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How I retired at age 25

petermichaud.com

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Re: How I retired at age 25

#21

Post by weaksauce »

yters wrote: post #20
weaksauce wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that just a one time amount or yearly? I know of people that have been in the marines for 20 years and then have a retirement that pays him yearly and also has a job that pays well.

The other part nkh didn't mention is you can retire after 20 at half pay. If you make Lt Col by then (not so hard), that'll be about $45k free yearly income at age 42 for the rest of your life. Plus, it's quite easy to then get a military contracting job. That, with the secret clearance you'll have as an officer, pays pretty nicely.

45k is a good chunk of change to have every year for free. That can pay the mortgage in most places pretty easily even in places that are really expensive you only need to work a little bit to cover the mortgage. Is insurance covered as well?

Re: How I retired at age 25

#22

Post by ruslan »

blang wrote: post #19
antidaily wrote: post #4

the niche disease site and ebook made 40k in its 12th month??

I was wondering that as well. I am pretty confused about the time frame, he said the book was released last summer and in it's first month made $10 and in it's 12th month make 40k. How can he know what the 12th month is if it hasn't been twelve months since the book was released? Am I missing something?

I think he's just projecting his current income growth for the next 12 months, which sounds a little bit naive. :-)

Re: How I retired at age 25

#23

Post by jhancock »

jamesbressi wrote: post #16
pmichaud wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About 80% of the income comes from books, 20% from things like ads and affiliate links (reply to grandparent). Actually though, I was hoping to accomplish something different than "drop everything for your pie in sky, because it'll be great, trust me." This is more: 1) Pay attention to the simple opportunities you have around you 2) Be prepared to work for quite a while before seeing any real return 3) Don't get stuc…

I sincerely apologize, but "I just think people like reading tangible case studies, so I'll oblige." is misleading. What is tangible? I read case studies every. single. day. to the point of nausea. You are sharing experience--which is left up to the reader to decide if it is true or not--rather than any "tangible case studies". Side note: Your writing very clearly mimics Tim Ferriss and your whole basis may very well…

"About 80% of the income comes from books, 20% from things like ads and affiliate links".

You may be disappointed that pmichael isn't showing you his bank balance. I'm not. He does tell you how he's making money...well, you have to have the background of knowing how money is made for these sorts of business activities, but most on HN seem clued in about ebooks and adsense. Its a good enough story as is.

Re: How I retired at age 25

#24

Post by nihilocrat »

tsally wrote: post #11

I guess I always thought retired meant that if all your sources of income disappeared tomorrow, you could live off of your savings for the rest of your life. Don't get me wrong, I find owning a business where you can pay your own salary impressive as well, but retiring seems a bit misleading (unless there is some detail I'm missing).

I had the same reaction. Honestly, I don't think you are missing anything, this is like an oil baron saying he's set for life because his oil rig is pumping out enough money today so that he doesn't have to work. For some reason he forgets that the oil might run out 2, 5, or 10 years from now.

Re: How I retired at age 25

#25

Post by nkh »

yters wrote: post #20
weaksauce wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that just a one time amount or yearly? I know of people that have been in the marines for 20 years and then have a retirement that pays him yearly and also has a job that pays well.

The other part nkh didn't mention is you can retire after 20 at half pay. If you make Lt Col by then (not so hard), that'll be about $45k free yearly income at age 42 for the rest of your life. Plus, it's quite easy to then get a military contracting job. That, with the secret clearance you'll have as an officer, pays pretty nicely.

If you make Lt Col by then (not so hard)

I have a lot of friends who stayed at Westpoint, and served at least two tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. They would argue with you over the "not so hard" part of the argument.

Re: How I retired at age 25

#26

Post by teye »

jamesbressi wrote: post #9

It feels suspicious to me that this article is now up to 18 points? The suspicion? Some users up-vote a headline before reading the article.

I upvoted it (after reading) because I like periodic reminders that sexy web apps aren't the only way.

Re: How I retired at age 25

#27

Post by wgj »

pmichaud wrote: post #10
SamAtt wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the lesson he's shooting at is the basic "don't be afraid to chase your dream because when I did everything turned out roses". I'm not opposed to that message but it seems self evident. Everyone has a dream, everyone knows some people chase their dream and succeed. What holds people back (as he says in the post) is fear that they won't succeed and I don't see how one anecdotal story is going to alleviate that…

About 80% of the income comes from books, 20% from things like ads and affiliate links (reply to grandparent). Actually though, I was hoping to accomplish something different than "drop everything for your pie in sky, because it'll be great, trust me." This is more: 1) Pay attention to the simple opportunities you have around you 2) Be prepared to work for quite a while before seeing any real return 3) Don't get stuc…

"I just think people like reading tangible case studies, so I'll oblige."

Peter, for some commenters here, there is the feeling that you have told this very motivational story that is also "lean" on content. I don't disagree, although I do appreciate your story.

I think it would be great if you shared more detail about your experiences, successes, failures, etc. in a way that people in the HN community would find more substantial. Patrick McKenzie (patio11) does a great job of this, and I think HN'ers owe him a great debt for the quality of what he shares. (And many others here do this as well.)

Re: How I retired at age 25

#30

Post by jamesbressi »

jhancock wrote: post #23
jamesbressi wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sincerely apologize, but "I just think people like reading tangible case studies, so I'll oblige." is misleading. What is tangible? I read case studies every. single. day. to the point of nausea. You are sharing experience--which is left up to the reader to decide if it is true or not--rather than any "tangible case studies". Side note: Your writing very clearly mimics Tim Ferriss and your whole basis may very well…

"About 80% of the income comes from books, 20% from things like ads and affiliate links". You may be disappointed that pmichael isn't showing you his bank balance. I'm not. He does tell you how he's making money...well, you have to have the background of knowing how money is made for these sorts of business activities, but most on HN seem clued in about ebooks and adsense. Its a good enough story as is.

On the contrary, I don't believe someone has to show a bank account to share an experience or make a suggestion. I too am clued into both physical and e-publishing, adsense, etc.

But, what he is sharing is an experience, not a case study. That was the root of my comment which you replied to.

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