Tag Archives: budgeting

Lessons From the First Year: The Value of Temporary Living

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We just finished our first year of “slomadic” living, trying out different parts of the country and different styles of life. So far that has included urban living in Omaha, Nebraska and beachside living in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Along the way, we have learned a lot, but one of the biggest lessons is that there are real advantages to medium-term stays and temporary living arrangements.

One of the big benefits of snowbirding, slow travel, sabbaticals, or extended rentals is that they allow you to test a future life before committing your capital to it. That may sound obvious, but I think many people underestimate how different a place can feel when you are actually living there instead of simply visiting.

That is the real financial insight for me: experience can be more valuable than ownership.

At first glance, renting for a few months may seem financially inefficient compared to buying. After all, you are paying rent without building equity. Because we still own our home in Texas, you could certainly argue that paying for temporary housing in another location at the same time is not the most optimized use of our money.

And mathematically, that is fair.

But when I compare a few months of rent to the potential cost of making a major relocation mistake, the equation changes pretty quickly. 

  • Buying in the wrong area
  • overestimating how often you will use a second property
  • Purchasing a “money pit” timeshare, RV, or boat that you won;t use enough
  • Misjudging the climate or pace of life
  • Locking yourself into a lifestyle you only liked in theory or in the short term

All of these can become enormously expensive lessons. In comparison, a few months of rent feels like cheap insurance 🙂

One thing we have learned repeatedly is that visiting a place and living in a place are completely different experiences. Vacations tend to highlight scenery, attractions, restaurants, and novelty. Daily life highlights grocery stores, traffic patterns, workout options, healthcare access, weather, and whether the rhythms of the place actually fit your personality. Those ordinary Tuesday factors matter a lot more than most people realize.

I think this idea is especially powerful for people pursuing financial independence or retirement. Many people spend years optimizing for a future life they have never actually tested. They dream about living in an RV, sailing around the world, relocating to the mountains, moving to a beach town, or settling into downtown urban life, but then commit large amounts of money before figuring out whether they truly enjoy the reality of those lifestyles.

Short-term trials create clarity. They reduce the odds of making expensive permanent decisions based on fantasy instead of experience. That may be one of the biggest lessons from our first year. Sometimes flexibility is more valuable than optimization, especially while we are still figuring out what kind of life we actually want to build.

Zero-Based Thinking, Revisited

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A while back I wrote about the idea of zero-based thinking, a concept I first heard from Brad and Katie Donegan. The basic question is simple:

Knowing what you know today, would you make the same decision again?

At the time, I used examples like trading in a car or deciding whether our house still fit our lifestyle. After another year of slow travel and a lot of reflection, I think I’ve come to appreciate the idea even more. One of the biggest mistakes we make is assuming that because something was the right decision five, ten, or twenty years ago, it must still be the right decision today. It doesn’t.  In fact, I would argue that it usually isn’t… 

There Isn’t One Right Answer

I think one reason people struggle with big decisions is the fear of making the wrong one. We spend months or years trying to optimize every variable because we imagine there is a single perfect choice hidden somewhere. I don;t think that’s true.  Life is not a multiple choice test and most of the time there are multiple correct answers 🙂 

You could live in Texas or Nebraska and be equally happy. You could retire at fifty-two or sixty-two and still have a wonderful life. You could buy the house or rent the apartment and make either one work. Realizing that has helped us avoid analysis paralysis. Instead of obsessing over “What if we choose wrong?” we try to ask, “Is this a reasonable choice based on what we know today?”

Then, once we’ve answered yes, we move forward.  After all…

Decisions Don’t Have to Be Forever

The other part of zero-based thinking is remembering that very few decisions are irreversible.  Commit to making the best choice you can with the information available at the time, but don’t be afraid to revisit that decision when circumstances change.

In fact, I think periodically questioning your assumptions is healthy.

Take my university job, for example. I absolutely loved teaching there. The students were fantastic, the work was meaningful, and I could easily have imagined staying for many more years.

Then COVID happened. After the pandemic, the university made the decision to shift to 100 percent online instruction. I’m perfectly capable of teaching online, but I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as being face to face with students, and I don’t think it creates the same impact.

So I re-evaluated. The job hadn’t become bad. It had simply become a poorer fit for the person I had become and the life I wanted to live. Moving on wasn’t admitting I had made a mistake. It was recognizing that circumstances had changed.

The Same Principle Applies Everywhere

I’ve seen the same pattern play out over and over again.

Our house was exactly what we needed when we had young kids and jobs in the local schools. Four bedrooms, a converted playroom, proximity to the elementary school and junior high, and a neighborhood pool across the street all made perfect sense.

Today? Katie and I don’t need most of those things anymore.

The minivan we bought to haul kids and road trip around the country was a great vehicle for that season of life. I mean, it had DVD screens that flipped down from the ceiling!  Now, though, we would rarely use the second row seating, much less the third.  And the DVD player?  Sigh… 

Even our current experiment with slow travel reflects this mindset. If we eventually discover that one location fits us perfectly, we can stay. If we decide after a few years of slomaidc travel that we miss having a permanent home base, we can buy another house.

Nothing says today’s decision has to lock us in forever.

The Financial Lesson

I think this idea has huge implications for financial independence. Too often we cling to investments, careers, houses, or possessions because of sheer inertia or because we’ve already invested so much time or money into them. Economists call this the sunk cost fallacy.

Zero-based thinking asks different questions.

