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Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#131

Post by ringaroundthetx »

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…

Why are those criticisms?

The top 5% of households earn over $200,000. That is a large and wealthy audience, that is equally as interested in retiring early as people making 50k. In the United States alone, the top 5% of earners is a large audience, and again, the wealthy audience that any blog, or cult, or merchant is looking for.

The people making 50k have to figure out the irrelevance to their situation on their own.

The people making 150k don't, as they are a hop away from being in the top 5%, and a hop away from learning what is needed to cement their financial independence.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#132

Post by wang_li »

reverend_gonzo wrote: post #102
CodeCube wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I find rent-seeking landlords to be an unethical pursuit. I know that's not a mainstream thought, and is the underpinning of many people's income strategy ... but I can't support the idea of letting a family live in a property for decades, and then something happening, and they're on the street with nothing to show for the tens of thousands of dollars they have given in rent.

The reason to rent is for the ability to move on demand. If a family is renting in the same place for decades, that is their problem. The moment you realize you are going to stay in one place for an extended period of time, there is no reason to continue renting. Sure, not everybody can purchase their dream home. But they can purchase something small, build equity, and upgrade in the future. The government also has p…

Renters are also borrowing the credit score and down payment of the landlord.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#133

Post by J-dawg »

UK-AL wrote: post #82
astura wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He touches on that in this post (with numbers): https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/07/27/rent-vs-buy/

Those numbers dont really work in the uk.

I've found myself saying that phrase in response to a lot of MMM's posts.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#134

Post by SandersAK »

This is such a weird content piece from YC. Is this supposed to help us understand brand marketing? If so, I want to hear from people who have piloted the brands of massively successful startups, not a guy who says he's head of a cult.

Though I don't agree with or support self-help / Tim Ferris types personally, I'm open to the idea that this guy has some key insight into branding for startups, but this content doesn't really have any of that.

I appreciate a hustler as much as anyone, but this guy doesn't stand out from your generic Tim Ferris / Gary Vee snake oil lifestyle sellers.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#135

Post by [deleted] »

hammock wrote: post #46
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…

To apply MMM's ideas, on a 50K salary assuming monthly expenses of 1,250 (that's the hard part), if you put away 50% every year you can retire on a 375K nest egg (4% safe annual draw) after 15 years, or age 37. Roughly.

[deleted]

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#136

Post by ryandrake »

dxbydt wrote: post #107

man, what a weird pov. Start at the beginning - "nobody should do the 40 mile pleasanton to sf commute". I guess he means pleasanton to mv, because if you were to go to sf you'd just take the bart door to door. So do you know how many engineers drive from pleasanton, or in general east bay, to mv ? I'd wager its upwards of 100k, considering the backed up traffic on 680 between 8 am to noon. now are all of these engin…

I read a couple of his blog posts, and his "your doing it wrong because you don't value what I value" attitude is a huge turn-off. He probably has some great gems of wisdom but they're lost in the moralizing about why I shouldn't have a car and why I'm inferior because I didn't get a windfall and pay off my mortgage. I do that specific "mega commute" he mentions (I'm in Livermore so it's even farther), and trust me, I don't live out here because I like to commute over 100 miles each day!

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#137

Post by joeax »

UK-AL wrote: post #43
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…

The difficulty with the bike thing, is that the closer you are to cities the more housing costs. The housing expense often costs more than owning a cheap car.

Try to quantify each commute kilometer, for example, each km costs 1,000 GBP in lost time, car expense, and psychological damage. Plug that into an equation then ask yourself if it is worth it to live closer to work or not.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#138

Post by macNchz »

stefantheard wrote: post #95
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…

What avenue is there to retire at 30 if you make 200k by 25? I must be missing something massive.

I'm not a subscriber to this strategy, but the theory goes that if you save, in that scenario, 80% of your take home pay (annually saving ~$100k, spending ~$20k), you'll have, say, ~$500k invested in 5 years and can safely withdraw 4%/$20k per year indefinitely. Then you can quit your 200k job, 'retire', and enjoy the same lifestyle as you lived while employed.

Personally I agree with the message about the power of saving to offer financial stability and independence, but I prefer saving reasonably while also trying to find ways to do work that I enjoy instead of saving super aggressively in search of an early retirement from a job I hate.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#139

Post by tonyedgecombe »

avenoir wrote: post #37

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.

Are you paying a lot in fees? I would have expected a better return than that.

Re: Interview with Mr. Money Mustache

#140

Post by wbl »

CodeCube wrote: post #79
branchless wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has several rentals and lives off other families. We can't all do that. It's not a real, scalable solution. It's not genuine.

Personally, I find rent-seeking landlords to be an unethical pursuit. I know that's not a mainstream thought, and is the underpinning of many people's income strategy ... but I can't support the idea of letting a family live in a property for decades, and then something happening, and they're on the street with nothing to show for the tens of thousands of dollars they have given in rent.

That's the deal. I like renting because if I want real estate exposure I could buy a diversified REIT.
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