Rockstar Rumble, Round 1, Posts 81-88

Here are the latest games in the first round of the 2019 Rockstar Rumble. We've listed each "game" (one post versus another) along with wording provided by the author when the post was submitted. Also listed is a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote. Be sure to vote for your favorites since you will help determine the winner! Criteria for the best article is what makes Rockstar content which includes these factors:

  • Starts with an interesting title
  • Includes unique content — we like posts that are edgy, feisty, funny, failure-focused, and super helpful
  • Easy to read
  • Positive/uplifting (vs. negative)

The voting will run for 48 hours. At that point, a winner will be named and will advance. You can follow the results in the brackets here. Please note, there is ONE VOTE PER PERSON. To be sure you see all games, click on the Rumble category link and scroll down. If you like great posts like these featured, you can subscribe to the Rockstar Finance weekday email and get the best personal finance articles delivered to your inbox. Today's games are brought to you by Mediavine, a full-service ad management solution for digital content creators. Here are today's games: GAME 41

  • Cashing in on Early Retirement (Cashing) -- You don't need to be a wage slave. The choice to retire early is yours and yours alone. Learn a few keys that have been shared by those who have done it.

VERSUS

  • Saving For Retirement: Is It Even Possible? (Possible) -- If there's one thing we collectively talked about a LOT in 2018, it's the rules and guidelines for saving for retirement—and whether they're even possible to achieve. Think things like "You should save 1x your annual salary by the time you're 30" and the ensuing snarky tweets. There's one thing that all of the conversations, or at least most of them seemed to miss, however: It's not really possible to "save" your way to retirement. This post breaks down what you need to do instead.

[poll id="173"] GAME 42

  • To RE or not to RE, That is the Question (Question) -- Should you “RE”, or Retire Early? Or does the word “retire” make you cringe? What is the meaning of FIRE if many people out there are saying they expect to keep on working, but possibly on another venture? Or maybe we need a different name for it.

VERSUS

  • Flexible FIRE (Flexible) -- Although typical FIRE (Financial Independence/Retiring Early) gets all the attention and accolades these days across the interwebs, its lesser known relative Flexible FIRE deserves a serious look as well. Flexible FIRE is having enough of a nest egg (that will continue to grow over the years), combined with one or more sources of income, to provide the financial confidence and flexibility in life you are looking for.

[poll id="174"] GAME 43

  • I Thought I was Lean FIRE. I'm Not. (Not) -- 2018 was the year of new FIRE acronyms. Lean FIRE, Fat FIRE, FIOR... there are so many ways to categorize a journey to financial independence, and there's nothing wrong with that. Before I had heard of Lean FIRE, I always assumed my FI route would be of the more frugal variety. If anything, the conversations and countless posts from throughout this year helped me realize that I'm anything but.

VERSUS

  • A Priority We Pursue vs. A Luxury We Can Uniquely Afford (Luxury) -- Financial Independence paired with spending discipline increases your choices, including the option to cut back at work. Co-workers have difficulty understanding unconventional choices, and often erroneously attribute additional advantages to peers who choose to reduce their workload. This protects co-workers from the truth, which is that they are trapped by their choices, and very little holds them back from pursuing similar priorities.

[poll id="175"] GAME 44

VERSUS

  • Uncle Sam Worse than Bernie Madoff??? (Uncle) -- Bernie Madoff has gone down in financial infamy with his version of the Ponzi/Pyramid scheme that bilked investors out of an estimated 18-65 billion dollars. However even Bernie's pyramid pales in comparison to the one Uncle Sam has been building. Read a historical account of the pyramid scheme through the ages right up to the current one being constructed brick by brick by the government.

[poll id="176"]