I spent about 15 years in the work force after the kids were older and then retired 7 years ago at age 52. My husband has been semi-retired for the last 6 years, since he was 54. Neither of us have college degrees, nor have we ever had big incomes. We’ve paid for our own health insurance for the last 12 years. We’ve never had the opportunity, convenience, and tax benefits of being able to save in a 401k because our employers never offered one. And if your retirement choices are limited to an IRA or a ROTH with their very low contribution limits, you’ve got to push it to get the best return possible. And I don’t trust a financial advisor to be as concerned about our comfortable retirement as I am. But I’m a gifted saver and have taught myself to be a successful investor.

The time spent on our Personal Finances is now paying off in free-time for both of us. Plus, it’s much more fun than golf.

Also, I spend a lot of time mindlessly reading a lot of money saving tip websites, hoping to find maybe one or two new tips. When I consider how much time I spend rooting out that $5 tip, even if it takes almost no time to actually enact, it’s still a pretty big time waster.

Today I choose to do just the parts that interest me (read, web surf, offer advice). I automate most of my day-to-day finances (MS Money software with auto bank downloads, auto bill payments, etc). And I hire people to do the rest (data entry, filing, tracking expenses, tax forms and returns, etc).

I make the most money now through investing, so I remind myself to make that my #1 priority. But I’ve automated my investing in such a way that even this activity takes me minimal time (about 2 hours a month).
~Millionaire Mommy Next Door