It's January 2023, and you know what that means! Net worth post time! Every year I take the time to do one of these “net worth” blog posts for the previous year. I add-up all our different stock and retirement accounts, and then calculate my...
Another month is done, and 2022 is over! It's that time of year again -- the final accounting of dividends and spending in 2022! Believe it or not, I've been doing these posts for years now, and December is almost always the most interestin...
Happy Holidays everyone! Is it that time of year already? It's amazing how quickly 2022 passed! It seems like only yesterday we were starting to pack-up the house for our big move! A lot can happen in a year, that's for sure! Since the ...
Wow, this post is nearly a month late! While you readers have been patiently waiting for the next blog post, I've been goofing-off and taking a vacation instead of writing! Oops! That's what happens when you become financially independent I ...
There's a urban legend in investing that goes something like this: "Stocks keep moving up and to the right forever! Just keep putting money into the market and it will make you rich." That may have been true over the past decade, but 2022 h...
With the S&P 500 down about 20% YTD, its been a rough year for those with money invested in the stock market. Other asset classes have done just as poorly. Inflation has laid a solid roundhouse punch on household budgets this year, leavi...
After a scary couple of months with some massive overspending, it's finally safe to say things are "getting back to normal" for the Tako family. August was all about optimizing our lifestyle in our new home. We started turning the screws, and...
After the long drive from Washington to Arizona, we started settling into our new home in July. We've been here a little over 1 month! The kids have now started school, and Mrs. Tako and I are starting to house hunt. Overall, our move didn't...
Hello there! Yes, it's been awhile since I've posted anything to this blog, but I'm not dead yet! Really! Behind the scenes A LOT has been going on the last few weeks! First off, the Tako family moved 1500 miles from Washington state to Ari...
First off, I need to apologize for the lateness of this post -- it's already mid-May! Sorry folks! I'm running *a little* behind schedule on the blog these days. Let's just say I've been a little distracted by this whole moving process. Not...
Wow! Has it been a month already since I last posted an update? Don't worry, this blog isn't dead! I've just been super busy! While it might seem like nothing is happening on the surface, behind the scenes I've been working like an absolute...
To celebrate my new YouTube Channel’s one month anniversary, I posted two new videos this weekend. Enjoy! You may notice some new background art, which I purchased from the StolitronArtDesign Etsy store. FI Tax Guy can be your financial planner! ...
Is January over already? Some months seem to pass by faster than others, and this January feels like it sped by at light speed. Like most winter months, life was pretty quiet here in the Tako household. We stayed indoors much of the time, av...
Did you receive a Form 1099-DIV which lists an amount in Box 5 “Section 199A dividends”? If so, you might be asking, what the heck are Section 199A dividends? You probably never came across the term “Section 199A dividends” in high school algebra...
Are you "happy as a clam" with your stock returns in 2022? If you have money invested in the U.S. stock market, it's probably hard to be happy at the moment. Instead of the positive returns that we've come to expect in recent years, the stock...
In December of 2017, Dividend Growth Investor (DGI) asked me if I’d like to duplicate the famous Warren Buffett bet. For those unfamiliar, in 2008 Buffett famously challenged the hedge fund industry: Can you beat the S&P 500 over a 10 yea...
December can be a difficult month. On one hand it's the coldest, darkest, and (at least here in the Pacific Northwest) the wettest part of the year. It can be rather depressing. You also have a great number of "cultural holidays" packed into...
Happy New Year! It's time again to do the final accounting for 2021 investment gains, and this is traditionally the one-time a year I look at our family's net worth. Why only once a year? Looking at net worth is a lot like taking the tempe...
Has it been a month since I last posted already? As you can tell dear readers, I've been posting a lot less frequently here at MrTakoEscapes. The truth is, I just haven't been feeling the blogging 'groove' lately...
Ah, Fall! It's that time of year when the weather turns chilly and damp, cold drinks get switched out for hot drinks (cocoa, tea, or coffee), and the leaves begin changing all sorts of beautiful colors...