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You are here: Home / Homeownership / Kibanda Part 4: Quicksand!

Kibanda Part 4: Quicksand!

by jlcollinsnh 41 Comments

When I was a kid, the TV adventure serials and pre-movie shorts (remember those?) in the theaters were filled with dauntless heroes facing deadly peril in exotic lands. One of the most compelling of these was quicksand.

You be walking along when suddenly you, or more likely the lovely damsel with you (sorry ladies, that’s the way it was in the fifties) would step into a pool of quicksand. And yes, it was always a circular pool fortunately surrounded by solid ground. The better to rescue yourself or your companion.

Cool head that you were, you’d stay calm and not struggle. Or you’d coolly calm down your panicking companion and she’d (again, sorry ladies!) relax and follow your soothing instructions. These usually involved grabbing a handy nearby branch or vine and slowly pulling her or yourself clear. No mention was ever made as to how or when you cleaned all that damp, sticky sand from every crack and crevice.

When I got older and began to travel the world, somewhat to my dismay, I discovered that quicksand was seemly extremely rare and the odds of my rescuing some grateful damsel from it rarer still. Indeed not only did I never come across it, I never met anyone who had. Never even read about someone who had in the papers.

Another childhood myth shattered. Well, I wasn’t destined to win many desperate sword fights either.

I am not naturally a morning person, but here on the beach the glorious dawn with the sun rising up out of the lake is enough to get even me out of bed. Except for the lapping waves it is completely quiet and, at this time of year, there is not another soul to be seen.

The early morning of May 12th was cloudy, damp and a bit cool for the time of year. It had been raining for the last few days. As commonly happens, the waves had crested the sand bank on the beach and formed small pools behind it. This sand between the lake and the pools is most often firm, but can occasionally be soft. Sinking in an inch or two as you walk is not uncommon.

Walking along on one of these sand banks I noticed the sand go from firm to soft and gave it not a thought. Until one step too far where I sunk up to my knees. Quicksand!

And make no mistake, it was quick. Not as quick as…

“Lightning Sand”

…but quick.

One moment I am on the surface and the next I’m in up to my knees and trapped in a thick, wet, heavy sludge of sand.

Unlike the films of my youth, this quicksand had a bottom. Nothing firm you understand,  just a point at which I stopped sinking. Very lucky this. Had this quicksand been, say, 6″2″ deep, it would have been good night Irene before I’d have had a chance to say “good night, Irene.” Here one moment, gone the next.* That would have made for a fine mystery.

Had it been just a few inches deeper there would have been no getting out of it and I’d have been stuck in the cold wet sand up to my whatever until the embarrassment of rescue. Which, remembering how nice and deserted the beach is this time of year, might have been sometime coming.

Once I stopped sinking, and remembering back to the TV serial lessons of my youth, I remained calm and took stock. There was not a branch or handy vine to be had. This was empty beach and Jake the Wonderdog was not about to go for help. He was just wondering why we’d stopped walking.

Not Lassie

While I’d stopped sinking and wasn’t in any real danger, I could also feel the sand start to solidify around my feet. If I was going to get out on my own, it would have to be, well, quickly.

Slowly I managed to pull my right foot free and there was firm ground close enough to give it purchase. But now it was bent under me providing little leverage to pry out the left which in pulling up the right had been driven deeper. So I started to dig.

Digging in wet sand is a fairly futile task. You pull out a handful of sand and the surrounding sand just flows in. None the less I managed to clear a bit away to about half way down my shin. Twisting my foot to break it loose this was enough to slowly pull it free.

I knelt there exhausted for a bit before I could stand, took two steps and began to sink again. There was no visual way to tell where the sand is solid and where it is quick.

Taking another lesson from my childhood adventure serials (when in quicksand lie flat on it) I dropped to my hands and knees and began to crawl. Once it felt solid again, I got up and walked the long way around.

My boots were filled with sand and my pants coated with it. Both are drying in the sun as I write.

What lessons are there here to learn?**

  1. Quicksand does exist!
  2. And it is really quick!
  3. Encountering it doesn’t get you the damsel.
  4. While they lied or ommittied on points #3, #5, #8 and #10; pay attention to the important lessons in the TV adventure serials of your youth.
  5. You can’t count on a handy branch or vine.
  6. Boots are not helpful.
  7. Once you start worrying about losing your boots, you are probably out of danger.
  8. Your dog is not going to recognize the problem. Unless he’s Lassie.
  9. Do your squats daily. You never know when having strong legs is going to come in handy.
  10. Cleaning the sand out of your boots, clothes and various cracks and crevices is the real problem with quicksand.

