I have a hard time seeing the appeal of intentionally living long term with a near poverty level income. I could never be content watching my son bike to school in 20 degrees because I don't want to work. Let alone spend years bragging about it.
Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
31–40 of 252 posts
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#32I thought that harping on riding a bike was a bit disingenuous. I used to do do it daily, but after a close brush with death (got doored by a car stopped at a red light) I've come to think the risks are high enough that continuing it would be irresponsible for a family man.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#33I wish they asked about health care costs. For a family of three with no corporate job in sight, those have got to eat up a large chunk of the $25k.
25k/3 people is like a welfare amount of money to live on.
You would need to know the value of their house to fully judge their situation. If we assume they live in a reasonable house that would cost $1,500 per month to rent / mortgage and we assume they save $750 per month on the costs of working (commuting, baby sitting, eating out) they have an effective income of... $52,000. The median household income in the U.S is $51,000 and that's for households that will often have debt too and not be very good at spending little money.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#34I wish they asked about health care costs. For a family of three with no corporate job in sight, those have got to eat up a large chunk of the $25k.
25k/3 people is like a welfare amount of money to live on.
That's only what he spends, not what he's earning. All his income from his investments get reinvested because he doesn't need to tap into that for expenses.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#35I thought that harping on riding a bike was a bit disingenuous. I used to do do it daily, but after a close brush with death (got doored by a car stopped at a red light) I've come to think the risks are high enough that continuing it would be irresponsible for a family man.
Note that his family isn't dependent on his income or earning potential anymore, so it's not like he'd be leaving then destitute if he got killed. Purely financially, they'd be better off.
That said, everyone has to choose their own acceptable level of risk.
Edit: Plus you can argue that biking all over the place decreases his risk of dying of heart disease or similar later in life, which may balance out or outweigh the risk of dying in a vehicle collision.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Obviously everyone's health situation differs, but my health insurance experiences have been similar to MMM's. For an 'average' person/family, health insurance shouldn't be breaking the bank (e.g. $200-300 per month). I've heard of some realistic pre-existing health conditions that required $600+/month for specialty meds, but if that $7000+ per year is enough to make the difference in your 'retirement', it wouldn't b…
A modest HMO that covers a family cannot be had for less than $1k/month sticker price. If you don't want co-insurance it's at least $1200. At least in Massachusetts. Family of 3, no pre-existings. Good plans with a $25 co-pay on popular corporate providers (tufts/Harvard pilgrim) are nearly $1500/month, blue cross is close to $1800. Expensive. No way around it.
His family's insurance cost comes to $237/month.
It seems low, but not that low, at least relative to how much I pay as a 20-something guy scaled to three people.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
A modest HMO that covers a family cannot be had for less than $1k/month sticker price. If you don't want co-insurance it's at least $1200. At least in Massachusetts. Family of 3, no pre-existings. Good plans with a $25 co-pay on popular corporate providers (tufts/Harvard pilgrim) are nearly $1500/month, blue cross is close to $1800. Expensive. No way around it.
I live in Maine and have 4 kids. We pay $535 a month. The key is setting your deductible high and forgoing co-pays. As long as you have some savings in place (which is easier to do when you pay less) and be smart about visits, it works really well and yet your covered for anything serious.
Having shopped it recently nothing like that can be had in Massachusetts for a family.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
25k/3 people is like a welfare amount of money to live on.
You would need to know the value of their house to fully judge their situation. If we assume they live in a reasonable house that would cost $1,500 per month to rent / mortgage and we assume they save $750 per month on the costs of working (commuting, baby sitting, eating out) they have an effective income of... $52,000. The median household income in the U.S is $51,000 and that's for households that will often have…
Why does the value of their home factor into their annual income? You can't pay for healthcare with pieces of your house.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#39I have a hard time seeing the appeal of intentionally living long term with a near poverty level income. I could never be content watching my son bike to school in 20 degrees because I don't want to work. Let alone spend years bragging about it.
I bike to school and work in 20 degrees because my dad wants me to learn the value of a dollar before I'm in the "real world" (he also started me investing pretty early). I have 0 resentment and complete respect for him because of it.
Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30
#40Interesting article, and it would do well for most people to consider increasing wealth through investments. From the article: Our bread-and-butter living expenses are paid for by a single rental house we own, which generates about $25,000 per year after expenses. One nit, perhaps, on that - is the rental house completely managed by someone else? If not, I assume there is at least some minimal amount of work associat…
Lets be fair, I'm 28 y/o, and fairly rich, I love to work, and I live to work, and maybe it's the only thing I may do ever in my life. I could sell all of my bussiness, I could lease the buildings, and retire. But doing nothing is the hardest work I've ever do. I took a sabatic year after I graduated from college, traveled around the world, fucked some really beautiful girls, and after livining a dream-life, my life…
Please read the article before posting next time.