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Grumpus the Story Teller

Gather round the campfire kids. Did I ever tell you the story of how I lost $766K?

If you are one of my three avid readers, then you may have wondered if I was ever going regale you with more (true) stories about my rather substantial money mistakes. Well wonder no more, the time has come. And while this story does not have the “I sold 300 shares of Amazon in 2004 to buy a house in the height of the market in Southern California” hook that An Unintentional Meander Up Grumpy Avenue Part 1 did; it does have an otherwise avoidable $20,000 dollar tax bill waiting at the end of it. Not as memorable as my $750,000 opportunity cost? Fair enough, that sum still makes me light-headed. However, what if I told you I paid someone for the privilege of the $20,000 tax bill? And it was potentially avoidable? Stick with me and by the end of the story if you are not busting out the tried and true “Man that Grumpus is an idiot” line, then I promise you a full refund on your time and a beer next time we meet.

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Stock Take

OK, I’ve written two monster posts over the past two weeks, one of which I felt was a personal best. The other covered an extremely complicated topic which required a lot of research and rewrites. Even with all the scrutiny, Grumpus Brotherus The Younger still had to catch a few mistakes in the first published version of my last article.

(Quick segue: For all you fresh faced bloggers out there, it turns out this blogging thing is a lot harder than it looks. Not only do you have to create awesome content, but you need to make it look appealing with stock photography; think up terribly witty [or plainly terrible] captions; hotlink references to your previous posts; and promote your persona and site on social media. Admittedly I cannot keep that pace of work up alone, so I am taking on some easier subjects and topics until I find a blogging assistant. I am interviewing for the job in case you are interested. You can submit your resume in the form of a 1000 word essay at grumpusmaximus@grumpusmaximus.com.)

All two avid readers of this blog may remember that I already wrote a post in which I reviewed three books, two booklets, and one chapter of a book. I billed them as the perfect combination of reading material to build one leg in that three-legged stool of Financial Independence (FI) knowledge. However, some of you may have been hoping that I would review a book written specifically for a Golden Albatross situation. But unless I wrote a book about the Golden Albatross, no book out there is going to address the situation by name since I made up the metaphor. Yet, during my FI educational journey, I’ve read a book that described the situation, just not in so many words. The book is Messages From Your Future: The Seven Rules for Financial, Personal and Professional Success by Larry Faulkner. My review is below. Enjoy …