Rockstar Rumble, Round 2, Posts 41-48

Here are the latest games in the second round of the 2019 Rockstar Rumble. We've listed each "game" (one post versus another) along with wording provided by the author when the post was submitted. Also listed is a keyword after each post title to make it easy to vote. Be sure to vote for your favorites since you will help determine the winner! Criteria for the best article is what makes Rockstar content which includes these factors:

  • Starts with an interesting title
  • Includes unique content — we like posts that are edgy, feisty, funny, failure-focused, and super helpful
  • Easy to read
  • Positive/uplifting (vs. negative)

The voting will run for 48 hours. At that point, a winner will be named and will advance. You can follow the results in the brackets here. Please note, there is ONE VOTE PER PERSON. To be sure you see all games, click on the Rumble category link and scroll down. If you like great posts like these featured, you can subscribe to the Rockstar Finance weekday email and get the best personal finance articles delivered to your inbox. Today's games are brought to you by the great new book from Grant Sabatier: Financial Freedom: A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need. Here are today's games: GAME 21

  • Saving For Retirement: Is It Even Possible? (Possible) -- If there's one thing we collectively talked about a LOT in 2018, it's the rules and guidelines for saving for retirement—and whether they're even possible to achieve. Think things like "You should save 1x your annual salary by the time you're 30" and the ensuing snarky tweets. There's one thing that all of the conversations, or at least most of them seemed to miss, however: It's not really possible to "save" your way to retirement. This post breaks down what you need to do instead.

VERSUS

  • Flexible FIRE (Flexible) -- Although typical FIRE (Financial Independence/Retiring Early) gets all the attention and accolades these days across the interwebs, its lesser known relative Flexible FIRE deserves a serious look as well. Flexible FIRE is having enough of a nest egg (that will continue to grow over the years), combined with one or more sources of income, to provide the financial confidence and flexibility in life you are looking for. 

[poll id="217"] GAME 22

  • I Thought I was Lean FIRE. I'm Not. (Not) -- 2018 was the year of new FIRE acronyms. Lean FIRE, Fat FIRE, FIOR... there are so many ways to categorize a journey to financial independence, and there's nothing wrong with that. Before I had heard of Lean FIRE, I always assumed my FI route would be of the more frugal variety. If anything, the conversations and countless posts from throughout this year helped me realize that I'm anything but. 

VERSUS

  • Uncle Sam Worse than Bernie Madoff??? (Uncle) -- Bernie Madoff has gone down in financial infamy with his version of the Ponzi/Pyramid scheme that bilked investors out of an estimated 18-65 billion dollars. However even Bernie's pyramid pales in comparison to the one Uncle Sam has been building. Read a historical account of the pyramid scheme through the ages right up to the current one being constructed brick by brick by the government. 

[poll id="218"] GAME 23

  • Are Side Hustles The Best Kind of Asset Protection? (Protection) -- A lot of time is spent talking about protecting assets through various kinds of insurance products, but the truth is that having additional income streams may be the best way of protecting yourself from financial calamity. Sometimes the best investment is investing in yourself.

VERSUS

  • Putting in the Work; How to Get Everything You Want in Life (Work) -- To truly make an impact in any area of life, especially your finances, the single greatest variable is how much work you put into it. You can't expect to retire early or even retire comfortably if all you ever do is go to Starbucks and think about how you need to set a budget or even track your spending. The best part about work is you control 100% of it. Its not about who your parents are, how lucky you are , or anything else. Its on you.

[poll id="219"] GAME 24

  • A Tale of Two Races (Races) -- There are two sides to every coin, it just depends on which side you happen to be looking at. Marathons are a grueling event, but what happens if you take a step back and look at what is going on in the world around you in the moment of pain? Sometimes things aren't always as they seem.

VERSUS

  • 67 Great Frugal Tips to Make You Wealthier Today (Wealthier) -- An army exists out on the horizon and they’re closing for an attack against us. They’ve chosen a unique cache of weapons and are prepared to use them to the last soldier. With student loans, credit card debt with huge interest rates, and other forms of bad debt, you may think we’re out gunned. But we are not defenseless - we too are armed to the teeth for victory in this war! These 67 Great Frugal Tips are what we’ll use to fight back and achieve victory!!

[poll id="220"]