Why I’m building MOMENTUM
Why I’m developing a community where people can work through financial independence decisions with others, using their own circumstances.
Money. Work. A life with choices.
Financial independence creates more choices. What will you do with them?
Financial independence affects decisions long before retirement. Being able to handle a setback, reduce your working hours, or change careers each requires different preparation. I’m Harlan Landes, and I write about how to assess those choices and what changes when paid work becomes optional.
Explore financial independenceWriting about money since 2003Founder, Consumerism CommentaryFounder & Executive Director, Plutus Foundation
How financial independence develops
The Stages of
Financial Independence.
Being able to pay the bills, manage a job loss, and afford a career change are different kinds of progress. The Stages of Financial Independence describe what changes at each point, including the changes that happen before you can afford to stop working.
- Foundation
Building Stability
Ordinary expenses are not yet covered sustainably. The immediate task is to make everyday financial life work.
- Stage 1
Stability
Ordinary expenses are sustainably covered, and resources can consistently go toward future progress.
- Stage 2
Resilience
The financial system can absorb meaningful disruption without breaking down.
- Stage 3
Agency
Financial capacity supports meaningful voluntary changes in work and life without unacceptable destabilization.
- Stage 4
Core Independence
Sustainable resources independent of required work can support the household’s reality-tested Core Lifestyle.
- Stage 5
Full Financial Independence
Sustainable work-independent resources can support the full Chosen Lifestyle, making paid work financially optional.
The thinking behind the work
Latest thinking.
Ideas, put to work
Current work.
Community
Founder
MOMENTUM
A community I’m developing to help people understand their financial position, choose their next steps, and work on them with others.
Decision tools
Founder
MOMENTUM Financial Independence Toolkit
Tools for examining financial decisions using your own circumstances, comparing assumptions, and understanding the tradeoffs.
Financial wellness
Co-founder
Orchid Money
A financial wellness platform we’re developing to help people put financial plans into practice through ongoing habits and decisions.
Nonprofit
Founder & Executive Director
Plutus Foundation
The professional home for people who teach others about money. We connect and support financial educators, coaches, advisers, and creators, and help their work reach more people.
Where this began
Consumerism Commentary
In 2003, I began writing publicly about my own finances. It grew into an independent financial publication. Building it, and eventually selling it, changed my own financial circumstances.
Explore the earlier work
A little about me
Writing, teaching,
and building communities.
I’m a financial independence educator, entrepreneur, and community builder. I founded Consumerism Commentary and the Plutus Foundation, and I’m currently building MOMENTUM and its Financial Independence Toolkit.
My interests include music education, drum corps, photography, and how people use language and make decisions. Those interests influence what I notice and how I explain it.
Read my story