Tanja Hester @our_nextlife Twitter profile

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Tanja Hester

1 year

When Money told me they were naming me one of their 50 people changing finance, I did not expect to be named alongside incredible folks like McKenzie Scott, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Lil Nas X, Bad Bunny and many more. But I'll take it!

Tanja Hester

Tanja Hester is a 2023 Money Changemaker in financial activism. The author teaches people the true power of their money in ESG and more.

money.com

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

Maybe while people are trapped at Burning Man is a good time to share some of the disturbingly capitalist hellscape stuff I witness each year from the supposedly non-consumption-based event. Short 🧵 from a Tahoe local/Reno shopper who has seen some things…

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

If we can’t handle even a little discomfort while roughing it for a week in the desert, how do we make the changes necessary to combat climate change? That’s what I wonder when I see those full carts, and those mountains of trash a week later. /end

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

Not just normal trash, like food wrappers, sunscreen bottles and all those water bottles. Brand new tents and shade structures. Drawer units. Furniture. Bikes. Scooters. Pools. Storage boxes. So. Much. Plastic.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

The absolutely mind-boggling part is all the completely unnecessary buying, followed by a shocking amount of trashing newly purchased stuff. Burning Man professes a leave no trace ethic, but people who’ve never seen it wouldn’t believe the amount of trash burners leave in Reno.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

Every August, every store in Reno plays Costco, putting cases of food everywhere, making regular portions harder to access. But much worse is the bottled water. So much bottled water. Not just in 3-5 gallon jugs, but cases and cases of small bottles that will never be recycled.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

I know everyone has a take about how Burning Man used to be so pure and has lost its way. I don’t. But I have overheard a lot of people over the years say things that clearly show they see themselves as environmentalists, while buying an apartment’s worth of stuff for one week.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

It’s deeply counter to Burning Man’s stated ethics, but I don’t care about that. I care about the needless trash and consumption, and the added demand for more stuff, none of which is made to be single use. If that’s the impact of this great convergence, then we are screwed.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

I’m sure most of the people buying all that stuff intend to donate it all when Burning Man ends. But all the thrift stores get swamped with stuff they can’t sell and throw most of it away, usually at significant expense. That’s true of most thrift store donations!

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

Every year I watch people buying hundreds of bottles per person. But honestly, bad as that is, I’m used to that part. And people need a lot of water for a week in the desert. (Just buy the bigger jugs, folks!) It’s the other stuff that’s truly gross.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

And the Playa winds and dust beat everything up, and make a lot of those newly bought things unusable by those who these overconsuming Burners imagine desperately need them to donate their stuff. It’s certainly not all Burners who do this, but it’s a LOT.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

Thanks for reading! If you want to know how to consume less and use your buying power and other forms of financial power for good, I wrote a book just for you: Wallet Activism: How to Use Every Dollar You Spend, Earn and Save as a Force for Change

Wallet Activism: How to Use Every Dollar You Spend, Earn, and Save as a Force for Change a book by...

2022 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS FINALIST -- SOCIAL/POLITICAL CHANGE - 2022 ASJA ANNUAL WRITING AWARD WINNER -- SERVICE - 2022 NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS GOLD MEDALIST -- SOCIAL CHANGE & SOCIAL...

bookshop.org

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

@hvwriting @REI Now, pretty much every store in Reno puts up big signs for all of August saying, "Anything that has been to the Playa can't be returned!"

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

@SJSBuchanan My go to Coachella and can confirm. But Coachella doesn't profess all these supposedly harmonious ethics, so it feels less jarring. 🤷‍♀️

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

@North49r Please shop in Reno a week before BM and you'll quickly change your view.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Kamala Harris represents so many firsts, but one that I haven’t seen mentioned: she’s not a mom. (She has stepkids thru Doug, and seems to be an incredible stepmom.) In a world that still tells women you are not a full person until you’ve been a vessel, this is a huge deal.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

The reason you don’t see Nazi flags in Germany but do see Confederate flags here, and why virtually all Germans believe Hitler was bad while many Americans think the Civil War wasn’t about slavery: They knew healing requires accountability. We think it’s looking the other way.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

2 years

@Hamptonyount This is literally the whole game. They are doing everything possible to just do away with public schools.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

@InLoveInCO No photos because: 1. I am not looking to shame individuals 2. Lots of photos already exist online 3. I'm disabled and seeing this while attempting to shop for my own stuff, so have my hands full ✌️

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

How much cash do you have saved right now? Enough if you couldn’t work for a month? 6 months? A year? More? Yes, the market dip/correction/maybe-start-of-a-recession will create stock buying opportunities. But right now, mind your cash savings first. And wash your damn hands.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

@JasonVitug Writing it! 😂

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

If you achieve financial independence in our economy/society, you owe a debt to a system that prioritized your interests over others’. How will you repay that? How can you be a part of making that system more fair instead of pulling up the ladder behind you?

