Clipping Chains Podcast

I’ll begin with a secret: I never cared much about the nuts and bolts of personal finance (the means), but I was rather enamored with the idea of a financially secure life (the ends). In 2018, climbing media was still full of narratives glorifying the poor dirtbag ideal, but that didn’t align with my lived experience. I wanted to climb hard, while also yearning for meaningful work and financial security. That’s the first half of this story.  Support this project: Buy Me a CoffeeSubscribe to the newsletter: SUBSCRIBE ME!Show Notes and Links at Clippingchains.com

From a market perspective, history has always favored the unfazed, the patient, the forgetful. Drastic action in times of great uncertainty is almost always the wrong move. Time and again—just like now—people convinced themselves of imminent disaster. And in nearly all cases, they were wrong. Financial writers and hardened optimists are right to remind us: “This time isn’t different.”But I’ll be straight with you: This time might be different. Support this project: Buy Me a CoffeeSubscribe to the newsletter: SUBSCRIBE ME!Show Notes and Links at Clippingchains.com

I’ve made it my goal over the past few years to steer people toward financial independence but away from early retirement. I have many reasons, and I’ve laid those out over numerous blog posts and podcast episodes. These are the big themes: Support this project: Buy Me a CoffeeSubscribe to the newsletter: SUBSCRIBE ME!Show Notes and Links at Clippingchains.com

I’ve drifted in and out of the meritocracy trap over the years, but mostly, I’ve stayed stuck in its sticky web. I quickly learned the value of good grades and securing better jobs. Once I landed a good job and the race to secure it was over, I descended into despair at the thought of doing it for the next forty years. Fast-forward a decade, and financial independence allowed me to sidestep the meritocracy trap. However, this too felt like another shiny merit badge. When I reached that point, I looked around and realized, like a bus rider stepping off at the wrong stop: damn it—this isn’t it.Who would have thought you couldn't find happiness by looking for it? Support this project: Buy Me a CoffeeSubscribe to the newsletter: SUBSCRIBE ME!Show Notes and Links at Clippingchains.com

My wife and I stood at the edge of the world—or at least what felt like it—squinting through the murk and sea spray to snap photos of a decommissioned lighthouse. Less like some beacon of hope, its white tower loomed like a ghost, haunting the craggy cliffs of coastal Victoria and my vacation prospects. We’d arrived at the sleepy Victorian coastal town of Port Fairy expecting sunshine, a pleasant breeze—and if not asking too much—maybe a kangaroo or two bounding in silhouette against the sunset. Instead, a spectrum of misery lay before us: wind that could strip the paint from a car and rain in erratic, bipolar bursts. Support this project: Buy Me a CoffeeSubscribe to the newsletter: SUBSCRIBE ME!Show Notes and Links at Clippingchains.com