109R | Big ERN from Early Retirement Now joins the show to talk about the current market climate: How is it impacting investors, who could benefit, and what markers he uses to evaluate its actual condition? We also share a voicemail from Abby, who provides a few more helpful hints for teaching abroad. Highlights from the show:

• Brad maxed out his HSA for 2019, and talks about how he’s prioritizing fitness.
• Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.
• Preview of who will be at the coming CampFI that Brad plans to attend.
• Review of Monday’s episode about teaching abroad, and the wide variety of opportunities available.
• A voicemail from Abby H., who is currently teaching in China and has experience in several other countries as well.
• Abby tried teaching in Kuwait, but found that despite a high salary the cost of living was also extremely high.
• Suggestions from Abby:
• • Don’t just look for jobs in the Middle East, or other “high salary” locations.
  • Try negotiating your salary/benefits offer.
  • Look for options that don’t require purchasing a car.
• How did Rob and Scott, from Monday’s episode, replace fear with flexibility in each of their lives?
• Big ERN joins the show to talk about the current market situation:
• • What is “sequence of returns” risk, and why does it matter?
  • Under the assumption that the great recession or the dot-com bust will not repeat, Big ERN thinks it’s too early to worry about the current market climate.
  • The 4% rule isn’t as untouchable as people think. With a small market downturn, it’s possible that some people will need to draw as much as 5%.
  • If someone’s portfolio decreased this year, should they work a few more years to rebuild it, or count on the market recovering?
  • If someone is still many years away from retirement, they shouldn’t worry too much about the market, and might actually be benefit from low stock prices.
  • If you have a 50% or higher savings rate, you are going succeed financially, regardless of this drop in the market.
  • The U.S. economy is still strong, so the value of the market isn’t necessarily going down – the price is just down.
  • If someone has a sum of money ready to invest, should they invest it all at once, or employ “dollar-cost averaging”?
  • Who should be concerned about the market and what should they be looking for?
  • Look at the fundamentals of the U.S. economy to evaluate the conditions of the market.
  • Big ERN just retired. His family is just settling in to a new house in Washington.

Links:

• ChooseFI Local Groups are helping to build on-the-ground community
• TeachAway
• Early Retirement Now