More cautionary tales:

*This doesn’t actually happen, for reasons I discovered when I Googled it afterwards. Since it not actually happening rather spoils the drama of the story, if you want to know why you’ll need to Google it for yourself.

**If you want actually useful information on quicksand and how to escape it, you’ll want to seek out better sources than my vaguely remembered lessons from old fiction films.

******************************************************

For those of you who having been asking about Kibanda and how this project is going, I am working on a post to fill you in. As those old Serials used to say:

Stay tuned! 

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 Recent Interviews & Projects

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Bigger Pockets Money Show: JL Collins Edition

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Chautauqua

Both weeks for Greece sold out have long been sold out. However, please feel free to put yourself on the:

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Millennial Revolution — Chautauqua: Come Join the Family   (This is a brilliant post with all the details!)

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ChooseFI — Oh, the Places we will go   Chautauqua in the words of the speakers who will be in Greece. There is nothing quite like hearing the voices behind the words.

Also, be sure to listen to this incredible episode with Travis Shakespeare.  Travis is a master story teller and, among other things, he shares three:

  • How the FI movement fits into the cultural fabric of America and its traditions of rugged individuals charting their own course.
  • The coming Playing with FIRE documentary
  • How he decided to come to Chautauqua and what it has meant to him. One of the best insights I’ve heard or read yet.

Mad Fientist — Money Talks panel discussion at Chautauqua UK  Attendees discussing FI and also a great inside look at the Chautauqua experience.

JL Collins — Greece 2018 Mount Olympus 

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Old Post

Every now and again I get a comment on an old post. It is always nice to see those getting some attention and it is fun, for me anyway, to re-read them. Maybe you too. Here’s one:

Personal Capital; and how to unload your unwanted stocks and funds

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Related

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  • Talent Stacker is a resource that I learned about through my work with Jonathan and Brad at ChooseFI, and first heard about Salesforce as a career option in an episode where we featured Bradley Rice on the Podcast. In that episode, Bradley shared how he reached FI quickly thanks to his huge paychecks and discipline in keeping his expenses low. Jonathan teamed up with Bradley to build Talent Stacker, and they have helped more than 1,000 students from all walks of life complete the program and land jobs like clockwork, earning double or even triple their old salaries using a Salesforce certification to break into a no-code tech career.
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  • Betterment is my recommendation for hands-off investors who prefer a DIFM (Do It For Me) approach. It is also a great tool for reaching short-term savings goals. Here is my Betterment Review
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  • Tuft & Needle (T&N) helps me sleep at night. They are a very cool company with a great product. Here’s my review of what we are currently sleeping on: Our Walnut Frame and Mint Mattress.
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Filed Under: Homeownership, Life

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Comments

  1. Financially Free, Pharm.D. says

    May 25, 2018 at 11:00 am

    Quite the nail biter! For some reason I was just waiting for the moment where you would tie in quicksand to debt or something haha. Glad you and Jake (not Lassie) are safe and all is well!

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 25, 2018 at 11:58 am

      Ha!

      I should have tied it into an investing life lesson, and one on debt would have been perfect.

      Glad it held your attention just being a fun little tale. 🙂

      Reply
  2. John says

    May 25, 2018 at 11:39 am

    Glad you’re okay! Be safe!

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 25, 2018 at 11:59 am

      Perfectly, and with no real risk.

      Other than the potential embarrassment of having to be rescued. 😉

      Reply
  3. Susan @ FI Ideas says

    May 25, 2018 at 11:49 am

    That movie clip had Nesquik Sand. Now there’s a new one.

    I’m 58 and it seems that quicksand was a popular hazard in those days of movie and TV writing. Were we just more gullible in that era? Probably. The danger is a metaphor for all the things we worry about that never happen, that keep us from investing or trying a new business, or realizing we can make safe withdrawals work from here and not have to do that one-more-year thing.

    I’m a lucky one. I’ve got my Greece week 2 reservation. Looking forward to meeting you, Mr. Great One!

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 25, 2018 at 12:02 pm

      Wish I’d thought of that metaphor, Susan. It is spot on!

