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Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

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Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#131

Post by dkrich »

ruswick wrote: post #125
dkrich wrote: post #99

Interesting read, but I have to disagree with one of the tenets of the article. At one point he suggests that people should almost inevitably relocate at some point to a less-expensive area of the country in order to save for retirement. Wealth is relative. You can increase your own in only one of two ways- either earn more or spend less. Obviously his advice is the latter, but if you fall into the former category (a…

The wages in DC, although higher than the national average, are not astronomically so. The Mean anual wage in DC is ~$60k, while the national average is roughly $45k. This likely doesn't equate to a distinctly higher quality of life. Moreover, poverty is far more pervasive in DC than in the rest of the country, and, crime rates in DC vary, depending on the type of crime, generally between two and five times the natio…

Moreover, poverty is far more pervasive in DC than in the rest of the country, and, crime rates in DC vary, depending on the type of crime, generally between two and five times the national average.

From somebody who lives in D.C. now and has lived in several other places to compare by, I can tell you that for all practical purposes, that just isn't true. The statistics you cite, while perhaps factually correct are basically meaningless. D.C. is not a very diverse city from a socioeconomic standpoint. There are basically two sides to D.C.- a metro area where everything looks new and clean, people are well-heeled, and housing is expensive. Ballston, Arlington, Georgetown, DuPont, Bethesda. They are all just expensive variations on the same theme- one community after another of well-paid, highly-educated people.

Outside D.C. on the eastern and southern edges just inside Maryland is the D.C. that brings those averages into the territory you are citing. They add no practical value to a discussion of the city's economic health for those fortunate enough to not have any exposure to that side of the city. To consider that relevant to the discussion is like saying the average pay in a Fortune-500 company is $50k to counter the point that C-level execs of a Fortune-500 company are overpaid. While it may be statistically accurate, it is for all intents and purposes a meaningless data point in the discussion. What a first-year business analyst earns has absolutely fuck-all to do with what the CEO earns.

The assumption I'm making is that a person who has above-average skill will do exceptionally well in an economically-strong area like D.C. when compared to a city with a small or sluggish economy.

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#132

Post by guylhem »

encoderer wrote: post #67

I don't like how judgmental he is about lifestyle choices alternative to the ones he's made. I, personally, enjoy going out to eat, I enjoy the "$100 happy hours," I'm in Turks and Caicos right now on a stretch of the most beautiful beach I've ever seen and I enjoy that, too. Oh, and I don't particularly dislike working. I'm a well paid highly skilled engineer building cool things for a fantastic .com that takes care…

I'm in Turks and Caicos right now on a stretch of the most beautiful beach I've ever seen

Hello my friend! Care to share where?

I'd like to meet with fellow Caribbean entrepreneurs. I'm from Martinique, FWI. We do some good stuff too, yet I thought most of the scene was in T&T or Jamaica. T&C - why no!

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#133

Post by guylhem »

carbocation wrote: post #84
sebastianavina wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> fucked some really beautiful girls I downvoted you for this crass sexist drivel that drags down the level of discourse.

If it was about guys, written by a female poster, would you have downvoted it too ?

If it was about guys, written by a make poster, would you have downvoted it too ?

Where exactly is the crass sexist drivel ? the "fuck" word ? Upvoted both you guys to compensate. Context is important.

Here the poster only said he was intimate with members of the oppositive sex, who were attractive. Nonthing crass, just fact contributing to the discussions and saying why he recommends against that.

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#134

Post by mgkimsal »

chadcf wrote: post #90
georgecmu wrote: post #63

early retirement doesn’t only happen to Powerball winners and those who luck into a big inheritance. Right. It also happens to those who get lucky in the stock market, and chose the right job at the right time. http://money.msn.com/retirement/article.aspx?post=dd544488-f... I was able to save more: $5,000 into the retirement account, $3,000 into an employee stock purchase plan, and $10,000 in cash. Year 2 'stash: $23…

I've read his analysis before and I had the same issue. It's quite easy to retire early if you have a high income and live frugally. Unfortunately a lot of people have to live frugally just to get by. Your average middle class family couldn't even dream of putting away $490k in 7 years even if they lived frugally and got lucky on stocks. I read another blog, I think it was a different guy, who talked about how he did…

Seconded, yes. I've known some people recently with multiple kids (4 and 6, respectively), trying to get by on odd-jobs and $10/hour full-time jobs. Even slogging away night and day, floating a family of 8 (two parents, 6 kids) on $30k/year, and trying to do that on "30% of your income" - it's just not possible.