  • If I didn’t already own this house, would I buy it today?
  • If I weren’t already working this job, would I accept it today?
  • If I didn’t already have this investment, would I purchase it today?
  • Even bigger… If I could live anywhere in the world, would I still choose to live in this community, state, country, etc.

Sometimes the answer is yes, but sometimes it isn’t. Neither answer is wrong.

The Takeaway

For me, zero-based thinking has become less about making perfect decisions and more about giving myself permission to evolve. Life changes. We change. The information available to us changes.

There is no prize for stubbornly sticking with yesterday’s best decision after it has stopped serving today’s goals. Make the best choice you can with the information you have. Then, every once in a while, have the courage to ask the question again.

You might discover that the right answer has changed.  And that’s more than okay.  That is growth…

Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve Worth It?

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One of the more interesting rabbit holes in the financial independence world is travel rewards. Some people treat points and miles like a hobby. Others treat them like a second job. I probably fall somewhere in the middle. I enjoy optimizing travel spending, but I also don’t want my entire life revolving around spreadsheets and airline transfer charts and have backed off to probably 3-4 cards a year.

Over the years, I’ve experimented with a variety of travel cards and point systems, but I keep coming back to Chase Ultimate Rewards as my favorite transferable currency.  Recently, I decided to get the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR), and while it is definitely not a card for everyone, I can already see why so many travel people swear by it.

The Big Catch: The Annual Fee

Let’s address the obvious issue first. The Chase Sapphire Reserve now carries a massive $795 annual fee.

That alone scares off a lot of people, and it probably should. Premium travel cards only make sense if you actually travel enough to use the benefits. Otherwise, you’re just paying a bank a lot of money to carry a shiny piece of metal around 🙂

There is also a pretty significant spending requirement attached to the signup bonus. When I got it earlier this year it was $15,000 in three months, but right now, Chase is offering 150,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $6,000 in the first three months. That sounds amazing, and it is, but it can also be dangerous if someone starts spending money they otherwise wouldn’t spend just to chase points. That is NEVER worth it.

Still, if your normal spending patterns already line up with the requirements, the numbers become pretty interesting. Depending on how you redeem them, those 150,000 points can easily be worth $2,000–$4,000+ in travel and there are some other factors that make the annual fee not quite as scary as it seems at first.

The Immediate Travel Credit

The easiest part of the calculation for me was the annual travel credit.  The CSR automatically reimburses $300 per year in travel purchases. Flights, hotels, parking, tolls, ride shares, trains, etc. Chase defines “travel” broadly enough that most people will naturally use it.  Since we are currently living a slomadic lifestyle, travel spending is happening anyway so that immediately reduces the “real” annual fee from $795 to about $495.

The Earnings Multiplier

Another feature that really appeals to me is the earning structure.

The Sapphire Reserve earns:
• 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
• 2x points on dining
• 1x on most other purchases

That adds up quickly when travel is already a large part of your normal spending. For example, on our recent five-night Marriott road trip, I earned roughly 2,700 Chase points just from paying for the relatively cheap hotels. That’s on top of the Marriott points themselves.

This is where transferable points become really powerful. You are essentially double dipping:
• Hotel loyalty points from Marriott
• Transferable Chase points from the credit card

And unlike brand specific hotel points, Ultimate Rewards can later be transferred wherever they create the most value.

The Coupon Book Problem

This is where premium cards start to get complicated and where I start to get annoyed.  Modern premium credit cards have increasingly turned into what many people call “coupon books.” Instead of straightforward rewards, they offer a giant collection of statement credits and perks that only matter if you actually use them.

The CSR is definitely moving in this direction.

Some of the newer benefits include:
• Up to $300 annually for Sapphire dining experiences
• Up to $300 annually for StubHub and viagogo purchases
• Up to $250 annually for Apple Music and Apple TV+
• Up to $120 annually for Peloton memberships
• DoorDash and Lyft benefits
• Various hotel credits and travel offers

Now, in theory, you can easily offset the annual fee if you use these benefits naturally.

But that’s the key word: naturally.

I don’t want to fundamentally change my behavior just to justify a credit card fee and most of these don’t really interest me.  If I’m buying things I wouldn’t otherwise buy just because “the card gives me a credit,” then I’m not really saving money.

That said, some of these perks align pretty well with our current lifestyle and have some real value:
• We already travel a lot
• We already use streaming services
• We use Lyft occasionally so getting a $10 credit each month is nice.

The Ancillary Benefits

Where the CSR sells itself as genuinely premium is in the actual travel experience. Airport lounge access is probably the biggest example. Between Priority Pass lounges and Sapphire Lounges, the card can dramatically improve long travel days.

Now, to be fair, airport lounge quality varies wildly.

Some are amazing and some are mediocre.

Some are calm and quiet and some are overcrowded and noisier than the actual concourse.

Some provide hot food and some provide free pretzels and tiny cans of Diet Coke and call it luxury 🙂

Still, even mediocre lounges can be valuable during delays or long layovers. A quieter space, cleaner bathrooms, Wi-Fi, and free snacks can make travel significantly less stressful.

The travel protections are another underrated feature:
• Primary rental car coverage
• Trip delay reimbursement
• Lost luggage protection
• Trip cancellation insurance
• TSA PreCheck / Global Entry credit every four years

You hope you never need them, but when something goes wrong, those benefits can save a lot of money and frustration.

Why Chase Ultimate Rewards?

