advice)
- JL Collins: The Godfather of FI (Bio, Books & Advice)
What advice will you use from Our Next Life? Please tell us in the comments below!
Hello! I'm Charles. 1st gen millionaire, real estate investor, health enthusiast, and military veteran. In the last 17 years, I have managed billions of dollars of resources for the Department of Defense. Created financial management plans that enabled fellow service members to get out of thousands of dollars in debt and tailored wellness plans that helped people reverse and eliminate high-blood pressure, pre-diabetes, and obesity. Learn more about me here.