These people had/have income issues, not spending/frugality issues. In one case, one family moved to get a better job and is now at something like $45-$50k - still tight, but doable.

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#135

Post by conroe64 »

grosskur wrote: post #128

For me, the most interesting part was: "Back in the day, I would just empty out my bank account after each paycheck and distribute it into my investments of choice: Vanguard's S&P 500 index fund, their small-cap value index fund, a bit went into paying off my mortgage early as well." While he could have diversified further by including international stocks, this simple investment strategy was surprisingly sound. This…

If you are not going through a tax free retirement account, I'd advise against mutual funds, since the profit is taxed every year. Instead, I'd recommend using a stock newsletter.

There is a rating service that independently tracks the profits of 180 stock newsletters and has done so since 1980. It's called the Hulbert's Financial Digest. From this you can pick one with a good track record, and then invest directly in stocks.

This allows you to plan your taxes much better (sell the losers for a similar company in the same industry and keep the winners). I'm up over 70% in unrealized, and therefore untaxable, gains this way.

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#136

Post by lupatus »

foobarian wrote: post #32

I 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.

I think I may know you in real life. Did you successfully represent yourself in court?

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#137

Post by eloisant »

avenger123 wrote: post #127
encoderer wrote: post #67

I don't like how judgmental he is about lifestyle choices alternative to the ones he's made. I, personally, enjoy going out to eat, I enjoy the "$100 happy hours," I'm in Turks and Caicos right now on a stretch of the most beautiful beach I've ever seen and I enjoy that, too. Oh, and I don't particularly dislike working. I'm a well paid highly skilled engineer building cool things for a fantastic .com that takes care…

I don't believe he is going out of his way to criticize. First of all, the question of retiring is somewhat problematic. Ask the typical person if they could retire right now, what would they do? Doing leisure activities, going on trips, relaxing, etc. can only take one so far. As human beings we need to be productive (no matter how that is defined) for us to lead a healthy life. I believe the bigger issue is freedom…

His point to not to stop working, but stop being dependent of work.

There are plenty of ways to stay productive, even make some money, but when the money is just a bonus and not necessary for mortgage payment it makes a big difference.

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#138

Post by jasonkester »

Interesting how so many of the top comments thus far fall into a few categories:

"He did this at a time when the market was going up"... therefore it's impossible and I don't need to try doing this and it's OK to just keep doing what I'm doing.

"He could only do this by living in poverty"... which would totally suck, so I'm better off not doing this and just continuing the way I am.

"He can only pull this off because he's renting his house, which is totally still work and therefore he's not really retired"... so this is all made up and therefore not something I need to think about or potentially emulate.

How about instead, we look at some of the things he talks about: Live as cheap as you're comfortable with, save as much as you can, build a stack early on and get to a point where you don't need to have a full-time job just to pay the bills.

That's all very doable, and it will pay off very much like the author describes. I followed the same path (a few years ahead of the author), and ended up in a similar place in my 30s.

Rather than dismissing this as impossible, the critics here might all be better served by taking a bit of it on board.

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#139

Post by mscarborough »

> By the time you get to be a big fancy adult with a career and a house, your daily routine is basically just a collection of unconscious habits: You make coffee, commute by car, attend meetings and answer e-mails, shop in certain stores, watch TV and repeat. It becomes effortless. Your brain goes into autopilot.

There are plenty of routes you can take that don't involve giving up on life.

To me, this article exemplifies how empty making more money can make you feel. The author just sounds sad.

Go do something that makes you happy each day, earn some money, then go home and do something else.

Re: Meet Mr. Money Mustache, the man who retired at 30

#140

Post by reledi »

guylhem wrote: post #132
encoderer wrote: post #67

I don't like how judgmental he is about lifestyle choices alternative to the ones he's made. I, personally, enjoy going out to eat, I enjoy the "$100 happy hours," I'm in Turks and Caicos right now on a stretch of the most beautiful beach I've ever seen and I enjoy that, too. Oh, and I don't particularly dislike working. I'm a well paid highly skilled engineer building cool things for a fantastic .com that takes care…

I'm in Turks and Caicos right now on a stretch of the most beautiful beach I've ever seen Hello my friend! Care to share where? I'd like to meet with fellow Caribbean entrepreneurs. I'm from Martinique, FWI. We do some good stuff too, yet I thought most of the scene was in T&T or Jamaica. T&C - why no!

How he worded it, I believe he's there on vacation.

Nice to see some people from the Caribbean here though. I'm from St. Maarten but I currently live in Canada. Do you know of any places where I can read more about the tech scene in the Caribbean?

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