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Getting msgs from folks who “overlook my social commentary” for my money content. To clarify: I’m only here for social and environmental justice. If you don’t like reading that Black Lives Matter, follow someone else. $ advice is easy. Caring about others is (apparently) harder.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Some big news today: I’m writing another book! This one is even more meaningful to me, and you can read all about it in today’s post on the blog:

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Can we talk about how incredible the @duolingo Spanish podcast is? They could just share happy little stories, but instead they dig deep for moving personal accounts from people fighting prejudice and injustice. I’m hooked. 👏👏👏

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

Almost a year and a half into early retirement and I still feel grateful every Sunday night that I do not feel the Sunday blues. 🙏🏼 Making Monday just like any other day is one of the best things about #workoptional life.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

If you’re already bored working from home or self isolating, I’ve got some bad news about early retirement.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

Yes, those are tears. So grateful to every vaccine scientist and every health care worker. 😭

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

A reminder that it’s OK to lose followers, esp if it’s because you start sharing a truer version of yourself and your beliefs. It tends to be a one time deal, too. I lost a bunch early in the summer (BLM protests) but lost none this week. Don’t censor yourself for follows.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

The manuscript is in. I can’t wait to share this with you all next year. #walletactivism

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

It’s been a long and slow process, but as of today I have the documents to prove it. I’m a dual U.S. and German citizen, and we can live in Germany or the E.U. anytime. 🥳😭🇩🇪

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

I realized something today: What is making me feel safest right now, amid all the uncertainty, is not our investments. It’s that we own our home mortgage-free. It couldn’t be clearer to me that those saying it’s always better to rent are deeply undervaluing the emotional aspect.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

This is a huge deal. 😭😭😭 #KamalaHarris

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

@Muna_Mire Also all the anti-vax stuff 🙄

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

@PMbeers Well said.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

Watch me wearing more makeup than I've ever worn in my life 😂, talking about #earlyretirement and #WorkOptional on @CNBC 👇

Retire early

Instead of working full-time until you reach retirement age, more millennials are planning to stop working decades earlier. How does it work, and could it work for you? With Tanja Hester, "Work...

www.cnbc.com

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Think early retirement and politics have nothing to do with one another? Let’s talk about how many people can still retire in the FIRE movement if the Affordable Care Act goes away.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

For those who don’t speak up for fear of losing followers: I have lost followers on every platform since I started talking more about racial injustice. AND I’M STILL ALIVE. You can lose followers and be okay! It doesn’t even hurt! In fact, it feels kinda good. Bye racists! 👋

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

Could I love this cover any more? (No. The answer is no.)

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Sitting here wanting to 😭 and 🤮 but at least my hair looks cool.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

Hi hello. A friendly reminder that achieving a work-optional life, with or without early retirement — often called FIRE — isn’t about not spending money. It’s about spending mindfully. If you’re refusing to spend, depriving yourself or stiffing others, you’re doing it wrong.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

I have bought two cars in my life, both brand new. I retired at 38. 🤷‍♀️ Lesson: ignore anyone who espouses hard and fast rules about any aspect of personal finance finance. (Especially if it comes with a huge side of judgment, like this.)

JD | Have It All

@HIAliving

4 years

The only people who buy brand new cars are broke.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

@nickmlittlejohn @SJSBuchanan Please show me a completely unambiguous decision a person can make under capitalism. We're having this conversation on Elon's "X." You're willingly choosing to use this platform. We're all just doing our best in a highly problematic system.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

11 months

@ninam0 That's really too bad. It could be such a great opportunity to do exactly that.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

2 years

The sight of me wearing a mask at the grocery store just made two people groan and roll their eyes, and if they think that’s only going to encourage me to wear a mask in public forever, they are right.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

Modest proposal: Let’s stop talking about early retirement and work-optional life as “LOOK HOW GREAT I AM FOR DOING THIS THING,” and instead talk about reclaiming power for workers and taking it away from employers. Because that’s what the discussion absolutely can be.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

My last pic of Oly, our sweet tiny boy we lost suddenly last night. 😢 We love you, buddy. 💜

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

New post: How the Personal Finance Sphere Upholds Systemic Racism Please read and share. We must do better as a community.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

Alright, friends. Let’s talk about wealth. Because America has a super messed up relationship to it. We all want it, but when we get it, we often can’t acknowledge that fact. We want to be rich, but never feel rich. This is a problem.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

@Done_by_Forty @_lanabelle Leaders today:

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

@jazer @nhannahjones Absolutely true, though we all (meaning mainly white people) need to work harder so that this burden doesn’t continually fall to Black women.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

No. After four years of “fuck your feelings,” we get to celebrate that the Constitution will live another day.