What really keeps me in the Chase ecosystem, though, is flexibility. Ultimate Rewards points transfer to a variety of airline and hotel partners, which gives you options instead of locking you into a single brand.

That matters because travel pricing changes constantly.

In the past I have gotten amazing value through Hyatt redemptions.  Sometimes airline transfers are better, especially for international travel. Sometimes if there is limited award availability or populkar routes it can even make more sense to simply redeem through the Chase portal.

Having choices makes the points more valuable. And unlike some reward systems, Chase points are relatively easy to understand and use. That may sound minor, but simplicity matters. A rewards system only has value if you are actually willing to use it.

The Bottom Line

At least for this year, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is absolutely worth it for us.

Between:
• A 150,000-point signup bonus
• The $300 annual travel credit
• 4x travel earnings
• Lounge access
• $120 in potential Lyft credits
• Transfer flexibility
• And the various ancillary perks

…we should come out far ahead of the annual fee.

The bigger question is whether it will still make sense long term. That will depend on:
• Lounge crowding and availability
• Whether we naturally use the coupon-style credits
• Future annual fee increases
• And how much we continue traveling over the next few years

That’s one thing the FI mindset has really taught me:

No financial product deserves permanent loyalty. The best option today may not be the best option tomorrow and we should constantly be evaluating the “rules of the game.” 

For now, though, the CSR fits our current lifestyle pretty well. And if it helps fund a few more adventures along the way, even better 🙂

Why Marriott?

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When I first started traveling for work, it was with a new company, and it took a while for us to figure out the best types of hotels for overnight trips. After a few “profit-maximizing” decisions led to some questionable stays, we started to develop a few basic rules:

  • No hotels with a number in the name
  • If the front desk clerk is behind bulletproof glass, move on
  • No chains with a misspelling in their title
  • No hotels where you have to park directly outside your room
  • Avoid places where the TV remote is bolted to the counter

These guidelines weren’t perfect, but they helped us avoid some… memorable experiences.

Beyond that, over time I started gravitating toward a single hotel brand for most of my travel. Brand loyalty makes a lot of sense when you’re on the road frequently. There is less friction when selecting and booking with brands you are familiar with.  Plus concentrating your stays allows you to build status and unlock perks that you simply won’t get if you spread your business around.

I experimented with Hilton for a while. It’s very easy to earn status, and their points accumulate quickly. The downside is that those points just aren’t worth that much, which makes redeeming them less appealing. It’s a large chain, but early on there were also a few key locations where Hilton didn’t have great options near my clients.

I’ve always liked Hyatt. In many ways, it’s the best value for redeeming points, especially in premium locations (although this may be changing with recent devaluations and a move to a tiered redemption system). For years, it was often cheaper to stay at a Hyatt using points than to use points or pay cash with any other brand.  Add in no resort fees on point stays and strong customer service, and it’s a compelling option. The challenge is scale. Hyatt simply doesn’t have as many locations, especially at the lower-cost, business-travel end of the spectrum. And earning meaningful status with Hyatt can be more difficult.

That led me to Marriott.

The biggest factor is footprint. No matter where I go, there’s almost always a Marriott option (or multiple) nearby. That matters when your travel schedule isn’t just built around vacation destinations but around where the work is.

Second is reliability. You generally know what you’re going to get. When you’re bouncing from city to city, that consistency matters more than you might expect.  I know that when I stay at a Courtyard, for example, that they will have reliable free internet, a business center where I can print as much as I need, and a restaurant on property that has a burger I like and can get for free with my welcome gift.  Knowing things like that when I roll into a new city can relieve a lot of anxiety about work preparation.

A nice bonus is the range of price points. Marriott has everything from basic, budget and business options to family friendly choices up to full-service and luxury properties. That flexibility makes it easy to match the hotel to the purpose of the trip.

Last time I checked, my lifetime total at Marriott properties was over 1100 nights.  The bulk of those were work trips where I typically ended up staying in dozens of different Fairfields and Courtyards all over the country. Over time, that has added up to Lifetime Platinum status. That gets me welcome gifts, bonus points, late checkout, and the occasional room upgrade. None of those perks by themselves are life-changing, but together they make travel a little easier, a little cheaper, and a little more comfortable.

These days, even when I’m traveling for personal trips, Marriott is usually my starting point. I still shop around, but once you factor in status benefits, familiarity, and convenience, it’s often the best overall option.  There are things I like about other brands, and I still use them occasionally. But for me, Marriott has the best balance of location, availability, price range, and rewards. 

It’s not perfect, but it’s consistently good. When you travel a lot, that might be the most important thing.

How Can Public School Teachers Retire?

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Many of my peers in public education are financially, intellectually, and emotionally unprepared for retirement.  They are in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s, yet many have not built substantial independent retirement savings. Instead, they are relying almost entirely on their state pension systems to support them for the rest of their lives.

Personally, I will be grateful for my pension when I qualify, but I don’t fully trust state governments to protect my long-term financial future. In Texas, for example, teacher pensions have no automatic cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). That means inflation rapidly attacks the value of your pension every single year.  A pension that feels comfortable today may feel very different 15 or 20 years into retirement.  Just think about living, today, on a percentage of what you earned 20 years ago.  Yikes!

That’s why I believe teachers need to think beyond simply “earning a pension.” If you want options, flexibility, and the ability to live a rich and meaningful life later on, you need a strategy to take care of yourself independently.

One possible “catch-up” strategy is surprisingly simple:

Stop teaching in public schools.

No, seriously.

