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Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

nytimes.com

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Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#71

Post by cafard »

khazhoux wrote: post #25
ChuckMcM wrote: post #5

The article seriously downplays the role of luck here but it isn't wrong. If you live judiciously and save as much as you can by doing so, you reach a point where you can live judiciously without going into the office every day. The common thread is that just because you can buy something, or can qualify for a particular mortgage, doesn't mean you should if you're goal is to "retire" early. One of the engineers I wor…

> To many people have a very very complex relationship with money. Too many use it as a "score" to reinforce their own self image. This quote from the show Ozark really resonated with me: "Money is not peace of mind. Money's not happiness. Money is, at its essence, the measure of a man's choices."

Money is not peace of mind, but lack of money--measured against real and perceived needs--is a great detriment to peace of mind.

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#72

Post by chaostheory »

rokkitmensch wrote: post #16

Don't have kids! Easy, done.

This is why the world is starting to suffer from the age demographic bomb as we speak. Retirees are starting to outnumber working adults. Soon they will outnumber everyone and the financial sustainability of pensions like social security and socialized healthcare like Medicare will come into question. The problem becomes worse when voters are no longer ok with using immigration to mitigate it.

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#73

Post by ChuckMcM »

flandish wrote: post #43
ChuckMcM wrote: post #5

The article seriously downplays the role of luck here but it isn't wrong. If you live judiciously and save as much as you can by doing so, you reach a point where you can live judiciously without going into the office every day. The common thread is that just because you can buy something, or can qualify for a particular mortgage, doesn't mean you should if you're goal is to "retire" early. One of the engineers I wor…

My stepdad saved, as much as he could, so he and my mom could enjoy at the level or slightly less, retired 18 months ago and was proud. Retired at 71. Died this January past. Got less than 2 years. Thanks Capitalism!

I'm sorry for your loss.

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#74

Post by paulpauper »

nunez wrote: post #53

I'm wondering if dude is still clearing $250k/month with that police scanner app. He reminds me of this user on /r/fatFIRE (a variant of this movement many of us here would better identify with) named /u/rajuapps who claims to have achieved $100M in net worth by starting with pumping out apps on the App Store. I believe it; I really like his Tesla Remote app! Many folks struck serious gold in the early days of App St…

His story is so luck dependent even by FIRE standards. he may as well joined uber in 2010 too or been an early investor or early founder in some other start-up. FIRE is more about being an employee and investing/saving than creating a start-up. Although anyone can do the FIRE lifestyle.

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#75

Post by chaostheory »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #5

The article seriously downplays the role of luck here but it isn't wrong. If you live judiciously and save as much as you can by doing so, you reach a point where you can live judiciously without going into the office every day. The common thread is that just because you can buy something, or can qualify for a particular mortgage, doesn't mean you should if you're goal is to "retire" early. One of the engineers I wor…

If we’re talking FIRE instead of FatFIRE, I think if you go the Mr Money Moustache or Millionaire Next Door route it’s much less about luck and more about financial discipline which as you’ve implied is very difficult. Many of its successful disciples only make 5 figures. They’re just retiring in their 40s and 50s and not in their 20s.

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#76

Post by ChuckMcM »

cafard wrote: post #71
khazhoux wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To many people have a very very complex relationship with money. Too many use it as a "score" to reinforce their own self image. This quote from the show Ozark really resonated with me: "Money is not peace of mind. Money's not happiness. Money is, at its essence, the measure of a man's choices."

Money is not peace of mind, but lack of money--measured against real and perceived needs--is a great detriment to peace of mind.

I found the book "Scarcity: While having too little means so much" very informative in that regard. The fundamental principle is that when something is scarce, one doesn't always make rational choices. And while the conversation is generally around money, it applies equally to any finite resource. I found a lot of wisdom in that book when substituting "time" for "money." That is because running around with a scarcity mindset around time puts some of the exact same mechanisms into play.