      Looking forward to hanging out with you in Greece, assuming I survive all these perils until then. 😉

      Reply
  4. Mr. Tako says

    May 25, 2018 at 12:29 pm

    Fun story Jim! I had no idea quicksand was a real thing, but yes, I’ve had sand in some very uncomfortable places.

    Not pleasant.

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 25, 2018 at 1:57 pm

      Not pleasant indeed…

      …but a small price for a good story. 😉

      Reply
  5. Accidental FIRE says

    May 25, 2018 at 1:23 pm

    I loved the movies and shows that had quicksand in them.

    I think the sunken cost fallacy has some sort of touch point with quicksand – you want to get out, you know you need to get out, but you’re just not getting out!

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 25, 2018 at 1:59 pm

      “the sunken cost fallacy”

      Perfect!

      Why don’t I think of these things? 🙂

      Reply
  6. Dave says

    May 25, 2018 at 1:29 pm

    I’m just glad you didn’t report encountering any rodents of unusual size. Those are the worst!

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 25, 2018 at 2:00 pm

      Ah, the ROUSs merit their own post. 🙂

      Reply
      • wendy says

        May 25, 2018 at 7:50 pm

        loved the Princess Bride references!!!

        Reply
        • jlcollinsnh says

          May 26, 2018 at 6:42 am

          Inconceivable!

          Reply
  7. nadir says

    May 25, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    I thought this was going to be a story about your house sinking into quicksand. It reminded me of the first 60 seconds of this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNaXdLWt17A

    I’m glad it was your foot and not your house =)

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 25, 2018 at 2:47 pm

      Nah.

      The worry about the house is the foundation failing and it collapsing into the crawl space.

      Well, that’s one of the worries anyway. 😉

      Reply
  8. financialfreedomsloth says

    May 26, 2018 at 6:39 am

    It just proves there is no need to spend a lot of money on ‘extreme sports’ to get a good adrenaline boost! Live an unconventional live and the adventure will find you. Just two days ago, due to heavy rainfall in the region, I had to cross a half a meter deep mud stream with the Vespa when coming home from work.

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 26, 2018 at 6:41 am

      And how did the Italian Wasp do? 🙂

      Reply
  9. Michelle Horning says

    May 26, 2018 at 12:40 pm

    What a great story! Glad you made it out ok. Always wondered if quicksand really existed.

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 26, 2018 at 1:30 pm

      Glad you like it, Michelle…

      …I wanted to write something fun and light for the holiday weekend. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Escape to MI says

    May 26, 2018 at 3:55 pm

    I was actually waiting for the point where it was discovered the lake house was built on quicksand and there was a bigger home ownership crisis/life lesson/huge expense/aggravation looming.

    Phew on all counts!

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 26, 2018 at 5:49 pm

      There are plenty of ownership crisis/life lesson/huge expense/looming aggravations with this little shack, but it has been here since 1939 and the quicksand hasn’t gotten it yet. 🙂

      Congratulations on your pending move/Lake Michigan house! I spent some time poking around your very engaging blog. Your comments reflect the same things we love about living on the big lake. Even winter.

      Good luck with the build!

      Reply
  11. Danny says

    May 26, 2018 at 6:05 pm

    Glad you made it out of quicksand safely! As I was reading this, I remembered having a similar situation as your own, and completely agree that it can be surprisingly scary experience. As a kid, I was playing in a golf tournament and had hit my ball near a stream. Seeing that the ball was on solid land, I decided to hit it. As I walked towards it, immediately my right leg fell into quicksand. I was lucky that a) the quicksand went down as far as my right leg, b) my left leg was still on solid footing, and c) my competitors were kind enough to help pull me up. My right shoe was lost in the quicksand, and for the remainder of the tournament I played it barefoot. It was then I took on the name Shoeless Dan from my fellow competitors. On a positive note, I also learned that day that walking in a park/golf course barefoot was extremely satisfying, and highly underrated 🙂

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 27, 2018 at 8:46 am

      Hi Danny…

      I imagine it would be quite the experience has a kid, scary and a great adventure.

      Plus, you got a cool nickname out of it! 😉

      Walking barefoot, now that the ice has melted, is one of the great pleasures of living here. As you say, satisfying and underrated. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Frogdancer says

    May 27, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    “Not Lassie.”
    heh heh

    Reply
  13. FIRECracker says

    May 27, 2018 at 6:33 pm

    Quicksand?! SAY WHAT! So there’s a 4th Sword of Damocles?

