Since moving to Utah we’ve been trying to figure out what to do about this whole car thing. When we got to town, we had two cars: a 2012 Mazda 6 S and a 2013 Scion TC. Our past lives in Orlando required two vehicles to stay sane and cut down commutes in opposite directions. Since moving to Salt Lake City, we’ve had to rethink what we need from our transportation.
The easy reliance on public transportation to make it to work led me to drop my car back in May. That decision was easy since we rarely used both cars at once. We still absolutely needed one if we want to make it up to the mountains or go anywhere out west (things are seriously far apart). Continue Reading…
I read a bunch of blogs. Ever since the days of LiveJournal and Google Reader I’ve loved reading others growth stories, technical takeaways and seeing what knowledge people care to share.
It usually takes a while for me to read enough by someone to feel a deep connection with them and develop an understanding of who they are. Some writers do this far better than others – generally ones who are amazing and tying in their own stories with what they write about (Tanja from Our Next Life comes to mind). When done right, it feels like you’re getting to know someone, learning their story and developing an understanding of whatever the topic is they focus on all at once. Continue Reading…
In my Q3 Income Report, I mentioned one strategy of ours that I want to expand on: paying next to no taxes in retirement. There are a bunch of strategies for reducing taxes – Backdoor Roth IRA conversions, Roth IRA Ladders, tax gain/loss harvesting – just to name a few.
The more I read about different strategies for reducing taxes when withdrawing funds the more I realize there are soooo many ways to do it. What strategy you choose will rely mostly on two key facts:
- Which accounts you’re using (401k, Roth IRA, Brokerage)
- How much you’re withdrawing each year.
I’m going to go through these two questions for my own accounts and show just how we plan to be able to spend $80,000 a year and pay absolutely taxes. Not “low taxes” but $0 a year in federal tax. Continue Reading…
We started every week at Code School with a Monday morning standup. This is a good way of getting everyone on the same page about events, releases, major events in everyone’s lives, but also a chance to connect on a cultural level.
Sometimes our standup will end with a few words of wisdom from Gregg, our CEO. As time went on, more people at Code School started to tell their own stories that dive into their backgrounds and what brought them in. These have helped me understand a lot of other peoples motivations, and have humanized people to the entire company.
After a little bit of coaching from Gregg, and quite a few trial runs, I gave the following 5-minute talk in front of the team. This is a transcript that 5-minute talk I gave at Code School on November 9, 2016. Continue Reading…
Earlier this year we went on an epic honeymoon to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. My unexpected favorite place we visited during this trip was Luang Prabang, Laos. We were wowed by the people, the culture and the city – which itself is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Aside from exploring beautiful waterfalls, visiting ancient temples and eating delicious amok (fish steamed in bamboo leaves) one thing we enjoyed immensely was the massive night market. Right around dusk, the entire main street of Luang Prabang closes down and is filled in by local vendors spreading out their local wares – usually on a blanket.
Continue Reading…
