Interview with Mr. Money Mustache • Hacker News Board

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#31

Post by jrochkind1 » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:08 PM UTC

the_gastropod wrote: post #28

joeax wrote: post #19

I've been reading his blog for a few years, and he does some have some insightful advice on shedding unnecessary expenses and living on a frugal spending diet. I've been able to get down to one car that is almost paid off, and double my savings and investment portfolio. My favorite article from him is living close enough to work to bike (although working from home is most ideal). However, his blog comes with a bit of…

> but good luck trying to retire as a welder or car mechanic making $50k Retiring at 30 while earning $50k would be difficult. But retiring at 40 or even 50 is still relatively easy on such a salary.

Really? In the U.S.? Case study? Without kids and if you don't really spend any money on recreation or vacations (before or after retirement), maybe. Or if you somehow have a job that will give you a pension (with health insurance?) at 50, sure!

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#32

Post by GiorgioG » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:08 PM UTC

the_gastropod wrote: post #28

joeax wrote: post #19

I've been reading his blog for a few years, and he does some have some insightful advice on shedding unnecessary expenses and living on a frugal spending diet. I've been able to get down to one car that is almost paid off, and double my savings and investment portfolio. My favorite article from him is living close enough to work to bike (although working from home is most ideal). However, his blog comes with a bit of…

> but good luck trying to retire as a welder or car mechanic making $50k Retiring at 30 while earning $50k would be difficult. But retiring at 40 or even 50 is still relatively easy on such a salary.

Assuming you decide to not to have kids ;)

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#33

Post by jacquesm » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:08 PM UTC

the_gastropod wrote: post #28

joeax wrote: post #19

I've been reading his blog for a few years, and he does some have some insightful advice on shedding unnecessary expenses and living on a frugal spending diet. I've been able to get down to one car that is almost paid off, and double my savings and investment portfolio. My favorite article from him is living close enough to work to bike (although working from home is most ideal). However, his blog comes with a bit of…

> but good luck trying to retire as a welder or car mechanic making $50k Retiring at 30 while earning $50k would be difficult. But retiring at 40 or even 50 is still relatively easy on such a salary.

That depends greatly on where you are living and on whether or not you have kids or student debt. In plenty of places a 40 or 50K salary would be burned up every month even if you never did anything crazy.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#34

Post by sidlls » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:08 PM UTC

joeax wrote: post #19

I've been reading his blog for a few years, and he does some have some insightful advice on shedding unnecessary expenses and living on a frugal spending diet. I've been able to get down to one car that is almost paid off, and double my savings and investment portfolio. My favorite article from him is living close enough to work to bike (although working from home is most ideal). However, his blog comes with a bit of…

That's what almost every one of these success stories, blogs, etc. are. They're very heavily weighted toward survivor bias and elide much context around being born into relatively privileged circumstances.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#35

Post by loeg » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:09 PM UTC

dsacco wrote: post #4

Something I’m curious about regarding Mr. Money Mustache - is he actually retired, in the sense that he doesn’t do anything to bring in income (except through passive index investing)? It seems like he has a brand that is pretty lucrative, so it’s unclear to me if he: 1. has enough money to be functionally retired at his current lifestyle, but chooses to continue his brand anyway, 2. has enough money to be functional…

(1). He was functionally retired before his brand started bringing in $400k/year.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#36

Post by vasilipupkin » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:09 PM UTC

ashark wrote: post #13

dsacco wrote: post #4

Something I’m curious about regarding Mr. Money Mustache - is he actually retired, in the sense that he doesn’t do anything to bring in income (except through passive index investing)? It seems like he has a brand that is pretty lucrative, so it’s unclear to me if he: 1. has enough money to be functionally retired at his current lifestyle, but chooses to continue his brand anyway, 2. has enough money to be functional…

One of the things that made me stop reading him was when it became clear his "I'm totally retired and you can be too!" thing was BS. At the time he had like 3 part-time jobs (the blog, landlord, handyman, IIRC), with his savings being large enough that he could make a stupid "hey, you should stop paying so much for health insurance you idiots! Turns our if you have a lot of money in the bank and the skills to land a…

Exactly. Seems totally stupid. Like why is it better to have 3 jobs ( blog, handyman, landlord ) than one normal job ? to me retired is a person who specifically lives strictly off the money they have. I mean sure, if you prefer to work as a handyman or run a successful blog, by all means do that, but calling yourself retired seems inaccurate. I am retired but I have 3 jobs. ooook.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#37

Post by avenoir » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:10 PM UTC

How much money do you have to have in index funds to live comfortably off dividends? Isn't it an astronomical amount? I have ~$100K in index funds and i'm making about $100 (if even that)/month right now which just gets reinvested. You'd have to have at least half a mil to get any kind of serious money out of this.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#38

Post by jacquesm » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:10 PM UTC

brndnmtthws wrote: post #25

Does anyone else think it's a bit funny to see an MMM interview on YC? Through their investments, YC seems quite pro-consumerism. Consumerism is the antithesis of being mustachian. It's always kind of bothered me that HN (and YC) seems to encourage conspicuous consumption.

Where do HN and YC encourage conspicuous consumption? Does ramen profitable somehow equate conspicuous consumption?

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#39

Post by loeg » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:10 PM UTC

brndnmtthws wrote: post #25

Does anyone else think it's a bit funny to see an MMM interview on YC? Through their investments, YC seems quite pro-consumerism. Consumerism is the antithesis of being mustachian. It's always kind of bothered me that HN (and YC) seems to encourage conspicuous consumption.

Also, startups are kind of the antithesis of early retirement.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#40

Post by ghaff » Wed, Sep 27, 2017, 4:11 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #26

The MMM way is more about locking in your luck than anything else. Be frugal, when lady luck smiles and you have a lot of income make sure you do not waste the proceeds and avoid living above your means at all costs. Having skills is a plus and in his particular case it helps if you are good at building a personal brand so you can ride the self help bandwagon. Very useful information compared to most other self help…

I find his schtick over the top. On the other hand, some people really do need to learn that they'd have an easier time saving money if they didn't lease a BMW, go out eating and drinking every other night, and vacation at expensive resorts.