Who is Mr. Tako?
Mr. Tako is a financially independent father of 2 boys who reached his financial independence at the tender age of 38. Along with his wife, Mrs. Tako, they live in the rainy Pacific Northwest (of the United States).
In 2015 when I created this page, we were worth a little over $2 million USD. Unlike many financially independent bloggers, I didn’t work on Wall Street, or make large sums of money from software company stock options. I didn’t flip real estate and sell at exactly the right time before the 2008 crash. I was never promoted to an executive level position. I didn’t inherit any money. I didn’t sell a business for millions. I earned it the ‘hard way’, one day at a time, one penny at a time – making smart financial decisions, and not following the crowd.
During the bulk of my earning years I made less than $100,000 a year (pre-tax). We had a great time doing it too. We went on multiple international trips to Australia, Japan, England, Mexico, and Canada. We traveled domestically too, and we generally just lived it up! Yet we still managed to save over 50% of our salaries a year. At one time, I thought what I was doing was not a big deal, everybody was doing it. Except they weren’t.
Mrs. Tako was actually the one to convince me that what we had done was something special. I see it all more clearly now.
Beyond the basic needs of shelter, food, and safety; humans want to have friends, mates, and desire to be acknowledged by others (I’m referencing you Abraham Maslow). In order to achieve that, most individuals follow social norms and conform to societal pressures. This allows them to ‘fit’ into their social ‘group’ and play their part in the capitalist machine. Most humans are very happy with this arrangement. Those same norms hold you back from achieving a different result. I was never any good at conforming.
So what did I decide to do? In 2001, just out of college, I hatched a plan for financial independence. Fourteen years later, in 2015, after the birth of my second son, I finally called it quits from the rat-race. I executed Phase 2 of my dastardly plan: Spend more time with my family, teach my sons what I had discovered, and do whatever I darn well pleased.
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost
Is Mr. Tako your real name?
No. Mr. Tako is a ‘nom de plume’ that I happen to like. ‘Tako’ is the Japanese word for octopus. I like octopi. They are one of nature’s most amazing creatures, and they happen to be fantastic escape artists as well.
Why create a blog about your journey?
I won’t live forever. That simple statement drives the decision to write this blog. This blog is primarily written for my sons to read and learn from (when they are old enough). I want my knowledge to live on. All other internet readers, you are most welcome here! There will be no falsehoods written here. No products will be sold here that I don’t use myself. Please read and learn what you can, but do your own due-diligence.
Most financial advice is actually best at taking your money from you, very quietly, and without your noticing. I don’t want that to happen to my boys. I wish for my sons to achieve financial independence as soon as possible in their lives, and much of what will be written here is about how they can go about achieving it. If other internet readers can use this information to implement some good in their lives, I’m thrilled to help them. Help those who help themselves, I say.
Financial independence is only just the beginning…