    My life is too easy, he said. Time to buy a house, he said.

    Remind me to never make my life too easy. Though I did willingly sign up to write a book so clearly I don’t like having an easy life…

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 27, 2018 at 8:16 pm

      Yeah, that whole my life is too easy problem has vanished in a puff of smoke. Just got in from mowing the grass while feeding the mosquitos.

      On the plus side, that smoke comes from night fires on the beach.

      As one commenter on an earlier Kibanda post said, if you get to live in such a beautiful place you don’t get to complain. Or something like that. 😉

      Plus, it is definitely easier than writing a book 🙂

      Reply
  14. SLR says

    May 30, 2018 at 3:51 am

    Quicksand is a real hazard on some of our UK beaches. Search UK quicksand.
    Glad you got out safely. 🙂

    Reply
  15. Liz says

    May 31, 2018 at 6:42 am

    Our dog Sadie enjoys watching Lassie occasionally. We tell her to pay attention so she’ll be able to rescue us when the time comes.

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      May 31, 2018 at 7:28 pm

      Hope she pays close attention 🙂

      Reply
  16. plantguy says

    June 6, 2018 at 12:25 pm

    Growing up watching a lot of TV and movies that had quicksand calamities, I assumed quicksand would play a much larger role in my life as an adult. Alas, no. Never heard anyone actually encountering it until today! Glad you’re ok, and I think I found a metaphor in there. Or is quicksand just quicksand?

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      June 6, 2018 at 7:16 pm

      Sometimes, as Freud reportedly once said, a cigar is just a cigar. 😉

      Reply
  17. Simon Kenton says

    June 7, 2018 at 7:10 am

    The density of wet sand is greater than 200/lbs/ft^3. You are not so dense. Therefore you cannot sink deeper into quicksand than about crotch-deep. Nobody can. If you want a metaphor here, a calm relation to the data is better than a panicky one.

    If you want a somewhat different experience than most personal finance writers have had, you can take off your clothes, plunge in the lake, then roll over and over in the sand. Thus you learn how a sugar cookie feels. If you can find very fine-grain, slick mud, roll over and over in it, and hold still until it dries completely, you can discover how a statue feels; or how a person feels who has encased themself in habits that have petrified. Then if you run down to the lake, dried mud cracking with each pace, and dive in, you can discover what rebirth feels like.

    There is much to be said for living by a lake, more for living by a river.

    Reply
  18. Jamie V says

    June 12, 2018 at 9:57 am

    Jim, while in Nepal last month, we went on a trek and came across quicksand. One doesn’t realize it’s quicksand because there were plants (tall grasses) growing out of it so it appeared deceptive, but it had also been undisturbed for quite some time. Our guide advised us to stay on the road and not to take a pee break at that time. You never really think it’s a real thing until you encounter it and then yeah, start walking very. carefully.

    Reply
    • Jamie V says

      June 12, 2018 at 9:58 am

      ps I too am looking forward to another Kibanda update, as your friendly neighbor to the south (I like in MKE). 🙂

      Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      June 12, 2018 at 12:56 pm

      Hi Jamie…

      Where in were you? Chitwan? Beautiful place I think not many visitors to Nepal take the time to see. I didn’t know there was quicksand there, I was too busy watching out for the tigers. 🙂

      Another Kibanda update is due, but every time I publish one I get a bunch of subscription cancellations.
      Ah, well 🙂

      The big news on that front, is the north foundation wall has been dug out and rebuilt. This is the only one of the three foundation issues that is practical to address. The other two we’ll just live with.

      Plus, we got the water turned on to the loft. This was a concern as it had been off for several years. It has to be shut off before the winter freeze each year, but we weren’t sure if that was the only reason. Turns out all is sound.

      Next we have to decide whether to just give it a good cleaning and repair a few things or go for a full gut renovation.

