Welcome To Radical FIRE

Welcome to Radical FIRE, I am very excited to have you here! In this blog post, I will welcome you to Radical FIRE and tell a bit more about myself.

In short; I am 24 years old and living in the Netherlands. I studied Business Economics and completed my master’s degree in Corporate Finance in 2017. I’ve studied at Chapman University (Orange, California) in the US for a semester, have been traveling for 4 months in South America by myself and I am planning to travel to Central America in September.

My intention with this website is to educate people around Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE). I want to empower you to take control of your finances. I believe everyone can be financially independent and retire early if they want it.

This Radical FIRE community is where I’ll hope to find like-minded people who are sharing a similar view! If you have a passion for your personal finances and the FIRE movement, this is the place for you!

Radical Jobs

Since the age of 13, I started working. I was picking grapes at a farm nearby, where I would get my money in cash every week (very legal). After later, I delivering the local newspaper once per week, making around €2,50 an hour. Later I would start working at the supermarket, where I started to earn €400-€500 per month. When I went to university I had the best job EVER, sitting at the reception desk for €11 per hour and the ability to spend time studying. Dream job!

Besides that, I participated in experiments at university. I had to pay for my tuition myself, and I didn’t want to get an enormous student debt. So I went into fMRI machines, did language experiments, even got Malaria once (all very safe, my friends thought I was crazy, oh well). In the end, I finished with a student debt of €19.000, which is okay!

[Related Read: Why I’m Not Paying Off My Student Debt]

I spend a lot of money while studying in the US and traveling through South America, really worth it if you ask me!

Radical Reality Check

After I did all the fun stuff that you can imagine, I returned from my travels in South America at the end of December. Just in time for Christmas, I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

In April I started working as a financial consultant, I love finances and numbers! However, the 9 to 5 life is not really my thing. I really love to be independent and to determine for myself when I do things, and what I do. Well, that’s not really the case when you work for a boss. 

I had my reality check back in November. I really really didn’t like where I was anymore & the thought of having to do this until I’m 72 (yes, really, the Dutch retirement system went crazy) made me unhappy. So I decided I was going to change something: I wanted to start my own side hustle.

About a month later I took the leap and started the blog. I really want to get my voice out there and empower others to make the same changes in my life!

I would love if you would stay updated by subscribing to my email list, to never miss a word I write:

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Fun Facts About Me:

Wow you’ve read all the way until here, well done! Here are some fun facts about me:

• I love Christmas so much that I let my partner wear an inflatable Santa suit, it was both hilarious & the best day of my life!
• I LOVE DOGS, they are the best
  • In Peru, I had a hiking buddy for a day – Bruno – the dog you see on my profile picture. It wasn’t even my dog, it just hung out with me for the entire day. The best day EVER!
• I cannot live without chocolate, even though I try sometimes
• I love to travel, I’ve been to Northern America, Southern America, Africa & Europe (obviously). This year I am planning to visit Central America as well through mini-retirement from work
• My dream life would be living out of my RV, traveling and writing blogs all day every day

You can start by reading my general articles about investing:

• Investing for beginners: the how-to guide for stocks
• Investing for beginners: the how-to guide for bonds
• And lastly: Investing for beginners: the how-to guide for ETFs

Welcome to Radical FIRE, thank you for reading!

Do you want to know anything else about me? Please let me know below!