I understand the inertia. Staying in a system you know is emotionally comfortable. Many teachers also feel a deep sense of responsibility to public education and the students they serve. And honestly, our public schools desperately need experienced, high-quality educators.

But financially?

The math can become very compelling once you become pension eligible.

The Power of “Double Dipping”

Many public school teachers reach a point where they qualify for full retirement benefits under systems like Teacher Retirement System of Texas through the “Rule of 80”: where they are eligible to retire when their years of service and age add up to at least 80.

For example:

  • Age: 55
  • Years of service: 25
  • Salary: approximately $80,000

Under the Texas pension formula, the annual pension would be roughly:

P=0.023×(Years of Service)×(Average of Highest 5 Years)

In this example, that works out to approximately:

0.023×25×78,000≈44,850

or about $45,000 per year for life.

Now here’s where things get interesting.  Suppose that teacher retires immediately and takes a second full-time job at a private school, small college, educational company, or nonprofit making $60,000 per year.

Suddenly, their income becomes:

Income SourceApproximate Amount
Pension$45,000
Second Career$60,000
Total$105,000

Even assuming that the teacher takes a paycut to move into a different position, that teacher just increased their effective income from $80,000 to over $100,000 per year. 

Immediately.

“But Won’t My Pension Be Bigger If I Stay?”

Sure.  Every additional year worked increases the pension. In our example, staying one more year might increase the annual pension by roughly $2,000 per year for life.

At first glance, that sounds compelling.

But here’s the catch:

To earn that extra future pension income, the teacher gave up:

  • one full year of pension payments now (~$45,000)
  • plus the higher combined income available through a second career

In this example, staying another year in public education means choosing:

OptionAnnual Income
Continue teaching$80,000
Retire + second career$105,000

So the teacher effectively gives up about $25,000 today in exchange for increasing future pension income by about $2,000 per year later.

That creates roughly a 12-year payback period after retirement before the decision to stay actually “wins” financially.  That doesn’t make staying wrong. but it does mean the decision deserves deeper analysis than many teachers give it.

Another major factor that has changed recently is the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). For decades, many public school educators were discouraged from pursuing Social Security-covered work because those rules could dramatically reduce or even eliminate the Social Security benefits they had earned through other employment. With those provisions now repealed, a teacher who retires from a public pension system and then works in a private school, college, nonprofit, or corporate setting may also significantly increase their future Social Security Administration Social Security benefits.

That doesn’t just offset potential pension increases.  It also creates an additional retirement income stream beyond the pension and personal investments. More importantly, unlike many teacher pensions, Social Security includes annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), helping protect purchasing power against inflation over time. For many educators, this creates a much more diversified and resilient retirement strategy: pension income, Social Security income, and personal investments all working together instead of relying almost entirely on a single state pension system.

The Emotional Side of Retirement

For many educators, the biggest challenge is not math.

It’s identity.

Teaching becomes who we are. The routines, the calendar, the mission, the relationships, the feeling of being needed.  Those things can be hard to walk away from and many teachers subconsciously assume retirement means “stopping work entirely.” 

But for many educators, a better model may be to retire from the pension system, but continue meaningful work elsewhere to reduce stress, regain flexibility, and dramatically increase savings potential.  Some people even use geographic arbitrage by moving to another state, working long enough to vest in a second pension system, on top of double dipping.

The Real Opportunity

Of course, this strategy only really helps if the increased income is used intentionally.

If you simply inflate your lifestyle, buy more stuff, and spend every extra dollar, you may still end up financially stressed later on. The better option?

Use the increased income to rapidly build investments and make up for years of low retirement contributions. A teacher who suddenly increases their household income by at least $20,000–$30,000 per year and consistently invests the difference can radically transform their long-term financial picture.

The pension becomes a foundation rather than the entire plan. And that creates something many educators desperately need:

Options.

Smaller is Better Continued (State Parks)

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We recently spent a day at Huntington Beach State Park, and it reminded us of something we don’t think gets talked about enough. We have always loved national parks, and if a place earns that designation it is almost always worth visiting. But on this trip, we were reminded that state parks often offer many of the same benefits with fewer crowds, lower costs, and a more relaxed experience.

First Impressions

Huntington Beach sat just south of Myrtle Beach and felt like a completely different world almost as soon as we entered. There were no long lines or chaotic parking lots, just a simple gate and a modest entrance fee. It cost $8 per person to get in, which immediately felt like a bargain compared to most attractions in the area.

Variety in a Small Space

What stood out was how much variety the park packed into a relatively small space. In one visit, we walked along a wide, uncrowded beach, explored marsh boardwalks, and hiked through maritime forest. The transitions between these environments happened quickly, which made the experience feel dynamic without requiring multiple days of planning or driving.

Wildlife Highlights

The wildlife ended up being one of the biggest highlights. Huntington Beach is known for birding, but the most memorable encounters for us were the alligators. We saw dozens in the freshwater ponds and marsh areas, sometimes just off the trail. (We also learned that crouching down for pictures is not recommended.) Being that close to wildlife was both fascinating and a little humbling. Along the way we also saw herons, egrets, pelicans, and more turtles than we could count. By the end of the visit, it felt less like a park and more like a living ecosystem that we got to step into for the day.

Atalaya Castle

One of the more unexpected features of the park was Atalaya Castle. Built in the 1930s by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, this Moorish-style winter home sat right in the middle of the preserve. For an additional $2 per person, we explored the grounds and walked through its open courtyards and rooms. It was not a polished, highly curated experience, but for us that was part of the appeal. It added a layer of history that complemented the natural surroundings and made the visit feel more complete.