      Reply
      • Jamie V says

        June 13, 2018 at 8:38 pm

        We (very unfortunately) didn’t have time for Chitwan, but our friends went there and it looked like what I had *wanted* to do in Nepal, so..next time! We instead did a hike through the Chisapani/Nagarkot area, which is rather close to Kathmandu, but I guess there’s pockets of the sand in odd places there. I wonder if perhaps there was a mistranslation or misunderstanding, but I’m not 100% sure, so..who knows what is really was! I certainly was not going to find out. 🙂

        Sounds like Kibanda is still an adventure in homeownership. I remember when we were looking at houses (first time homebuyers) and we were warned to stay away from anything with foundation issues since it’d be more pretty pennies to get it sorted. Glad to hear that the water was just fine for you (we turn water off to our outside spigot in the basement to prevent any issues) and I’ve heard horror stories about the pipes freezing/bursting. No one needs that!

        Thank you for the update! (Every time I drive Up North (we take 43) I wonder which house is yours..clearly we can’t see it from the highway but it’s fun to think about (I always wanted a place on the big lake, so I live vicariously through you!). I love staring out at the lake in the morning on the drive, the reflection of the sun is just gorgeous; our own little slice of heaven here.. 🙂 Take Care!

        Reply
  19. Julie at Nest Egg Chick says

    June 23, 2018 at 12:08 pm

    Woah, how scary! As soon as I read the word “quicksand” I immediately thought of the Princess Bride scene – I’m glad to see you did, too 🙂 Good think Jake didn’t sink with you. Poor little not-Lassie must have been confused by the whole thing. That’s not the kind of thing anyone wants to deal with, but if you want a silver lining, you now have a heck of a story to tell for the rest of your life!

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      June 23, 2018 at 1:48 pm

      Anything for a blog post, Julie. 🙂

      Jake was not the least bit concerned, other than his walk was interupted 😉

      Reply
  20. Patrick says

    January 21, 2019 at 7:51 am

    I can’t quite remember how I got onto your Kibanda series today Jim, but your mention of Jake the wonderdog and the picture with the not Lassie comment had me laughing out loud!

    Anyway, I hope you don’t get me to change my mind on property ownership by the end of the series. Already seeing that it’s been positive on the numbers has me concerned. If there’s a highly successful airbnb venture about to begin I’ll be totally livid.

    Keep up the great writing.

    Reply
    • jlcollinsnh says

      January 21, 2019 at 3:23 pm

      Hi Patrick…

      Glad you have enjoyed it so far.

      If all goes well, we plan to VRBO it this summer season. We’ve got a couple set to manage it while we head over to Europe. Could be a disaster, could be great.

      So far, Kibanda has worked out better than expected.

      If you want to have your mind changed about property ownership, this is your series:
      https://jlcollinsnh.com/category/how-i-lost-money-in-real-estate-before-it-was-fashionable/

