Where to Begin?

If you’ve just arrived at this blog, you may be wondering where you should begin. Is there a logical way to go about exploring the site? Here are some suggestions.

Browse.

Just diving in and reading posts that look interesting to you is probably the most common way to explore a site, and is a perfectly reasonable way to get to know this one. The site isn’t so big (20-some posts, as of this writing) that you’ll get lost or never find the stuff you’d find most intriguing or pertinent. One post will frequently refer to others, allowing you to follow your nose to those things you most want to learn about. To aid you in your non-linear approach, you can look at the recent posts listed on the Home Page, and refer to the Popular Posts and Archives listed in the right sidebar.

Start at the Beginning

For those wishing to take a more systematic approach, I recommend starting at the beginning, with Can I Retire Yet? (Part I), then proceeding forward chronologically through the posts. The posts are arranged in what I like to think is a logical order, starting with the question of how much do you need to save for retirement, thence on to how to manage your investments and draw income in retirement, and how to protect yourself (financially) from unexpected catastrophes. Sprinkled throughout are posts on favorite sites and useful resources.

The Condensed Version

For those of you too busy or impatient to work your way through a dozen or more posts to get the whole picture, I recommend going to Create Your Retirement Plan: The Eightfold Path, which is my effort to summarize the entire retirement planning process in one post. This post also provides links to other posts, so you can follow up on topics where you’d like to hear a bit more.

References

My posts generally include references (a.k.a., a bibliography), so that curious (or skeptical) readers can follow up and learn more about what is discussed in a particular post. I try to link to articles that are authoritative sources and/or provide well written, insightful analysis. I encourage you to take advantage of these links. Use my posts as a launch pad into your self-directed journey into retirement finance and planning, limited only by your own time and energy.

Whichever approach you take, I hope you enjoy exploring my site — and that you find something of value to you in your own retirement planning.