Welcome to the 14th post of my blogger interview series. Today’s interview is with the Cash Flow Celt. The Cash Flow Celt is pretty new in the blogging space, this site is less than a year old. I’ve followed the Cash Flow Celt for 5-months or so. A self-professed “Average Joe,” Cash Flow Celt is an everyday American with a passion for personal finance. Stolen quote from his About Me page – “I’m just an honest, hard-working blue-collar guy who got a public education and works a government job.”
Cash Flow Celt is the go to “money guy” in his friends and family circle. He mentions that his blog is new but the Cash Flow Celt has been around for over a decade. I guess we’re lucky that CFC decided to extend his friend network to a blog. I hope you enjoy my interview with the Cash Flow Celt. If you’re interested in reading more bloggers interviews, here’s a link to all of my Blogger Interviews.
Cash Flow Celt Blogger Interview
Where do you live?
Sunny Orlando, Florida. Where it currently hits a heat index of 104 degrees every day, and it’s not even the hottest month of the year yet.
What are your hobbies?
Reading and learning is by far my favorite thing to do. I like to pick topics and learn as much as I can in a short period of time, and then move on to the next thing. Right now, I’m learning about option spreads. Other than that, I love watching sports and playing video games if I have the time.
Which countries or major cities have you lived in or traveled to?
I’ve lived in Orlando all my life, but I’ve visited Chicago, Washington D.C., and Atlanta. I’m not sure it counts, but I’ve also spent a few weekends in Miami.
Which sports or teams are your favorites?
Notre Dame Fighting Irish are my primary team and I follow them for football, basketball, and hockey. I also try to keep up with the Colorado Avalanche, Orlando Magic, and…hold on, let me get my brown bag. . . the Tennessee Titans.
What’s the best vacation you’ve ever taken?
As a high schooler, I used to travel to Maryland every summer because my best friend’s family owned their own private island in the Potomac River. We would spend a month or two up there just being guys and doing stupid things (and looking back, incredibly dangerous to boot!). I’ll carry those great memories forever.
When you were a child, what profession did you want to be?
A professional football player, before I got injured. My fall back was investment banking or a M&A attorney. I turned down an opportunity to do IB, and opted not to go to law school. Realized I just wasn’t cut out for 75+ hour work weeks.
What is your career today?
Don’t have one. I do 911 police dispatch for a local sheriff’s agency and supplement my income with trading stocks; however, I’m studying to get my real estate license. The goal is to eventually get a broker’s license and open a property management firm.
What is your primary motivation to reach financial independence and retire early?
I don’t want to retire at all; I love working and having purpose. My motivation is freedom. I want the freedom to work wherever and whenever I want, and not worry about finances. That is why I seek financial independence.
What’s the first thing you’ll do when you retire?
When I finally feel financially free and have a mostly semi-passive income stream, I will probably take a two or three-month vacation to Ireland to really immerse myself in the culture.
If money were no object, but you had to have a job what would you do for a living?
Public speaking on suicide and depression to juveniles, as well as mentoring. I went through a rough patch in my high school years after my injury and very nearly didn’t make it. With the advent of social media, depression and suicidal thoughts have climbed drastically and it’s tragic. I volunteer now with the juvenile courthouse helping juveniles in criminal diversion and I absolutely love it.
If you could go back in time, what investment advice would you give to your past self?
Do better in high school. I derailed my future for many years, by not focusing on my academics. I might even be willing to say I still suffer some of the fallout because of my student loans for college and having to put off the start of my career until I was 25. It’s a tough pill to swallow.
If you could only use one metric to evaluate a stock, which one would you choose?
Due to my short trading windows (generally three weeks or less) I would have to say Bollinger Bands. Once I find a mix of stocks that I like, the Bands are the first thing I check when evaluating what I will end up buying.
How do you stay the course when markets are down?
Bears make money, and bulls make money. Only the pigs get slaughtered. I do very aggressive, short-term trading so I can make money in any market, so long as I recognize the direction of the trend and adjust my strategy. My work retirement account, which is untouchable anyway, is the only thing that has any long-term holdings.
What’s your favorite aspect of blogging?
My blog is less than six months old, so right now looking at the exponential growth and being absolutely amazed. However, the community is great and it gives me an outlet to help my friends and family.
Why should people read your blog?
My schooling was for economics and I’ve been actively investing for nearly half of my life. Consequently, I like to take on topics that require me to really engage my critical thinking. However, I feel like I do a good job of keeping my content light and entertaining for the average reader. As my blog matures, I think I’d like to take it into a more economics related direction.
Why do you blog?
All the cool kids were doing it. In all seriousness, I wanted an archive for all of my friends – many of whom are graduating law school and faced with serious debt – that would help them tackle their financial questions and conundrums as they began their careers.
I had also had friends badgering me for years to start a blog about finance because I was their go-to guy for finance questions anyway. Now that I’ve started Cash Flow Celt, they’re badgering me to start a cooking blog! There’s just no pleasing some people.
What’s the name and URL of your blog or blogs?
Cash Flow Celt – http://cashflowcelt.com/
My Thoughts On The Cash Flow Celt
I’m a big fan of the Cash Flow Celt. I’m a dividend income and options investor. Cash Flow Celt is, well I’m not sure how he’d describe it, but I’ll say a total return investor. CFC is not a buy and hold kind of guy. There’s room in the blogging space for all sorts of investing strategies. I enjoy following bloggers who are not doing exactly what I’m doing. I’m able to pick their brains and learn about new ways to make money.
I probably would’ve never started options trading had I not began following options trader blogs. Cash Flow Celt and I share a similarity in that we both like to fully immerse ourselves into learning a topic, then move to another topic. I’ve been this way my entire life. I rarely watch TV. I’m always researching something online, or striking up conversations with people who know something I don’t.
You won’t find buy and hold or dividend recommendations on the CFC blog. You will find thought-provoking, holistic views investing, politics, markets, etc.
On the lighter side, I love the blog name Cash Flow Celt. Even though he’s Scottish, every time I hear Cash Flow Celt, Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons comes to mind. I’ll never forget this URL