Are You a Personal Finance Ninja? – Three Action Thursday

The title of my piece last week got a lot of attention! Thanks, everyone for the emails and the banter! It was definitely a fun one!

I did not intend to write a piece this week but a three-hour plane delay has made it all possible. While writing this piece, I am sitting in an airport bar in Denver with my wife and two of our closest friends. Both couples are celebrating 15 years of marriage this year, so we planned an epic nine-day trip to Hawaii. I apologize in advance for the brevity but I thought I’d write a piece that described the personal finance journey we’ve taken to make this trip possible without it even being a fiscal blip on our personal finance radar.

Beginners (Baby Steps)

You have to take some time to set up your basic long term financial goals. You should be able to do it in three to four hours. Here’s how:

Have Debt? Start by reading Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness and implementing it!
Debt Free? Read David Bach’s book The Automatic Millionaire and implement it! I was blessed to meet David Bach a few years back. His book is what set my wife and I on a path to financial freedom.

Intermediate (Ninja in training)

Once you have locked in your basic financial processes, it’s time to pour more fuel on them. There are two basic ways to do that, and I think you should do them BOTH. First, you need to maximize your career. second, you should explore secondary sources of income or side hustles. These are the primary ways to attack the income side of the equation in hopes of increasing your savings rate.

Career Building Resources
- Develop a Learning Orientation – read professional publications that cover your industry, attend multiple conferences/trainings a year, and hold multiple career discussions with leaders and managers above you in the organizational chart.
- Check out the “Personal Development” section of the Resources Page.
Secondary Sources of Income (it has NEVER been easier to do it)
- The quick and easy route is to jump on the ride-sharing game (Uber, Lyft, etc.) – and that’s fine – but I’d like to see people attempt something with more upside.
- Develop a side hustle. I’ve written about side hustles extensively. I’m a huge fan of diversifying your income stream(s).

Expert (Ninja level mastery)

Now that you’ve mastered the basics and have poured gasoline on your regimented process, it’s time to focus on really big, hairy, audacious goals. Over the last year and a half, I’ve put together a few pieces you should read on the topics of Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) and building your most ideal life.