State Parks vs National Parks

This trip helped clarify something we have been thinking about for a while. National parks tend to offer larger, more iconic landscapes along with more infrastructure and more crowds. State parks, on the other hand, are usually smaller, less expensive, and easier to navigate. They also tend to feel more accessible and less rushed. Another advantage became obvious as we traveled more. There are far more state parks than national parks, and in places like South Carolina, where Congaree is the only national park nearby, they provide more frequent opportunities to get outside and explore.

The Financial Angle

From a financial independence perspective, the value was hard to beat. Ten dollars per person covered entry and the castle and gave us a full day of beach, trails, wildlife, and history. We packed a picnic, so there were no expensive add-ons or pressure to spend more once we were there. The simplicity of the experience kept the cost low.

The Bigger Lesson

This fits a pattern we have been seeing throughout our travels. Smaller zoo experiences often felt more enjoyable than the biggest ones. Eating earlier often provided the same experience at a lower cost. Local recreation options often replaced more expensive memberships. Now we could add state parks to that list. We will continue to visit national parks because they offer something unique and memorable, but places like Huntington Beach reminded us that we did not always need the biggest or most famous destination to have a meaningful experience. Sometimes a quiet trail, a view of the water, some wildlife (and a healthy respect for alligators 🙂  is more than enough.

Your Turn

Have you found places where the simpler option turned out to be just as good or even better than the big-name destination?

Five Nights, Five Marriotts

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Typically when we’re on the road, we stay at low- to mid-range chain hotels. We used to go for the absolute cheapest option. After all, we’re really only there to clean up and sleep before heading to the next destination.  But this is one area where we’ve relaxed a bit. Years of business travel taught me that trying to save a few dollars on a no-name hotel can make the next day miserable if you don’t sleep well. The consistency of a known brand also makes life on the road a lot easier.

On this road trip, I decided to challenge my habits and run a bit of an experiment. Instead of sticking with our usual go-to, we switched it up when possible. It didn’t hurt that Marriott was running a promo where I earned bonus points and elite night credits for each different brand. That meant this cross-country trip turned into five Marriott brands in five consecutive nights.

Same loyalty program. Very different experiences.

AC Hotel – Asheville, NC ($129)

I picked this one for the location and because it’s not a brand I stay at often. AC Hotels lean into a modern, European-inspired aesthetic. Clean design (Katie called it “minimalist”), smaller but efficient rooms, and a focus on shared spaces instead of oversized rooms.

I had some work to do, and the “AC Library” gave me a great space outside the room. We got a $10-per-person welcome credit, which we turned into locally made cookies and popcorn. They also waived the usual $22 parking fee.

A few minor negatives: I’m not a fan of sliding barn doors on bathrooms, and Katie didn’t love the sofa. But the balcony, rain shower, and long bench for suitcase living were all big positives.

Funny story: we scheduled a late checkout so I could return and work after dropping Katie at the Biltmore. When I came back, the overzealous housekeeping crew had already stripped the beds and started cleaning the room. The front desk apologized, gave me some bonus points, and set me up in a media room normally reserved for meetings. It ended up being a better workspace than the room would have been so… win/win 🙂 

Fairfield Inn & Suites – Cherokee, NC ($122)

I’ve stayed at this brand… a lot. Fairfield is one of Marriott’s more affordable options, focused on simplicity and consistency. Clean rooms, free breakfast, and not much else.  It was also the only Marriott option near the park entrance, so it won by default.

The room was clean, and the breakfast was actually better than expected. Eggs that weren’t rubbery, a good selection of Greek yogurt, and real oatmeal with toppings. Not amazing, but solid.

The Wayback (Tribute Portfolio) – Pigeon Forge, TN ($98)

This one caught my attention online. Retro roadside motel vibe, bright colors, lots of social spaces. I was a little skeptical, but it turned out to be a fun property that fit the Pigeon Forge atmosphere perfectly. I don’t love exterior doors, but ours opened into a courtyard overlooking a pool, hot tub, and even an Airstream bar instead of out onto the main road.

The breakfast (a welcome gift) was made-to-order instead of a buffet, which was a nice surprise. A couple of minor issues with the bathroom door and a double charge that was quickly fixed, but overall a fun and unique stay.

SpringHill Suites – Bowling Green, KY ($193)

When traveling with the kids, we used to prioritize all-suite properties like SpringHill. Extra space, separate living areas, and free breakfast made a big difference.

The extra space is not as important when it is just the two of us, especially for a one night stay, but I chose this location because it was only a little more expensive than a brand with smaller rooms and it was located a little more conveniently to our next stop, the Mammoth Cave National Park.

The extra room was nice, but the property wasn’t the cleanest we’ve stayed in. The staff was friendly and responsive, though, and the bar came in handy for grabbing limes for the rest of the trip 🙂

Courtyard – Little Rock, AR ($146)

Courtyard is probably the Marriott brand I’ve stayed at the most when traveling for work. It’s designed for business travelers and sits right in the middle between budget and full-service. It typically features comfortable rooms, flexible workspaces, and an on-site bistro for made-to-order food and drinks instead of a traditional free breakfast.  That all works for me because I don’t typically eat breakfast on work trips, but I do sometimes need the business center options.  And, at the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man… because of their target demographics, at Courtyards it is rare to have kids running around, screaming, or dripping all over the elevator on their way out of the pool like you sometimes see in family focused hotels.

