Are you interested in achieving Financial Independence (FI) either before or after your pensionable career?  So was I two years ago, so I started educating myself on personal finances.  For those of you who’ve read Grumpus Maximus vs. The Golden Albatross, you know I’ve now spent more time researching FI than I did studying for my two liberal arts degrees.   Blogs, books, and podcasts are the three primary resources I used (and still use) to expand my knowledge.  Think of them as a three-legged stool for FI knowledge, and I intend to post on all three “legs” in the future.  I decided to start with blogs,  so below are links to 5 + 1 blogs that I’ve found extremely useful during my financial education project.

My three-legged stool of FI knowledge will hopefully lead to someplace like this…

http://jlcollinsnh.com/ — Jim Collins is referred to by many as the Godfather of the FI movement.  Start your journey by reading his Manifesto, and more importantly, his Stock Series.  All the same information went into his book “The Simple Path to Wealth” which is one of two books I use as a reference for plotting my path to FI.  Reading this blog made me realize that “retiring” from the military and never “working” again was a real possibility.  I constantly refer to the blog as I make my retirement plans. **Please note I am an Amazon affiliate.  If you click the link and buy the book I will receive a small amount of compensation**

JL Collins’ path is simpler than this, although not quite as beautiful

http://www.caniretireyet.com/ — This is the other blog site and book that I use to plot my retirement course.  The site is run by Darrow Kirkpatrick.  His advice is less aggressive than JL Collins and makes some alternate recommendations to consider for retirement investments at different stages of life.  His blogging about financial / retirement calculators is the best.  You cannot effectively calculate your retirement needs without a few good calculators.  Reading this blog and book gave me the ability to calculate my retirement needs effectively.  **Please note I am an Amazon affiliate.  If you click the link and buy the book I will receive a small amount of compensation**

Can you retire yet and take gratuitous retirement photography?

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/blog/ — Mr. Money Mustache gets a lot of press in the Financially Independent Retire Early (FIRE) Community and beyond because he and his wife “retired” at 30 to raise their kid.  He posts about various subjects like low-cost index funds and frugal living, but he also preaches a lot about how great early retirement life is (which gets a bit old).  There is more good than bad on the blog though so I would recommend it to anyone seriously thinking of retiring early.  It is also written in an entertaining manner.

http://www.madfientist.com/ — If you want to geek out on the numbers, this is the site to go to.  It hosts numerous great posts showing the math behind the recommendations for investing in certain types of accounts (i.e. 401K vs. Roth IRA) in order to maximize gains, minimize costs, and take advantage of major tax breaks.  However, this is written for the FIRE community specifically in mind, so Mad Fientist’s recommendations are tailored to 30 somethings in private sector jobs, and mostly ignore people who might have a pension or other means of fixed income in early retirement.

http://the-military-guide.com/ — This site is specifically dedicated to military members and centers on becoming FI.  It studies retirement benefits; TSP;

For those of us in the military, this site can be a lifeline

differences between Guard/Reservist and active duty retirements; and the new Blended Retirement System among other things.  As far I can tell, this is the only major FI website dedicated to the military member.  Just be careful when you click a link because the website is loaded with sponsored ads that the author does not necessarily endorse.

And my plus one …

http://wealthyaccountant.com/ —  I just discovered this site recently, but have already learned a lot of insider information regarding taxes and retirement savings.  Although he is friends with many of the above bloggers, he is not necessarily a FIRE believer.  As the Wealthy Accountant points out, he likes his job and has no intention of retiring early.  This blog is also written humorously and like many of the above blogs also incorporates some philosophical thinking on life.

So that is the blog “leg” of my three-legged stool of FI knowledge.  Each of these websites link to plenty of other blogs within the FIRE community from which you should be able to expand your knowledge immensely on any given subject.  Who knows maybe one day they will link to this site.  Until then …