Though many people don't believe that social security payments will be around when they retire, other financial experts disagree. Achieving FIRE with geo-arbitrage is a very attractive proposition, but there are some pitfalls that can cause you to miss out on free money in the event that social security is still around by the time you become eligible. Read on for the details and planning opportunities. 

News flash: I hate the word frivolous. Why? Because it's a judgement on how someone has spent their money. Shame is shown to be ineffective at changing money behaviors and can actually lead to financial disengagement instead (the opposite of what we want!). Imagine telling your wife "you spend too much money on clothes, we have to spend less to save for retirement!" and expecting that to inspire her to cut spending. Let's explore what tools you can use instead to assess your own spending habits, or to assess spending habits together with a partner.

Aspiring Adults are unfinished. The finished state, or so we are told, is "adulthood". But what is adulthood? Who ever truly reaches it? Of the broad 4 phases of human life, adulthood is the only one that has markers of having reached it (or... not if that's the case). I decided to take that rule book and throw it in the trash because “human beings are a work in progress that mistakenly think they are finished”. This is a favorite quote of mine by Dan Gilbert, in reference to his research and talks on the psychology of our future self. The Aspiring Adult is a blog for sharing ways to reach financial independence by dispelling the myths of adulthood and the shame of having never reached it.

From the myth of the homeownership dream to the myth of mid-life crises, read on to explore the origin story of this blog and it's name.

I was diagnosed with ADHD in November 2021. It is very common for adults to be diagnosed with ADHD but this will trigger the question, "why didn't you know sooner?" I worked in an office my whole career and had built up a toolkit of coping mechanisms around me without even realizing it. I dreaded waking up every morning, dragging myself out of bed 10 minutes before I needed to leave, and frequently arriving late to work. The possible shame of missing a meeting or email was the only motivator to get me to wake up. I started a fully remote consulting role in November 2021 and working with people in the US while being in Europe meant I needed to accommodate the US hours during the fire-hose that is joining a new role. I thought that working the evening meetings would be temporary. And then I discovered that I prefer working the evening shift. Below I outline what I learned and how I make it work for me.

If you move money between certain (most) EU countries and the US, then this blog is for you and could save you big bucks. Wise (formerly TransferWise) dominates the blogosphere and Facebook groups for expats as the standard for moving money cheaply. Wise is, deservedly, a wonderful and transparent service. However, it isn't the cheapest! I show you here how over a period of 4 years I have spent a grand total of $370 in fees using Revolut (or a combination of Revolut+Wise). If I had used Wise only, I would have spent $1,023. If I had used Bank->Bank ("direct") transfers it would have cost me a whopping $1,494. I've layed out the values transferred here, read on to learn how you can setup the Revolut+Wise method and start saving $$$.