Author Archives: Raymond Mills

I’m Hired, Now What Do I Do?

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That First Real Job After College

My son graduated college a few weeks ago. He successfully negotiated the gauntlet of zoom interviews and was offered a position with a vast, prestigious accounting firm. He’s not an accountant but has a degree from a well-known university in computer science. The job is in the firm’s ‘Advisory’ business. It was a great relief because he was not confident after the interviews. (He was well prepared and did several mock interviews) The phone call from the firm, followed by the loud whooping I heard, told me it was good news. I think I was just as happy as he… Continue reading →

River of Fear

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River of Fear

The Ausable looking sedate as it flows through town.   We intended to tie the college-supplied rubber tires together and float down the nearby AuSable River. There were six of us: Lester (Larry), Bubbles (Marilyn- Larry’s girlfriend), Norm and Leo (Steve), my roommate Marty, and I. We loaded the tires onto Larry’s old Chevy Nomad, affectionately named Bertha “Queen of the north way” (a highway that leads to the north country from Albany), and Larry drove us to the starting point. I took one step into that icy water and thought better of it. That would later prove to be a… Continue reading →

How I Really Learned about Personal Finance

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How I Really Learned About Personal Finance

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.I grew up in a modest family, and no one had any money, so no one could mentor us on how to handle it. Specifically how to hang on to it. Though I now have several degrees focused on money: Accounting, Finance, and Tax. I suspect, as is usually the case, my strongest lessons learned were through experience, my own, and those I could observe. My older, now late, brother landed a well-paying, union job with the Long Island Rail Road. He was what you would call a… Continue reading →

What Is Your Fire Number?

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What is your Fire Number?

Photo by Adrianna Calvo from Pexels Understandably a lot of focus in the FIRE community (Financial Independence Retire Early) is about reaching and determining What Is Your Fire Number. That is the amount of savings you will need to retire and not run out of money. Put another way, it is that point where you can say to the boss something wholly inappropriate or simply resign, retire, or find another job you enjoy more. To find What is Your Fire Number you can put your financial data in a retirement calculator and like many be dismayed just how big that… Continue reading →

First Home Considerations

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First Home Considerations

Photo by Adriaan Greyling from Pexels A while back my daughter bought her first home. When they were house hunting the Mrs. and I tagged along, and I must admit I was shocked how little $450k bought. I realize that the “times are a changin”. They settled on an 80-year-old 3-bedroom house – they were lucky as the first buyer could not get a mortgage, so the sellers, who had already moved out, were desperate for a quick deal. It got me to thinking about: First Home Considerations” The house like nearly all the homes in this charming, friendly, old neighborhood… Continue reading →

The Old Dog

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The old dog scratched lightly at the front door at 4:50 AM because that is what old dogs often do. The old man was awake, heard the scratch, and slipped out of his warm bed up with a grumble “4:50 AM”. He said this not with anger but with mirth since he never slept late anyway. Older men rarely do. He felt the cold, found his slippers, went down the stairs, and found his old gal waiting by the front door. He greeted her “Hello Dusty” and walked past her to the kitchen, asked that the lights be turned on,… Continue reading →

The Best Financial Advice I Ever Received

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The Best Financial Advice I Ever Received

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels Recently I got to thinking about The Best Financial Advice I Ever Received.  My goal is simply to make sure I shared it with my kids and anyone who wants to learn.  In my case, I believe it was teachers and books.Call them Influencer, Mentor, Teachers they all have a special place in our hearts as they helped us down the right path. I remember two of mine vividly, both were old and had learned many of life’s lessons. My college personal finance course professor was seventyish with 10 children. It was well before… Continue reading →

16 Suggestions After Graduating College

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16 Suggestions After Graduating College

When developing this list of 16 Suggestions After Graduating College I was reminded by a contributor that each person has a different set of circumstances and he warned against generalizations.I gave this some thought, and I believe nearly every single recent graduate will benefit from several components of this list, If not all. For example, I realized some time ago with regret I would have saved a bundle if I had a roommate to share the cost rather than living alone 16 Suggestions After Graduating College is in my opinion, the first page in a strong roadmap to a reduced stress… Continue reading →

Walking Journal 08/13/2020

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Walking between the raindrops

Walking between the raindrops This morning I woke early, just after 4 AM, I am fine with that because I am generally off to bed early and I am not above taking an hour nap in the afternoon.  Me, my cup of joe, and the old dog Dusty share some morning quiet time. I have checked the weather and it seems I have a couple hour window to get my daily exercise walk in before a change in weather is coming.   I found walking has me watching the weather carefully with an eye towards determining when I can sneak that daily… Continue reading →

Walking Journal 9/29/2020

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Walking Journal 09/29/20

When I started walking to improve my health seriously and ran into my first piece of road trash it occurred to me “that is a flat tire waiting to happen” and “why not do a little good” So I picked it up and properly tossed it into a garbage can.  Well, these last 6 months I put a lot of miles on my sneakers.  Sneakers that I can now see better because the belly that blocked the view of them has shrunk substantially.  Below is a sample of my finds – I did not want this web page to take… Continue reading →