Karsten Jeske is a personal finance blogger who writes at Early Retirement Now or ERN for short. He is originally from Germany but came to the U.S. in 1995. He blogs about a host of retirement topics oh and he recently retired at the age of 44. Welcome! [:] Your blog stood out immediately because you were a fellow speaker at Fincon, what did you speak about in Orlando? ●            Panel discussion on safe withdrawal rates for early retirees ●            Everyone on the panel said a safe withdrawal rate is probably better 3.5% or 4% [:] A ton of people in the personal finance space always say Baby Step 1 is to get 6 months of living expenses saved up into an Emergency Fund, but you feel differently. Why do you think it’s necessary to have an investment fund and what would you rather do with the money? ●            Karsten never had an emergency fund but everything he saved he put into stocks ●            Why should the money be sitting idle ●            Suze Orman talks about having 9 months of living expenses saved up ●            Sometimes you might withdraw at the peak of the market and sometimes at the trough [:] How long does it really take to plan for early retirement? Put in another way, can you ever start planning for early retirement too late? ●            It took 10 years saving 50-60% of take home savings for Karsten to save up his nest egg. ●            You definitely want to start saving up as soon as possible [:] Tell us a bit about early retired life- what’s been keeping you busy lately? ●            Initially planned to retire in February, but employer asked to extent to June. ●            7 Month trip around the world at the moment [:] Value Link Round [:] What is your saving or retirement plan? ●            Bad portfolio in 2008 ●            Job prospects didn’t look too good either [:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend? ●            Your Money or Your Life ●            The Millionaire Next Door [:] Do you have a favorite quote you like to live by? ●            Time is the most valuable things we have because it is the most irrevocable [:] Parting piece of advice? ●             It's never to late to start savingSupport this podcast at — https://app.redcircle.com/shows/11f32da4-3081-471f-bf51-ea341b89ab1d/tip