Don't want to defend this, but you also don't live your life with working 60 hours a week.
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The New Retirement Plan: Save Almost Everything, Spend Virtually Nothing (WSJ)
- Thread starter entremet
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Don't want to defend this, but you also don't live your life with working 60 hours a week.
OP
OP
For gas, she walks to work. No idea with electricity. She lives in Seattle as well so temperatures are rather moderate. She's obviously not a consumer electronics enthusiast lol.
OP
OP
She might have bought right after the crash. Houses weren't that bad around 5 years ago but then prices went up FAST.
Seattle also has hydro power here. So our electricity is comparably cheap .
The 401K number is off or they are including other things under 401K. My best friend has been doing something similar in case he decides he has enough of law. You don't need to be living so frugally if making 200-300K a year.
My electricity bill used to be around $30 a month living in a 500ish square feet loft apartment during the spring and fall, just open the windows and keep the AC off. I probably could have dropped it into the $20s if I wasn't a gamer and have my computer on for most of the day.
I want to retire early but I'm looking more at like 55-60, not 40. Still, I need to save more. My retirement savings are low because I've sunk a decent chunk into real estate for passive income. Living like that seems nightmarish to me
These types of threads are always littered with people getting defensive about their own spending habits. I use it to reflect on my own lifestyle. Am I getting value? What can I cut? Can I get the same thing for cheaper?
I've never defined myself by my work, so it's so foreign to me when people say they'd be bored without work. If you need work to get through your weeks, you need to find a hobby.
I've never defined myself by my work, so it's so foreign to me when people say they'd be bored without work. If you need work to get through your weeks, you need to find a hobby.
Life is for living. I will never understand how people can happily give away 40+ years of their life.
She had her employer classifier her as an independent contractor so she is able to contribute up to $55,000 a year as far as i can tell.
You don't need to be an independent contractor to contribute up to that limit. Anyone can do it as long as their 401K allows after-tax contributions.
I've done this out of necessity because I was making $400 a month after rent and bills in grad school, so I'd spend $25-40 a week on food and whatever else I needed and just put away the rest.
You can't go out with friends to restaurants or bars, no dates, no activities, etc. I don't recommend it as it's a very sad life and I don't see any reason to retire at 40 and still live that shitty lifestyle..... Like I'm happy to work and advance my career all the way to 60 lol if I'm a top dog by then why not keep it going till I'm 70. Never understood why anyone would want to really retire at 40 unless they won the lottery.
You can't go out with friends to restaurants or bars, no dates, no activities, etc. I don't recommend it as it's a very sad life and I don't see any reason to retire at 40 and still live that shitty lifestyle..... Like I'm happy to work and advance my career all the way to 60 lol if I'm a top dog by then why not keep it going till I'm 70. Never understood why anyone would want to really retire at 40 unless they won the lottery.
75 dollars a month for groceries, what the fuck. Is she eating this shit every day --
I would assume she follow's a meal plan similar to Leanne Brown's "Good and Cheap" which is healthy meals you can cook that cost ~$4 a day.
We have a fairly simple meal plan so occasionally we eat the same supper twice in a week, which involves eating the leftovers for lunch the next day. My SO really struggles with that as well, she is picky and gets bored of the same flavours so we try to rotate more frequently.
You can always contribute $55k, the $18.5k cap is just for pre-tax.
Who is giving away 40 years of their life? The ocunter to this is that by time she can retire she's given up on her "best years" in order to pinch to retire. She may find herself in a spot where her health isn't as good or it's harder for her to find people to travel with etc. It's entirely plausible something sudden happens and suddenly she's in a spot where even having those retirement funds wont make up for lost time.
I guess it depends on your profession and how you want to live your life. I will happily give away 40+ years because it is something I love and it is not just a profession to me.
If it were any other profession I would probably look into early retirement as well.
Spending 20 dollars a month on gas seems utopian to me, if you live in the US.
These sorts of "articles" from the WSJ are rarely illuminating, almost always tone deaf and at their core are often nothing more than thinly veiled attempts to chastise and guilt trip the lower class because we cannot save money.
I had to look at the OP and it's the poster who is always asking and posting some dubious stuff.
OP, Why do you think the WSJ of all places would publish pieces like this? What is it's purpose?
I had to look at the OP and it's the poster who is always asking and posting some dubious stuff.
OP, Why do you think the WSJ of all places would publish pieces like this? What is it's purpose?
It requires a 401k that allows after tax contributions right? You can't do 55,000 pretax like a solo 401k?
She can do this at 40 because she is a highly paid lawyer in Seattle, not because she's eating brown bananas and mooching netflix. Sounds like her budgeting min max is more a hobby than the source of her early retirement. Also a source of strategic superiority.
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I practice a personalized version of this. Even though the "RE" in FIRE stands for "retire early", that isn't always the goal. Financial independence (FI) means I don't have to take shit from anyone. My manager pisses me off? I'll quit on the spot, bridges be damned. I can work, play, learn a skill, or do whatever I choose and I won't think about "opportunity cost" because the cost isn't being able to pay rent, the cost is not buying some luxury I don't need anyway.