Kathy Benjamin

@KathyBenjamin

4 years

Rick Santorum on CNN literally saying "Democrats need to give Republicans, including Trump, time and space to work through their feelings about losing." #ElectionResults2020

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

6 years

Holding a printed galley for the first time. 😍🤗 It’s really happening! 😱 #workoptional

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

I read this morning that mail carriers are not being provided with any kind of sanitizing equipment, so I just ran out to give our carrier a tube of cleaning wipes and a package of hand wipes. She snatched them up quickly and nearly started crying, so I think that’s our answer.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

Best troll ever in response to how we retired early 😂

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Can we please stop pretending the FIRE movement is just a bunch of white tech bros who are completely blind to their privilege? There’s a broad diversity of voices now, many of whom bring high social awareness. Continuing to call out the whole movement erases that diversity.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

I'm getting a lot more personal about my health than I have before, because I want you to know why I'll never stop calling out people who make dangerous health claims, especially when they refuse to admit mistakes and instead complain that people didn't respond nicely enough. /1

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

The worst take I have seen in ages. If you can afford to spend $20K a year on dining out, the $400 you'd save by stiffing low-wage workers means literally nothing to you, but could make a major difference to those serving you. Get some perspective, @CNBCMakeIt .

CNBC

@CNBC

5 years

This simple tipping trick could save you over $400 a year: via @CNBCMakeIt

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

@TorontoStar @JasonHeathCFP Lol this thread. Save money on food by... ordering meal kits? Having the money for both an entire year of meat and a giant extra freezer? This is why so many people hate personal finance advice. Because it is so often out of touch, and often just bad advice.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

8 years

Just submitted the wire transfer to PAY. OFF. OUR. HOUSE. Who's in for a virtual dance party?????

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Money and wealth, the power they buy, and who has access to them is THE MOST POLITICAL THING THERE IS. Anyone who says “personal finance is not political” is either choosing to be ignorant or thinks you’re too stupid to know they’re lying to you.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

The best thing a billionaire could do for our democracy is buy Fox News and shut it down.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

6 years

Happy #Thanksgiving ! ❤️ (Mostly tweeted to wish you a good holiday — the gratitude holiday is the best! — but also so that you can see the like button turn into a tiny 🦃 face for a moment after you tap it.)

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Assuming there is actually a future in which I can safely leave the house, there are a bunch of things I’m never doing again: ❌ Shake hands ❌ Fly or train without a mask ❌ Eat from a buffet ❌ Give the benefit of the doubt to anyone voting for Tr*mp in 2020

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

A U.S. president just said “climate crisis” and “racial equity.” 😭

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

See racist stuff in your feed? Unfollow the people writing, boosting and liking it. Consider reporting and blocking them. Don’t give those ideas quarter. Free speech includes freedom not to listen, and the First Amendment doesn’t protect hate speech.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

7 years

Countdown update: It's Mark's last day of work! 😱 And almost mine! 🤗 (I'm working 2 days after Christmas to get the 401k match.) Both farewell parties done. 🎉 It's haaaaappening! 😍

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

7 years

They might've said I have to work today to get my 401(k) match, but they didn't say I can't do it in a mouse onesie. 🐭 (Last day!! 🙌🏼 #earlyretirement )

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

Watching people who have achieved or are pursuing early retirement complain about how “nobody wants to work anymore” is really… something.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

The most optimistic thing I’ve ever bought.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

It’s uncomfortable to figure out new life rhythms sometimes, but it’s important to do it. Like accepting that I’m no longer a frequent and regular blogger. But infrequent and irregular are still doing the thing. Life is rarely all or nothing. “Sometimes” still counts.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

The people in my timeline who are going out because they’re bored at home are the same ones who’ve been shouting for years that poverty is poor people’s fault because they lack discipline and simply refuse to do what’s necessary. Tell me again who actually lacks discipline?

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

7 years

So much pinching ourselves happening today. Is this real life???