      🙂

      Reply

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      • Why we bought a brand new car
    • ► August (1)
      • A Guided Meditation for When the Stock Market Is Dropping
    • ► June (2)
      • 7 Days in Heaven: or Why Slowing Down Will Get You There Sooner
      • Quit Like a Millionaire
    • ► March (1)
      • Stocks -- Part XXXV: Investing for Seven Generations
    • ► February (1)
      • Chautauqua 2019 - UK & Portugal - Tickets Now Available
    • ► January (2)
      • Mr. Bogle passes
      • "I wanted the unreasonable"
  • ► 2018 (16)
    • ► December (1)
      • Happy Holidays! and a bit on Mr. Market
    • ► November (3)
      • Truly Passive Real Estate Investing
      • Car Talk: An update on Steve and looking at Leafs
      • Chautauqua 2018 Greece: A week for the gods!
    • ► October (1)
      • On Twitter, gone for Chautauqua and dark on comments till November
    • ► September (2)
      • What we own and why we own it: 2018
      • Tuft & Needle: Our Walnut Frame and Mint Mattress
    • ► August (1)
      • Kibanda Part 5: Pretty, and pretty much done
    • ► June (3)
      • Stocks--Part XXXIV: How to unload your unwanted stocks and funds
      • Tracking your holdings
      • Stocks -- Part XXXIII: Optimism
    • ► May (2)
      • Kibanda Part 4: Quicksand!
      • My Talk at Google, Playing with FIRE and other Chautauqua connections
    • ► March (1)
      • Stocks -- Part XXXII: Why you should not be in the stock market
    • ► February (1)
      • Chautauqua 2018: Mt. Olympus, Greece
    • ► January (1)
      • An International Portfolio from The Escape Artist
  • ► 2017 (15)
    • ► December (2)
      • The Bond Experiment: Return to VBTLX
      • How to Invest in Bitcoin like Benjamin Graham
    • ► October (1)
      • Kibanda Part 3: Running the numbers
    • ► September (1)
      • Sleeping soundly thru a market crash: The Wasting Asset Retirement Model
    • ► August (2)
      • Stocks -- Part XXXI: Too hot. Too cold. Not pure enough.
      • Kibanda, Part 2: Negotiating the deal
    • ► July (2)
      • Time Machine and the future returns for stocks
      • Kibanda: Mr. Anti-house buys his dream house
    • ► June (2)
      • Is there an interior designer in the house?
      • The Simple Path to Wealth goes Audio!
    • ► May (1)
      • Life on the Beach
    • ► April (1)
      • Sell! Sell!! Sell!!! Sell?
    • ► March (1)
      • Vicki comes to Chautauqua: United Kingdom
    • ► January (2)
      • Chautauqua - Ecuador 2017 open for reservations
      • Chautauqua - United Kingdom: August 2017
  • ► 2016 (22)
    • ► December (3)
      • Season's Greetings and other cool stuff
      • Angel Investing, or Angel Philanthropy?
      • Mr. Bogle and me
    • ► November (1)
      • Where did you learn about money?
    • ► October (2)
      • Buy Your Freedom; Rent the Rest
      • So, what do you drive?
    • ► September (2)
      • Stocks -- Part XXX: jlcollinsnh vs. Vanguard
      • A visit to the Frugalwoods
    • ► August (1)
      • What the naysayers are missing
    • ► July (1)
      • Reviews of The Simple Path to Wealth; gone for summer
    • ► June (2)
      • The Simple Path to Wealth is now Published!
      • A peek into The Simple Path to Wealth
    • ► May (1)
      • It's better in the wind. Still.
    • ► April (3)
      • Cool things to check out while I'm gone
      • Stocks — Part XXIX: How to save money for college. Or not.
      • Help Wanted: The Book
    • ► March (1)
      • F-You Money: John Goodman v. jlcollinsnh
    • ► February (2)
      • Q&A - V: The Women of Amphissa
      • jlcollinsnh gets a new suit
    • ► January (3)
      • Chautauqua 2015 Reviews, 2016 registration open
      • Case Study #15: The Scavenger Life -- Freedom first, then Financial Independence
      • 3rd Annual (2015) Louis Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest results, and my forecast for 2016
  • ► 2015 (18)
    • ► December (2)
      • Q&A - IV: Strawberry Patch
      • Seasons Greetings! and other cool stuff
    • ► October (2)
      • Personal Capital; and how to unload your unwanted stocks and funds
      • Stockchoker: A look back at what your investment might have been
    • ► September (2)
      • Case Study #14: To Dream the Impossible Dream (and then realize it)
      • Hotel Living
    • ► August (1)
      • Mr. Market's Wild Ride
    • ► June (4)
      • Gone for Summer, an important note on comments and random cool stuff that caught my eye
      • Around the world with an Aussie Biker
      • Case Study #13: The Power of Flexibility
      • Stocks — Part VIII: The 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA & Roth Buckets
    • ► March (2)
      • Stocks -- Part XXVIII: Debt - The Unacceptable Burden
      • Chautauqua October 2015: Times Two!