We chose this one for a calm final night on the road.  This property is located downtown, but is super convenient to the highway so we knew that we could duck in, get a nice clean room in a probably quiet hotel, and hit the road again in the morning.  No muss, no fuss. 

Bonus points for the fitness center, which was larger than usual since it’s shared with other businesses. After a long day of driving and exploring Mammoth Cave, I needed it.

Final Totals

Here’s how the numbers shook out:

  • AC Hotel: $129
  • Fairfield: $122
  • Wayback: $98
  • SpringHill Suites: $193
  • Courtyard: $146

Total: $688 for five nights
 Average: ~$138 per night

That’s a little below our $150/night target for this kind of travel.  At each hotel I received welcome gifts ranging from water  bottles and free parking, to $20 credits, to free breakfast.  We also earned roughly 25,000 Marriott points, which is about enough for a free night at a similar-level property.  Because of the promo, I also earned a lot of elite night credits which will help achieve Titanium level (and yet another free night certificate).

On top of that, I paid with my Chase Sapphire Reserve at 4x points, earning about 2,750 Chase points (4x on $688). That’s not life-changing, but those points are transferable and generally considered to be much more valuable than the Marriott points.  it layers on another small layer of value, enough to contribute toward a future flight or hotel stay.

The Bigger Takeaway

Spending five nights across five different brands was a great reminder of how wide the range is within a single hotel chain. Each property served a different purpose, and none of them were “better” in a vacuum. They were just better or worse depending on what we needed that night.

Some nights called for space.  Some called for convenience.  Some called for price.

That’s one of the real advantages of sticking with a larger brand like Marriott. It’s not about always picking the nicest option. It’s about picking the right option for the situation.

Sometimes, the best trip isn’t about consistency. It’s about variety.

Tax Time!

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I appreciate the classic joke that always circulates this time of year…

Government: “You owe us money. It’s called taxes.”
Me: “Do you know how much I owe?”
Government: “Of course, but you have to figure it out for yourself”
Me: “I’ll just pay what I think is right?”
Government: “Yes, but guess wrong and go to jail.”

Despite the sentiment, I actually think tax season is a useful annual check-in on our finances and our planning.

I just finished filing our taxes for the year. I’m no expert, but I hired professionals for a few years and did our return alongside them. When we consistently came up with the same results, I figured I’d keep doing it myself.

A few takeaways from this year:

Our General Drawdown Strategy

Now that we are “retired,” our income doesn’t just show up on a W-2. We build it intentionally. Our general order:

  1. 1099 consulting income first

 Uncle Sam really does encourage small business. If we bring in, say, $30,000 in 1099 revenue, after legitimate business expenses (unreimbursed travel expenses, software subscriptions, home office, mileage, etc.), that might drop to $22,000–$24,000 of net income.

  1. Fill the rest of the 12% bracket with 457 distributions 

(from my University job.  One of the occasional perks of working in education is having access to the money I invested in this type of account penalty free before 59 1/2)

For 2025, married filing jointly:

  • Standard deduction ≈ $30,000
  • 12% bracket tops out around $94,000 taxable income
  • Which means gross income can be roughly ~$124,000 before hitting the 22% bracket

But we rarely go anywhere near that. This year we targeted closer to $70,000–$75,000 of total MAGI.

Example:

  • $30,000 net 1099 income
  • $40,000 from 457
    = $70,000 total income

After the ~$30,000 standard deduction, only ~$40,000 is taxable and it is almost entirely in the 10% and 12% brackets.  That’s intentional. We are using low brackets now before our pensions start in a few years..

457 vs. Long-Term Capital Gains

We could sell appreciated investments and realize long-term capital gains. This is a common recommendation for early retirees since, for married filing jointly, the 0% capital gains bracket runs up to roughly $94,000 taxable income. With the standard deduction, you can often realize almost $100 thousand in long-term capital gains and pay $0 federal tax.

That’s powerful.  It is also a great example of how the system is skewed towards wealthy stock owners rather than wage earners.  Even the next bracket for LTCG is only taxed at 15% 🙁   But here’s the wrinkle for us, and many others:

ACA subsidies create a “hidden tax bracket.”

ACA subsidies phase out based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) as a percentage of Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

For a household of 3, 2025 FPL is roughly $25,820.

  • 200% FPL ≈ $51,640
  • 250% FPL ≈ $64,550
  • 300% FPL ≈ $77,460

If we let MAGI creep from $64,000 to $78,000, we might:

  • Lose thousands of dollars in premium subsidies
  • Effectively face a marginal rate north of 20–30% when you combine taxes + lost subsidies

That’s the “hidden bracket.” So even though capital gains are taxed at 0%, they still raise MAGI — which can cost us real money.

ACA Subsidies: A Real Planning Tool

One of the most frequent questions we get about retirement is healthcare. We’re currently using the ACA. Even without subsidies, we’re getting a better plan for about the same price we paid as public school teachers in Texas (which tells you how bad public educator plans in Texas are).

This year we deliberately stayed just below a key subsidy threshold. Example:

If our MAGI had been:

  • $64,000 → strong subsidy
  • $72,000 → meaningfully reduced subsidy

That $8,000 difference in income might have cost us $2,000–$3,000 in lost premium assistance.