This couple went from workaholics to early retirees in six years

The mystery couple behind early retirement blog Our Next Life on how they did it.

www.marketwatch.com

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Fuck 2020

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

I have always called the online FIRE community the most positive place on the Internet. This week, people I respected and thought of as friends shared purposely offensive, divisive content. We are better than that. We are here to lift each other up, not tear people down. ❤️

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

Today's friendly language suggestion: If you talk about saving in terms of living on one partner's income and saving the other, consider switching to "we save X% of our joint income." Women get lots of signals that our labor and money are worth less, so no need to reinforce it.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

7 years

Holy moly. Just hit a million pageviews on the year! 😱 It took *well* over 2 years to hit the first million, but now this. THANK YOU!! 😘🤗😍

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

That caption! 😍 I’ve worked hard to create spaces for women and promote women’s voices in the FIRE movement, but being called a matriarch is such an honor. For These Women, a FIRE That Burns Too Male and Too White via @nytimes & @CharlotteCowles

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

I went to public school, mostly in the 90s before the big tuition hikes, had a full ride that included $ for rent, worked multiple well-paid jobs at once and STILL graduated with debt. Let’s drop the shaming of people who get loans for college.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

The lesson to learn from the GameStop stock market manipulation: The super rich who espouse “free market” capitalism only believe in a “free market” when it lets them get richer off others. The moment others get richer off them, they beg for socialism (government intervention).

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Listening to books is reading books. Anyone who says otherwise is spewing ableist nonsense, plus is just picking a super weird fight to fight. Maybe apply that passion to a fight that actually matters?

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

If you are financially secure, not worried about job income loss AND you give even the tiniest shit about other people, the ONLY thing to do with your stimulus check is spend EVERY CENT of it in your local community. Not on industries getting bailouts. Not on shares of VTI.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

6 years

I’ve had several chats this wk w bloggers & media outside FIRE, & my takeaway is that we turn off plenty of people. Not bc they’re “consumer zombies” (they’re not). But bc we give off an arrogant, self-congratulatory tone. Worth considering if u want others to feel welcome.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

7 years

It's official, you guys! Mr ONL gave notice! I'm up in 13 days... #earlyretirement

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

7 years

Yeah, so I'm like retired retired now. 😱

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

It’s interesting how many people who talk about personal finance On Here insist that they are NOT POLITICAL, but then talk frequently about taxes, government, health care, masks, how much low-earners get paid, individual responsibility, etc. All of that is political. 100%.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

I don’t have an appointment yet, but I become eligible for the vaccine tomorrow. And I’m finally letting myself feel hopeful. That means talking about what we will do when we can leave home. We agreed last night to splurge a bit, and that feels like a fantastic budget line item.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

It’s shot #2 day 🥳

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

First #NewProfilePic in 4 years. 😂

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

To those asking why I haven’t put out more @WalletActivism pod episodes, I’ve been dealing with a cancer scare these past weeks that threw a wrench into everything. But I just got the all-clear! 🥳 Turns out #EDS can cause lots of suspicious looking but benign stuff. #NEISvoid

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

Thank you to everyone posting unmasked photos from #FinCon so I can feel better about not being there.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

3 years

Feeling personally attacked by @duolingo .

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Seems like a lot of folks could use a primer on economic stimulus, as well as "fairness" in our system. So let's talk about both. Economic stimulus was originated as a concept after the Great Depression by John Maynard Keynes, father of modern economics.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

I am a grown ass woman eating ice cream at 11 AM and contemplating going back to bed.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

One of the few 100% guarantees in life: If someone sits down to next to you on an airplane and says, “I’m not going to bother you,” they are absolutely going to bother you for the entire flight.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

5 years

“Get back on your bike” is fine for some, but every time you say it, you signal to lots of people that they aren’t welcome in FIRE. Which is bullshit. Everyone who wants to be here is welcome. What is not welcome is blatant ableism and strict dogma about what FIRE looks like.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

Where my Blue Lives Matter folks at? This is when you get outraged, that dedicated officers are being treated so callously for political gain. Unless, of course, it’s not actually about concern for cops, but is about keeping Black folks down.

The Washington Post

@washingtonpost

4 years

More than 130 Secret Service officers are said to be infected with coronavirus or quarantining in wake of Trump’s campaign travel

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

If those in economic and political power truly loved innovation, they would fight tooth and nail for universal healthcare, which would free people from traditional work and much financial worry, and allow many more to become entrepreneurs. But what they actually love is control.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

4 years

This pandemic and recession will not be the end of the FIRE movement, as much as some mean-spirited folks will gleefully proclaim. It WILL be an inflection point. It will slow some folks down. It will, unfortunately, harm some folks who have recently retired.

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Tanja Hester

@our_nextlife

6 years

I wrote nearly my entire book at public libraries. Surrounded by research materials I could consult for free and without the distractions of home? It was my magical productivity zone. All kinds of people use libraries for all kinds of reasons. They are vital.

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