    • ► February (2)
      • YNAB: Best Place to Work Ever?
      • Case Study #12: Escaping a soul-crushing job before you're 70
    • ► January (3)
      • Case Study #11: John, a small business owner in transition
      • Trish and Stan take an Intrepid Sailing Voyage
      • 2014 Annual Louis Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest results, and my forecast for 2015
  • ► 2014 (29)
    • ► December (2)
      • Diamonds and Happy Holidays!
      • Micro-Lending with Kiva
    • ► November (3)
      • Chautauqua February 7-14, 2015: Escape from Winter
      • Stocks -- Part XXVII: Why I Don’t Like Dollar Cost Averaging
      • Jack Bogle and the Presidential Medal of Freedom
    • ► October (3)
      • Tuft & Needle: A better path to sleep
      • Nightmare on Wall Street: Will the Blood Bath Continue?
      • Help Wanted
    • ► September (1)
      • Chautauqua 2014: Lightning strikes again!
    • ► August (2)
      • Stocks -- Part XXVI: Pulling the 4%
      • Stocks -- Part XXV: HSAs, more than just a way to pay your medical bills.
    • ► July (3)
      • Stocks -- Part XXIV: RMDs, the ugly surprise at the end of the tax-deferred rainbow
      • Summer travels, writing, reading and other amusements
      • Moto X, my new Republic Wireless Phone
    • ► June (1)
      • Stocks -- Part XXIII: Selecting your asset allocation
    • ► May (1)
      • Stocks -- Part XXII: Stepping away from REITs
    • ► April (3)
      • Q&A III: Vamos
      • Q&A II: Salamat
      • Q&A I: Gaijin Shogun
    • ► March (2)
      • Top 10 posts
      • Cafe No Se
    • ► February (4)
      • Chautauqua 2014 preview, closing up for travel and other random cool things that caught my eye of late.
      • Case Study #10: Should Josiah buy his parents a house?
      • Case Study #9: Lars -- maximizing some good fortune and considering "dollar cost averaging"
      • Case Study #8: Ron's mother - she's doin' all right!
    • ► January (4)
      • roundup: Some random cool things
      • Stocks — Part XXI: Investing with Vanguard for Europeans
      • Case Study #7: What it looks like when everything financial goes wrong
      • 1st Annual Louis Rukeyser Memorial Market Prediction Contest 2013 results, and my forecast for 2014
  • ► 2013 (41)
    • ► December (4)
      • Closing up for the Holidays, see you in 2014
      • Betterment: a simpler path to wealth
      • Case Study 6: Helping an ill and elderly parent
      • Stocks -- Part XX: Early Retirement Withdrawal Strategies and Roth Conversion Ladders from a Mad Fientist
    • ► November (3)
      • Death, Taxes, Estate Plans, Probate and Prob8
      • Case Study #5: Zero to 2.6 million in 25 years
      • Case Study #4: Using the 4% rule and asset allocations.
    • ► October (3)
      • Republic Wireless and my $19 per month phone plan
      • Case Study #3: Let's get Tom to Latin America!
      • The Stock Series gets its own page
    • ► September (2)
      • Case Study #2: Joe -- off to a fast start!
      • Chautauqua 2013: A Week of Dreams
    • ► August (1)
      • Closing up shop plus an opening at Chautauqua, my new podcast, phone, book and other random cool stuff
    • ► July (1)
      • They Will Kill You For Your Shoes!
    • ► June (4)
      • Stocks -- Part VIII-b: Should you avoid your company's 401k?
      • Shilpan's Seven Habits to Live More with Less
      • Stocks -- Part XIX: How to think about money
      • My path for my kid -- the first 10 years
    • ► May (5)
      • Why your house is a terrible investment
      • Stocks — Part XVIII: Investing in a raging bull
      • Dining with the Ghosts of Sarah Bernhardt and Alfons Mucha
      • How we finally got the house sold
      • Stocks — Part XVII: What if you can't buy VTSAX? Or even Vanguard?
    • ► April (4)
      • Greetings from Prague & a computer question
      • Swimming with Tigers, a 2nd chance on the Chautauqua, a financial article gets it wrong and I'm off to Prague
      • Storage, Moving and Movers
      • Homeless, and a bit on the strategy of dollar cost averaging
    • ► March (4)
      • Wild Turkeys, Motorcycles, Dining Room Sets & Greed
      • Roots v. Wings: considering home ownership
      • How about that stock market?!
      • The Blog has New Clothes
    • ► February (5)
      • Meet Mr. Money Mustache, JD Roth, Cheryl Reed & me for a Chautauqua in Ecuador
      • High School Poetry, Carnival, cool ads and random pictures that caught my eye
      • Consignment Shops: Best business model ever?
      • Cafes
      • Stocks -- Part XVI: Index Funds are really just for lazy people, right?
    • ► January (5)
      • Social Security: How secure and when to take it
      • Fighting giraffes, surreal landscapes, dancing with unicorns and restoring a Vanagon
      • My plan for 2013
      • VITA, income taxes and the IRS