The biggest wildcard in our planning right now is the return of the ACA “subsidy cliff.” Democratic policies provided “enhancements” so that subsidies gradually phased out as income increased, and even households above 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) still received some help if premiums exceeded a set percentage of income. Despite the recent shutdown, the Republican party held firm on removing those enhancements so the old rule is back: cross 400% of FPL by even one dollar and subsidies drop to zero. For a household of three in 2025, that line is roughly $103,000 of MAGI. If your income is $102,900, you might receive thousands of dollars in premium assistance. If it’s $103,100, you get nothing and will owe the entire subsidy back at tax time. That creates an extreme marginal “tax” on just a few extra dollars of income, which is why we have to be careful about managing MAGI. It’s not just about income tax brackets anymore; it’s about avoiding a cliff that can turn a small planning mistake into a five-figure swing.

This year was good practice.  Not only was it the last year of enhancements before the cliff returns, but In a few years, when our household drops from 3 to 2 and my pension income starts, those margins will matter even more.

State Taxes: There’s No Free Lunch

At tax filing time, I do have a brief moment of gratitude that we are official residents of Texas and don’t pay a state income tax. When your federal return is finished and there’s no separate state return to file, it does  feel pretty good.  For a moment. Then I remind myself: Texas absolutely gets its revenue.

Even now, in a lower-income early retirement phase, we still pay:

  • Property taxes are often in the 1.8–2.5% range.  On a $300,000 home, that’s $5,400–$7,500 per year.
  • State + local sales tax of 8.25% in the Dallas area, which is among the highest combined sales tax rates in the country.

And unlike an income tax, these are regressive and don’t scale neatly with our earnings.

If our income drops from $120,000 to $60,000, the property tax bill doesn’t get cut in half. The county doesn’t care that I’m strategically harvesting long-term capital gains or staying under an ACA threshold. The appraisal district still wants its check.  And sales taxes? Those are inherently regressive. The family earning $60,000 and the family earning $600,000 both pay 8.25% at the register.

Texas makes a policy choice: tax consumption and property instead of income. That structure can be very attractive during high-earning years. If you’re making $250,000+, avoiding a 5–8% state income tax is meaningful. But in retirement, especially early retirement, the tradeoffs feel different.  There’s no such thing as a tax-free state, only different ways of collecting the bill.

Kids, Tax Credits, and Reality

I’ve been telling our youngest that he’s useless to me now that he has aged out of the Child Tax Credit (which ends at age 17).  Turns out that wasn’t entirely true.

The American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) can be worth up to:

  • $2,500 per year
  • 100% of the first $2,000 in qualified expenses
  • 25% of the next $2,000

If you’re paying tuition, that’s meaningful. So as long as he stays in school and we’re within the income limits, I guess I’ll let him slide 🙂

The Bigger Picture

Unlike some people I talk to, I don’t actually mind taxes.  It’s like a subscription fee for living in a functioning society. Call me crazy, but I like things like roads,public schools, National Parks, libraries, basic social stability, and caring for my fellow man.

Do I think the system is perfect? No.
Do I think rates should probably be higher, especially at the top end of the wealth spectrum? Yes, absolutely.

But while the tax code exists in its current format, staying informed matters.

This year we:

  • Stayed in the 12% bracket
  • Managed ACA subsidies
  • Used business deductions appropriately
  • Leveraged education credits
  • Reduced future tax exposure by drawing down tax-deferred accounts before pension income begins

That’s not “beating the system.” It’s understanding the rules of the system you’re playing in. And when you treat tax season as a strategy session instead of a punishment, it becomes one of the most powerful financial planning tools your family can have.

How Much Did the First 24 Hours in Myrtle Beach Cost? (And How It Compared to Omaha)

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A few months ago, I broke down what our first 24 hours cost in Omaha, Nebraska (How Much Did the First 24 Hours). Since we’ve now settled into Myrtle Beach for our next “slomad” stint, it felt fair to run the numbers again.  Same experiment. Different city. Slightly different results.

Lodging

In Omaha, we paid $1,500 per month for a furnished two-bedroom apartment with utilities included — about $50 per day.

Myrtle Beach is almost identical… with one small twist. The condo is also $1,500 per month, but there’s a 7% tax. That brings the total to $1,605 — or about $53.50 per day. Not a massive difference, but worth noting. Taxes matter, especially when you’re stacking medium-term stays.

Exercise

In Omaha, we signed up for the downtown YMCA almost immediately. It was walkable, affordable, and had a pool. Done.  Myrtle Beach was different.

I was working a lot during the first week, so I didn’t rush to find a gym. Instead, we walked on the beach. Free. Hard to beat that.  (We eventually found a swimming solution – more on that in a future post – but for day one, the Atlantic Ocean and our feet were enough.)

There’s something funny about paying for a treadmill when you’re living in an apartment overlooking miles of sand.

Library

In Omaha, we walked into the downtown public library on day one and got cards immediately.

In Myrtle Beach, we already knew the downtown branch from a previous visit. They even have a “snowbird-friendly” policy, which is perfect for medium-term residents like us. But here’s the difference: convenience.

The library here is a little further from our place, so we didn’t rush to get a temporary card. It can wait a couple of weeks. Of course, that’s the beauty of slower travel.  Not everything has to be solved on day one. Cost so far? $0.

Household Goods & Groceries

This is where the contrast really shows up. In Omaha, the apartment was set up for medium-term living. Starter consumables, decent storage, plenty of space. The Myrtle Beach condo? It’s clearly optimized for short-term rentals.

If you’re staying for a weekend, you don’t bring much. If you’re staying for two to three months… you bring more.  So our biggest purchase this time was storage.

