Thanks for stopping by! I would hazard a guess that if you are reading this, then I would imagine that you are curious about who the masked man is writing this content and why I am blogging about the ‘FIRE’ Movement (Financial Independence and Retiring Early)??

FIRE – Financial Independence Retire Early

I’m a big believer of the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid), so in brief here’s a list of key points about me;

  • I live in the UK (outside of London).
  • I’m early 30’s currently and have managed to get most of my finances in a relatively ‘healthy’ order. I own a house with my partner and three lovely dogs.
  • I came across FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) lifestyle in 2018 (at age 28) and decided that this is a path I’d like to go focus on. My reasoning to this is because I am seeking to escape the rat race. I run a national ltd company in the digital industry, which at the best of times is very demanding. My ethos is to work incredibly hard in my younger years to then have the foundations laid down to lead a time rich life whilst not needing to check the bank account everyday.
    • I am looking to retire at around 45 which gives me a time frame of 17 years.
  • Ultimately I setup this blog to record my progress, goals for life and to hopefully become part of the growing FIRE community. I’m a firm believer of continually learning. (Perhaps you are too? I started with Tim Hales – Smarter Investing 3rd Edition. I’d highly recommend a read).
  • I don’t live the frugal and minimalist lifestyle. I have of course cut back on unnecessary spending as part of increasing the all important savings rate per month.
  • I am not a financial advisor. Please do not take my investment decisions as guidance for your own decisions. I will not be held responsible or liable should anyone choose to ignore this advice.

The Longer Version

I live in the East Midlands of England, with my partner and 3 crazy dogs.

Now in my early 30’s and going through the usual of process of what life throws at you in the UK (College, University, Debt, More Debt (House), Marriage (eventually) and so on) I’m at an ultimate point in my life to start knuckling down in obtaining back the little spare time I have by planning for financial independence for the years ahead.

My ultimate aim is to not have to work until the ripe old age of 68 – Does anyone really want to work until then? Unless you’re Rick Stein from the BBC who just travels the world to taste amazing food. Therefore I’m under the ethos of working your ‘socks off’ to begin with, with the aim to settle down and have all my passive financial income goals align themselves in the next 17 years (roughly when I’m around the age of 45).

I work in the digital field. I run a national digital marketing agency. 12 staff, very demanding and focusing on the specialisms of Search Engine Optimisation. I’ve learnt a lot in the last 10+ years I’ve been involved in this industry, much of which seems to be hot air most of the time.

I have a passion for understanding algorithms and systems, typically taking an analytical / mathematical approach to solving reasons to why XYZ website isn’t ranking highly on Google. Oh yes, I do love a good ole’ spreadsheet (I’m certainly no Excel genius come product analyst that involves slick Excel skills). It is tough and it does require a persistent approach of testing, re-testing and documenting all your work. This is the only way you can be sure to know what works well and what doesn’t.

My specialism in work is the?unfortunate SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) industry, helping websites achieve higher rankings on Google. Hey, you may have even found this blog by naturally searching for it? 🙂

I do enjoy running the business and I’ve put my heart and soul into it. I count myself as being very fortunate for the age that I am and the house that I own. Working lots of all ‘nighters’ to see the business to where it currently is now has totally been worth it – being able to take an afternoon off here or there and not having that ‘boss that no-one likes’ look over you is really quite relieving. (You may say that you’re now that person!)

Why do I want to blog about Financial Freedom and Retiring Early?

Because the community is fantastic and I want to put my two pennies into the mix of learning this lifestyle. Also knowing just a small bit about money in the long run goes a long way. I couldn’t just sit back like many friends of my age who ‘can’t be bothered‘ or ‘don’t need to worry about it‘ carry on as they do.

I do wish they would teach ‘Money Management’ (even at a basic level) at school, adding it as a compulsory subject to the national curriculum. Perhaps much of the mess that many younger people are finding themselves in today wouldn’t be as so severe. Anyway, I digress.

Ultimately I’m doing this blog down to a number of core reasons;

  1. Keeping myself focused on ensuring that I work towards my goals each year and be in the ‘limelight’ if I find myself not reaching those goals in the form of readers to the blog.
  2. I would like to receive others thoughts, opinions and their journey’s (at which part they are at) to create that community spirit.
  3. I hope that eventually much of what I do can be passed down to younger generations who also seek financial independence, retire early prior to the grand old age of 68+.

Of course, if there’s any questions you’d like to ask me along the way then please do feel free to do so. I may not be able to respond immediately (due to work commitments) but I will make it a commitment to reply to anyone that does.