Blog(s)

[Lithium]

ERN is always going to be the gold standard for blogging on decumulation strategies but it is really, really easy to get lost in the weeds of his posts.

FiPhysician looks like he is still composing his blog posts through dictation. I don’t see that many grammar errors, but I do see a boatload of what could be Dragonspeak errors.

[Tim]

Hey--when did this become the bash FiPhysician thread?

Anyway, thanks for the positive comments. The blog is about de-accumulation--that is, the actual withdrawal of money from accounts for those who have oversaved and are sick of the bait and switch (most folks just live on social security so buy this annuity now Now NOW!) and the blogs that don't actually challenge you to learn anything new. Taxes and investing are also fair game, though I guess my take on I-Bonds (that they will be much less sexy 2 years from now when they are paying 1.5% again) has struck a nerve (just wait two years and see if you are still upset).

I guess I'll have to fire my editor again. Maybe he didn't learn grammar cause he was pre-med and then spent 10 years memorizing journals and then 15 years practicing before retiring early to write a retirement blog that earns about 12 cents an hour. No Excuses! But actually, with all the positive feedback from this thread, I'll just keep writing about first world problems . Again, thanks for the positive feedback! Good to know there are folks reading!

“

• I guesstimate that the large % of blog followers in the doc FI space are early- to mid-career physicians, which helps explain the focus on accumulation.”

The path from birth to the grave is complicated, especially for a high income individual. No one can provide “expert” advice. Virtually all advice needs to generate money in some form or fashion.
FiPhysician addresses(to me) some of the decumulation issues. A specific segment of interest to mid to later stage person is actionable advice and tools available.
Much more value than the “free lunch” invitations that have products to sell.
Keep writing.

[Max Power]

...A lot just seem like ads for RE funds or lecture series....

Are you surprised by this? All of the blogs, YT channels, etc are made to sell ads and to keep the advertisers happy. It should be pretty apparent even on this forum that anyone who posts about student loans or insurance or taxes instantly gets at least half a dozen instant and PM replies from good Samaritan sponsor CPAs or salesmen of various types who are looking to peddle their services. The book or blog or videos information is just basically the loss leader for creating the traffic and the money from the ads ('good guys' in WCI terms).

WCI, one of the few transparent nd more ethical bloggers giving info but also looking to profit at the same time, has made no secret of this. The 'good guys' are appropriately labeled on the forum, and he tells you that articles are profit-driven (although it is fairly hidden in down in 'conflicts of interest' that they largely write blogs, do topics, pick guests, etc mainly to pimp sponsors and blog/lecture/etc topic selection often at the whim of sponsors):

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/st...the-blog-2022/

It is fine to read blogs or other stuff for information with a grain of salt and for fun, but you are watching an info-mercial or an information source that is designed to sell ads typically. If you don't want the ads and spam, you have to buy the books or sit with a CPA/CFP or other appropriate professional.

[Antares]

Well I misinterpreted. I didn’t realize from the title that we were speaking only of financial blogs….Blogs compete now with podcasts and videos and even TikTok’s for one’s time. They seem to have diminished in popularity but I still read a few. But not financial blogs. Those I read if they apply to me, often when encountering them while googling a topic or question.
I love Tim Urban’s blog Wait but Why https://waitbutwhy.com
and Maria Popova’s newly renamed The Marginalian https://www.themarginalian.org
and for paleoanthropology, the indispensable John Hawks http://johnhawks.net
A lot of bloggers I used to like have stopped or blog infrequently. Twitter has created alternative platforms for many interesting people, if you sort through the dross…

[Antares]

Oh! I forgot one of my favorites -
Peter Woit’s wonderful blog on cutting edge physics and math “Not Even Wrong” - if you are an interested nonspecialist like me, it’s way above your head, but it does give you an illuminating window into these arcane fields: https://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

They all suck!

Honestly, I think most of our readers go through a certain life cycle with blog reading. They discover a personal finance blog, learn something, dive in deep to several blogs, learn a lot, and within 6 to 24 months, they find they've learned all they need to learn to manage their own money well and with confidence.

After that, they understandably have no need to stick around. Some do because they become enthusiasts and fans. I've written plenty about the core topics to FI & RE, taxes, drawdown, etc... More and more, I focus on the stories (mine and others), and slightly offbeat topics that aren't widely discussed.

I still read dozens of blog posts a week, mainly looking for good fodder for The Sunday Best. I still find good stuff, and there's more of it now than there was five years ago. On the other hand, if you were reading personal finance blogs five years ago, you've probably figured out what you need to know, and now the blogs (and podasts, vlogs, etc...) are more for entertainment, financial voyeurism, and alternate points of view.