      • How to be a stock market guru and get on MSNBC
  • ► 2012 (53)
    • ► December (6)
      • See you next year....until then: The Origin of Life, Life on Other Worlds, Mechanical Graveyards, Great Art, Alternative Lifestyles and Finding Freedom
      • Stocks -- Part XV: Target Retirement Funds, the simplest path to wealth of all
      • Stocks -- Part XIV: Deflation, the ugly escort of Depressions.
      • Stocks Part XIV: Deflation, the ugly escort of Depressions.
      • Stocks -- Part XIII: The 4% rule, withdrawal rates and how much can I spend anyway?
      • How I learned to stop worrying about the Fiscal Cliff and you can too.
    • ► November (2)
      • Rent v. owning: A couple of case studies in Ecuador
      • So, what does a month in Ecuador cost anyway?
    • ► October (4)
      • See you in December....
      • Meet me in Ecuador?
      • The Podcast: You can hear me now.
      • Stocks -- Part XII: Bonds
    • ► September (6)
      • Stocks -- Part XI: International Funds
      • The Smoother Path to Wealth
      • Case Study #I: Putting the Simple Path to Wealth into Action
      • Tales of Bolivia: Calle de las Brujas
      • Stocks -- Part X: What if Vanguard gets Nuked?
      • Travels in South America: It was the best of times....
    • ► August (1)
      • Home again
    • ► June (4)
      • Yellow Fever, closing up shop for the summer and heading to Peru y Bolivia
      • I could not have said it better myself...
      • Stocks -- Part IX: Why I don't like investment advisors
      • Happy Birthday, jlcollinsnh; and thanks for the gift Mr. MM!
    • ► May (6)
      • Stocks -- Part VIII: The 401K, 403b, TSP, IRA & Roth Buckets
      • Mr. Money Mustache
      • The College Conundrum
      • Stocks -- Part VII: Can everyone really retire a millionaire?
      • Stocks -- Part VI: Portfolio ideas to build and keep your wealth
      • Stocks -- Part V: Keeping it simple, considerations and tools
    • ► April (6)
      • Stocks -- Part IV: The Big Ugly Event, Deflation and a bit on Inflation
      • Stocks -- Part III: Most people lose money in the market.
      • Stocks -- Part II: The Market Always Goes Up
      • Stocks -- Part 1: There's a major market crash coming!!!! and Dr. Lo can't save you.
      • You can eat my Vindaloo, mega lottery, Blondie, Noa, Israel Kamakawiwo 'Ole, art, film and a ride on the Space Shuttle
      • Where in the world are you?
    • ► March (7)
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part V: Sold! and the taxman cometh.
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part IV: I become a Landlord.
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part III: The Battle is Joined.
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part II: The Limits of the Law.
      • How I lost money in real estate before it was fashionable, Part I: Impossibly Naive.
      • You, too, can be conned
      • Armageddon and the value of practical skills
    • ► February (6)
      • Rent v. Owning Your Home, opportunity cost and running some numbers
      • The Casanova Kid, a Shit Knife, a Good Book, Having No Regrets, Dark Matter and a bit of Magic
      • What Poker, Basketball and Mike Whitaker taught me about Luck
      • How to Give like a Billionaire
      • Go ahead, make my day
      • Muk Finds Success in Tahiti
    • ► January (5)
      • Travels with "Esperando un Camino"
      • Beanie Babies, Naked Barbie, American Pickers and Old Coots
      • Selling the House and Adventures in Staging
      • The bashing of Index Funds, Jack Bogle and a Jedi dog trick
      • Magic Beans
  • ► 2011 (22)
    • ► December (1)
      • Dividend Growth Investing
    • ► November (2)
      • The Mummy's head, Particle Physics and "Knocking on Heaven's Door"
      • "It's Better in the Wind" or why I ride a motorcycle
    • ► October (1)
      • Lazy Days and School Days
    • ► July (2)
      • The road to Zanzibar sometimes goes thru Ecuador...
      • Johnny wins the lotto and heads to Paris
    • ► June (16)
      • Chainsaws, Elm Trees and paying for College
      • Stuff I’ve failed at: the early years
      • Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat
      • The. Worst. Used. Car. Ever.
      • Top Ten reasons your future is so bright it hurts my eyes to look at it
      • The Most Dangerous Words Your Customer Can Say
      • How not to drown in The Sea of Assholes
      • What we own and why we own it
      • The Ten Sales Commandments
      • My ever so formal and oh so dry CV
      • How I failed my daughter and a simple path to wealth
      • The Myth of Motivation
      • Why you need F-you money
      • My short attention span
      • Why I can’t pick winning stocks, and you can’t either
      • The Monk and the Minister

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