  • A five-shelf storage rack to serve as a pantry and extra storage for non-clothing items
  • A shoe rack for the entryway (Beach life means shoes-off living, and we needed a system.)
    • We did buy a floor mat.  I argued for the Christmas mat that almost matched the one we bought for Omaha.  It was on clearance for $5 🙂 

Total for those three items: $59.

Groceries were $72, slightly higher than Omaha’s $52 first trip. The kitchen here is… compact. Let’s call it “cozy.” We don’t plan on cooking as much from scratch here, but we still need to have some cheap and filling meals we can prepare quickly so we aren’t eating out all the time..

The difference this time? Experience.

We brought more starter items with us (salt, pepper, Ziploc bags, odds and ends) so we didn’t have to repurchase as many basics. That small learning curve saved us money.

Dinner

In Omaha, we celebrated move-in day with a $37 buffet dinner.

In Myrtle Beach, after unpacking and installing storage racks, we kept it simpler. No celebratory splurge. We grabbed Chipotle after shopping and ate it on our new balcony.  Sometimes familiarity lowers the need for ceremony.

Myrtle Beach Day One Total

Lodging (daily equivalent): ~$53.50
Household storage: $54
Groceries: $72
Exercise: $0
Library: $0

Total: $179.50

Slightly higher than Omaha’s $152.15, but most of that difference was one-time storage purchases.

What’s the Real Difference?

The bigger contrast isn’t the dollars. It’s the feel.

Omaha felt urban, organized, infrastructure-ready. Walkable YMCA. Library next door. Plenty of space.  Built-in systems.

Myrtle Beach feels seasonal and recreational. Designed for short bursts of visitors rather than medium-term residents. More driving. Less built-in storage. More improvisation.

But it also offers something Omaha didn’t: A free, beautiful, natural gym outside our door.

Each city comes with tradeoffs.

Omaha had better infrastructure.
Myrtle Beach has better sunsets.

The startup costs are similar. The experience is different. And that’s part of the experiment.

When you slow travel, you start to see how much of your daily spending is shaped by the environment. Not just cost of living, but design of living.

We’re still collecting data, but one thing is clear: the more moves we make, the smarter (and cheaper) our transitions get.

Turns out you can amortize experience, too 🙂

The Superpower Behind Our Financial Independence

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I was at a conference recently where a speaker talked about the health benefits of getting outside and walking in nature, enjoying views, spending time near water, etc. The science is pretty clear: time outdoors lowers stress, improves mood, and boosts overall well-being.

But as I listened, I found myself thinking about something slightly different. It made me reflect on how two teachers got to financial independence so early. People often ask me for “the secret,” expecting some kind of financial arcana…a special investment strategy, insider knowledge, clever tax loophole, etc.

True FI people know the reality: Ninety percent of the money formula is simple. Over time, spend less than you earn and invest the difference.

That’s it.

The math isn’t complicated. The hard part is this: How do you spend less than you earn and still live a genuinely happy, fulfilling life?

Our Real Superpower

Katie has a phrase for this. She calls it our “low coolness threshold.” Simply put, we find joy in simple things. We don’t need the newest, most exclusive, or most expensive version of everything to feel like we’re living well.

Take Hawaii, for example. My work frequently takes us there.  It is a place that can drain a bank account quickly if you let it. There are helicopter tours, guided excursions, luxury dinners, private charters… all incredible experiences.

And we’ve done some amazing things there. But most days? We’ll grab snorkel gear and head to a public beach. We’ll pack lunch and have a picnic in a park. We’ll hike, swim, or just sit and watch the sunset.

But we don’t see it as deprivation. We do it because we genuinely enjoy it. That’s the key. It isn’t sacrifice if it’s what you actually prefer.

The Hedonic Treadmill

The ChooseFI community talks a lot about the “hedonic treadmill” or  the idea that as your income rises, your expectations rise with it. What once felt luxurious becomes normal. Then insufficient. Then embarrassing.

You upgrade the car. You upgrade the house. You upgrade the vacations. You upgrade the restaurants.

And suddenly your higher income doesn’t make you wealthier.  It just makes you more committed, more stuck in “the middle class trap.”

That treadmill is expensive. Keeping up with the Joneses isn’t just emotionally draining. It’s financially destructive. Our “low coolness threshold” has quietly protected us from that.

We bought an older starter home and didn’t upgrade. We drove used cars for over a decade. We skipped the flashy experiences in favor of the ones that felt meaningful.

Not because we’re anti-fun, but because we actually like simple.

Nature as a Financial Strategy

Here’s what struck me at that conference:

Stopping to smell the roses isn’t just good for your mental health. It might be the key to financial independence.

If you can train yourself (or discover within yourself) that a sunset is as satisfying as a luxury rooftop bar, you’ve unlocked something powerful. If a beach picnic feels just as good as a $200 dinner, you’ve reduced the cost of happiness. If a morning walk in a park competes with an expensive hobby, your savings rate increases without feeling like a sacrifice.

That’s not frugality for its own sake. That’s alignment.

The Bigger Picture

Financial independence doesn’t require monk-like discipline or joyless living.It requires clarity about what actually makes you happy and then intentionally spending on things that actually impact your happiness.

For us, that clarity has been a superpower. A low coolness threshold. 🙂

The world will always try to sell you a more expensive version of enjoyment. Bigger. Better. VIP access.

But sometimes the most profitable thing you can do is sit outside, breathe deeply, and realize you already have enough.