Practicing FIRE doesn't mean that I'm depriving myself of fun. I go out to eat sparingly and I travel less than my peers, but I don't mooch off passwords, and I'm happy day-to-day as is. Of course, how much you take in factors into how this is possible. For some lines of work, FIRE would be very difficult, but that doesn't mean people can't follow some of the best practices. Things like learning to cook, buying the meats and veggies that are on sale, not upgrading your phone/tv/consoles as often, and keeping an eye out on internet deals go a long way, no matter your income level. I hope that the stories from late 30s lawyers and whatnot don't dissuade people from following good habits just because the end goal of $2M at 40 or whatever is not possible for them.
Practicing FIRE doesn't mean that I'm depriving myself of fun. I go out to eat sparingly and I travel less than my peers, but I don't mooch off passwords, and I'm happy day-to-day as is. Of course, how much you take in factors into how this is possible. For some lines of work, FIRE would be very difficult, but that doesn't mean people can't follow some of the best practices. Things like learning to cook, buying the meats and veggies that are on sale, not upgrading your phone/tv/consoles as often, and keeping an eye out on internet deals go a long way, no matter your income level. I hope that the stories from late 30s lawyers and whatnot don't dissuade people from following good habits just because the end goal of $2M at 40 or whatever is not possible for them.
Yeah, I've seen the same things. Going from living sensibly and frugally to applauding others when they show off being able to live off of beans for weeks. I've stopped passing through the communities and just have my eyes on my goal.
I have worked in three different industries and none have permitted post-tax contributions.
Exactly.... the take away the publisher wants to impart on the reader is one which builds up a resentment towards those poors who can't save and to further cultivate this perverse ideology of personal responsibility.
Next time an article about poverty pops up, they'll think "well maybe if they weren't eating fancy cans of tuna and watching Netflix, I wouldn't have to spend my tax dollars on those lazy bums."
When did MMM turn from a financial advice/lifehacks style forum to a full on packaged lifestyle choice/motivational system?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/m...e-8-things-about-the-fire-movement-2018-10-05
This sounds like an MLM pitch.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/m...e-8-things-about-the-fire-movement-2018-10-05
This sounds like an MLM pitch.
Yep. Props for the small home and awesome mortgage, but everything else sounds like small corner cutting that doesn't save that much for most people in the end. If you're grossing over 100,000 on one income per year and don't have dependents, it already sounds like you're playing your financial life on easy mode to an extent.
Some of those costs in the OP are either crazy low-balled, and/or (in combination with having a 200k+ per year job), she's scrimping like mad. Even for Seattle with its cool climate, that electricity bill seems mad low.
Which, to be fair, is kind of the point to the whole 'FIRE' mentality - spend less = saving more (both in terms of money now and money later, if you go by the assumption you'll keep those same thrifty habits) and thus having your money work for you....
But it's also not realistic for a helluva lot of people - a LOT of those 100k+ salaries also have a shitton of student loans - or at least, in the healthcare setting (which is one of the 'big' areas I can think of for top earners). And unless you're a top-tier surgeon, you're still going to need (at LEAST) a good 3 to 5 years to recoup that student loan debt if you don't wanna try your luck at the dwindling loan forgiveness program, and that's with dumping near everything into loans to pay them off ASAP while still trying to set aside something for the 401k.
I mean, sure, it's doable, but it requires you live like a poor college student for years after getting out of school, when your paycheck is 3-5k - And that's gonna be hard to do, lol.
Honestly, computer/tech people are gonna have the easiest time with this - get out with a basic 4 year degree, no grad school debt, and start working at 21-23 (instead of 25-28, or later for healthcare workers), and I can see some people saving enough to retire within ~15-20 years, instead of 30 or more - at least, if they manage to land anywhere even moderately successful, not to mention places like Amazon or Google.
Which, to be fair, is kind of the point to the whole 'FIRE' mentality - spend less = saving more (both in terms of money now and money later, if you go by the assumption you'll keep those same thrifty habits) and thus having your money work for you....
But it's also not realistic for a helluva lot of people - a LOT of those 100k+ salaries also have a shitton of student loans - or at least, in the healthcare setting (which is one of the 'big' areas I can think of for top earners). And unless you're a top-tier surgeon, you're still going to need (at LEAST) a good 3 to 5 years to recoup that student loan debt if you don't wanna try your luck at the dwindling loan forgiveness program, and that's with dumping near everything into loans to pay them off ASAP while still trying to set aside something for the 401k.
I mean, sure, it's doable, but it requires you live like a poor college student for years after getting out of school, when your paycheck is 3-5k - And that's gonna be hard to do, lol.
Honestly, computer/tech people are gonna have the easiest time with this - get out with a basic 4 year degree, no grad school debt, and start working at 21-23 (instead of 25-28, or later for healthcare workers), and I can see some people saving enough to retire within ~15-20 years, instead of 30 or more - at least, if they manage to land anywhere even moderately successful, not to mention places like Amazon or Google.
As one of the greatest philosophers of our time, Lady Gaga, once said, "I must be myself, respect my youth." Go have your fun and live life but you don't have to buy brown goddamn bananas. Unless that's what you're into.
I have enough saved I can afford to take time off without pay for months if I wanted to. Obviously it comes down to each person's financial status, but I don't spend much aside from saving for travel and normal necessities.
OP
OP
Huh? It's always been a lifestyle thing. How long have you been reading him? Sure, you can take what tips work for you. I do that. I'm not a FIRE adherent. But MMM is very gung ho about his lifestyle.
Thank FUCK my wife and I have pensions + 401ks. Granted we'll be working into our 60s but thats fine by us.