Reader Profile Friday: Off Road Finance | Budgeting In the Fun Stuff

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The following is a new profile for the BFS Reader Profile series. Today we are getting to know W at Off Road Finance.? Thanks for participating!

Personal Background

Hello everyone!? My pseudonym is W, and I blog on trading and technical finance at Off-Road Finance.? I love the idea of doing a reader profile, and hopefully some of you will find what I have to say intriguing and check my blog out.

I?m 31 years old and live with my wife of a little over a year in the western US.? I found BFS a few months ago when I was getting my blog started and surveying the ?competition?.? Not that it?s much of a competition since my intention is not to blog for money.? The reasons I write about trading are complicated.? You can read the details at http://www.offroadfinance.com/about/ but basically it?s a way for me to air out and formalize my trading ideas.

Thus far it?s been a rewarding experience and I?ve had the opportunity to interact with some great people.? I?m currently looking for ways to draw more people to my site to liven up the conversation a bit.

Financial Background

Since Off-Road Finance isn?t a personal finance site, I haven?t really shared much about my financial situation.? But I?m enough of a voyer that I like to read other people?s info, so it?s only fair to share mine.

We rent half of a big duplex.? We rent because until very recently, housing prices were falling and I had no interest in eating depreciation.? We may buy in the future.? Right now a combination of my engineering salary and trading provides our income which was about $130K last year.? Target for this year is $150K and we should get close.? We?re debt free.? I don?t track our expenditures very closely, but they?re certainly well under our income.

Our Goals

I?ve got four long term financial goals:

1) Security.? I want to be able to cover our monthly nut off trading/non-job income alone.? I hope to achieve this goal by the end of 2013.

2) Gleeful unemployment.? Being an engineer ain?t bad, and I can?t complain about the pay.? But I would like to get my hours down.? Trading for a two hours every morning, plus working a professional job, plus blogging is a bit much.? The job?s the obvious one to go.? I just want to make sure I have plenty of income when I quit. Target: 4 years with $300K of non-job income.

3) Lifestyle improvement.? My wife and I both like the idea of ?country house? living.? But it takes some money to set that up.? Assuming our tastes don?t change and everything goes per plan (yeah, right), the goal is to phase this in starting ~7 years out.

4) Charity.

Assuming my trading career goes as desired, I will probably also be founding a proprietary trading firm and possibly a hedge fund at some point in the future.? That?s not a goal so much as a means to an end though.

Fun Stuff

Oddball facts about me:

- I?ve been a semi-pro gambler and am comfortable in large (multi-thousand dollar) poker games.? Las Vegas is my favorite city to visit.

- My biggest hobby is rock climbing.? I?m pretty bad, but getting better.

- I?m a fan of oddball pencil and paper role playing games and I?m considering writing one.

- My day job is designing computer hardware.

- I used to play in a professional band.

- I drive a 17 year old car and I?m OK with that.

Thanks for reading!

Crystal?s Comments:? I loved the Odd Facts the most!? My husband would love to jump into a high stakes Texam Hold ?Em Tournament sometime.? And playing in a professional band sounds like a one of a kind experience.? Cool beans!? Congrats on living an awesome life!

If you would like to participate in this series, please follow the guidelines found at BFS Reader Profile and submit your own story. Everyone is more than welcome and you can stay anonymous if you?d prefer.

Source: http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/reader-profile-friday-off-road-finance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=reader-profile-friday-off-road-finance

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