cats notes — Blog — Sisters for Financial Independence

Oct 12

Oct 12 Book Review and Summary: The Debt Trap by Josh Mitchell

This month’s book is The Debt Trap: How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe by Josh Mitchell. It was written by a reporter from the Wall Street Journal who has years of experience writing about the economy and higher education.

The book covers the history of student loans and the creation of the college industrial complex. I didn’t know much about how the idea of student loans came about so the book was an insightful look at the players that eventually created a big business that impacted most of our lives.

Jul 8

Jul 8 Book Review & Notes: Out of the Rat Race By Eric Duneau

Catherine Agopcan

Financial Books

“Keep your focus. You are planning your financial independence. You are in a different game. Don’t be jealous of their fancy stuff.”

Book Review & Notes: Out of the Rat Race By Eric Duneau is the story of his journey to reach financial independence. It covers everything from the history of money, real-estate investing, the importance of human capital, attitude and how to leverage it all for financial freedom.

Mar 4

Mar 4 Book Summary: The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

Catherine Agopcan

Financial Books

“The two greatest enemies of the equity fund investor are expenses and emotions.”

In honor of the passing of John C. Bogle, found of Vanguard and father of index funds, I picked up the updated edition of his book “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.” I’ve heard of this book before, but never got around to picking it up. It’s a worthwhile book to read especially for those new to investing or those that need a refresher on the value of investing.

Feb 4

Feb 4 Book Review & Notes: Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier of Millennial Money

Catherine Agopcan

Financial Books

When the opportunity to sign-up to preview Grant Sabatier’s new book Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need came up, I jumped at the chance and am so glad I did. It is jam packed with actionable insights. More importantly, it gives you a blueprint of how to achieve Financial Independence early on. There’s also an important question that Grant addresses “Why do you want to retire early?” Retirement while your fully financial independent is all about options and its all about choices.

Oct 18

Oct 18 The Four Tendencies and Personal Finance: How to Motivate Yourself to Take Action Towards Financial Independence

Catherine Agopcan

Financial Books, Financial Education, Alternative Lifestyle

“It’s been freeing to focus on what works for me rather than what’s wrong with me.”

I just recently finished reading Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies. In the Four Tendencies, Gretchen Rubin, outlines four different personality types based on how each one deals with inner and outer expectations: Upholder, Obliger, Questioner and Rebel. By understanding our Tendency, we can harness that to find our own internal and external motivations.

Sep 25

Sep 25 Book Notes: The Energy of Money

Catherine Agopcan

Financial Books

Life is hard when you don’t do what you truly value because you are putting all your energy into trying to get rid of your fears rather than into materializing your dreams.

You can dream about money, you can tell the universe you want money, but if you don't take any action towards it, it will never materialize. All of the people in our lives have instilled upon us THEIR beliefs about money. Our past circumstances may have dictated where we are now in life, but at this moment in time, we have the power to change that. All it takes is purposeful action.

We will look at what times in the context of The Energy of Money by Dr. Nemeth.

Jun 8

Jun 8 Book Summary: Your Money Or Your Life

Catherine Agopcan

Financial Books

"Waste lies in not in the number of possessions, but in the failure to enjoy them."

I had the chance to pick up Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. They are thought to be the ones that coined the term "FIRE" A writer from a FI group in NYC brought the book and passed it around. It didn't click to me that this was the book. I had it on my reading list and bumped it up so that I could review it earlier. I'm so surprised I hadn't come across it earlier in all of my reading, but here we are and it seems like everything about the FI concept is falling into place for me.