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#77

Post by devbent »

secabeen wrote: post #68
devbent wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nameplate tuition is meaningless as the average student pays less than $5,000 in tuition at 4-year public schools. The problem here is any parents capable of saving 30k a year for college are in an income bracket that instantly disqualifies their kids from getting any tuition assistance. Heck back in 2002 I had a mom who drove a school bus and a dad retired on disability and they made enough money between them that…

Tuition is not the only cost; room and board are significant, and go to those loans too. If you take the average loan balance, divide by 4, you get about $8k/yr, which is pretty close to rent for a single student in many college towns. 75% of students attend state schools. If astudent chooses to go to an out-of-state school for $64k a year when there is a state college in your state that runs 1/3 of that, is that on…

The University of Washington is an absurdly competitive school to get into for certain majors, so it is very reasonable to expect that even highly performing students might have to go to an out of state school if they want to go to a tier 1 public university.

It also depends on the major, as students may want to go to a university that is well regarded for what they want to learn.

None of which changes the fact that college tuition prices go up at an obscene rate, while at the same time colleges are getting rid of tenured professors and instead hiring adjunct professors who get paid barely livable wages.

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#78

Post by khazhoux »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #76
cafard wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money is not peace of mind, but lack of money--measured against real and perceived needs--is a great detriment to peace of mind.

I found the book "Scarcity: While having too little means so much" very informative in that regard. The fundamental principle is that when something is scarce, one doesn't always make rational choices. And while the conversation is generally around money, it applies equally to any finite resource. I found a lot of wisdom in that book when substituting "time" for "money." That is because running around with a scarcity…

Could you expand on this, Chuck? When time is scarce, we tend to make poorer choices in how we use our available time?

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#79

Post by ChuckMcM »

khazhoux wrote: post #78
ChuckMcM wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found the book "Scarcity: While having too little means so much" very informative in that regard. The fundamental principle is that when something is scarce, one doesn't always make rational choices. And while the conversation is generally around money, it applies equally to any finite resource. I found a lot of wisdom in that book when substituting "time" for "money." That is because running around with a scarcity…

Could you expand on this, Chuck? When time is scarce, we tend to make poorer choices in how we use our available time?

That is exactly correct. So a money example;

Winter's coming and you need a coat, you don't have much money and so you buy the cheap coat that costs $40 instead of the expensive coat that costs $60, 2/3rds through winter your coat fails and you buy another cheap coat for $40. You're out $80 for the winter vs being out $60.

A time example works similarly, when time is scarce you choose not to invest enough time into something (cleaning, fixing something, reading, whatever) and by making that choice, over a wider period you end up spending more time on this task because you're making up for not doing enough when you could have.

For me the trigger is anytime I think "I should do but I don't have enough to do it, correctly but I can get by using only a small amount of if I do it this other way." That is a scarcity based decision not a reasoned one.

The deal for me is to look at the situation with a wider lens to see what the longer term resource requirement is and working from that. It does result in what can feel like a "riskier" choice, but when I track those choices I find making the non-scarcity driven decision is usually the better choice.

Re: Neighbors Are Retiring in Their 30s. Why Can't You?

#80

Post by archagon »

toast0 wrote: post #21
nostromo wrote: post #6

> [she] retired at 49 with $1.3 million in savings. That doesn't not seem like nearly enough. How does she afford health insurance? I would be terrified that after a prolonged downturn you'd be left with nothing. And Social Security in the US pays less the less you work.

If you've got $1.3 M in savings, chances are you can keep your healthcare MAGI above the Medicaid income threshold and below the threshold for a large ACA subsidy. If your savings is invested, you can make choices that lead to more or less realized income, depending on where you are. At least in early retirement, I'd expect some return of investment rather than all realized capital gains and dividends. Also, dependin…

If you don’t have major health problems requiring specific doctors, and depending on your place of residence, Medicaid could be a good option too. I had very positive experiences with Medi-Cal in Santa Clara County around 7 years ago: my HMO referred me to every specialist I requested, and the cost to me was always $0.
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