What 8 people wish they knew before retiring in their 20s and 30s

[Mai72]

http://www.businessinsider.com/early-retirement-advice-what-to-know-before-retiring-early-2018-6

I don't mind work, but to have that option to retire when you're still young is pretty awesome. The idea that you're going to retire in your 60s is an old idea. C'mon. You're on the back end of your life.

To retire at 35 IMO, you need too:

1) Track spending
2) Work your ass off. 16 hour days, until you reach your goal
3) Keep spending to the bare minimum
4) Only invest in things that produce income.
5) No kids. Dual income wife/husband could be great. Just make sure that she is on the same page.
6) Start a business that can scale. Preferably online, little start money. Notice that the people listed in the article all have online businesses. But, if you don't want to go there. Just save a ton.
7) SE Asia is an excellent option for people who want to retire young. It's very cheap and if you work online you don't have to be dependent on one location. SE Asia isn't mandaory though.
8) One life. In the end 99% of the crap we worry about doen't matter much. And, you don't want the regret that you didn't go for it when you get old.

Research has shown the happiest among us aren't rich. What they have is time abundance. To be able to have the freedom that many of us don't have because we're tethered to a job. But, why wait until you're in your 60s. That's the illusion that they want to sell you. But, as I said earlier when we turn 60 plus life starts to diminish.

 

[ctbaars]

You too can make $5,498.00 for four hours of work a week, just like my neighbors friends coworkers mom did. "Just" do this.

 

[Mai72]

You too can make $5,498.00 for four hours of work a week, just like my neighbors friends coworkers mom did. "Just" do this.

You probably didn't even read the article.

No scams here. You can believe what you want. You've been conditioned to think a certain way. Just like most people. I respect and fully understand why you'd go there. The people mentioned in the article are legit. When I lived in Thailand I met people who were all doing their thing online. I never said it was going to be easy. Let's get away from the online world. You could leverage what you're doing. Bring in extra income any way that you can. Hell, my dad was making $250k for years and he had a 4th grade education. The sad part is he blew it all on sh*t he really didn't need. Stupid.

 

[ctbaars]

You too can make $250K for years, just like the on-line BB poster Mai72's dad did. "Just" do this. This is not a scam.

 

[BD231]

Thanks but no money is easy ... no vagina? That's a sh*tty life bro, pure sh*t. Ain't nothin worth livin a vaginaless life by the age of 30. Even crippled midgets in little wheelchairs have hot wives and get fellatio often just off disability checks. Its inhumane to retire that early.



This misogynistic posting from you needs to stop.
You are running out of chances. Take heed dude.


esquared
Anandtech Forum Director

 

[Exterous]

I think its interesting that many of them are young millionaires and they all see to have their own blog. Having seven figures certainly helps to retire early - especially if you continue to work a job writing a blog.

Personally I would not be comfortable retiring that early with that level of savings. There are too many unknowns about things you have no control over (the economy, cost of elder care etc). I would rather continue to work to have a larger cushion of safety and greater freedom to travel how we want. It helps that neither my wife nor myself hate our jobs

Some of the topics were glossed over a bit and overly downplayed. For example:

Last year alone, we did about $10,000 in free travel — well worth the time spent managing a few credit cards.

For $10,000 in free travel you are managing more than a "few" cards...

 

[ImpulsE69]

You probably didn't even read the article.

No scams here. You can believe what you want. You've been conditioned to think a certain way. Just like most people. I respect and fully understand why you'd go there. The people mentioned in the article are legit. When I lived in Thailand I met people who were all doing their thing online. I never said it was going to be easy. Let's get away from the online world. You could leverage what you're doing. Bring in extra income any way that you can. Hell, my dad was making $250k for years and he had a 4th grade education. The sad part is he blew it all on sh*t he really didn't need. Stupid.

It's not realistic. Think for a moment if everyone could do it (or even half), the world would collapse. The reality is that the way world culture is, the masses will work until they die. There will be exceptions, very few exceptions.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

All the people in the article are clueless. In short, they were lucky. None can see the unique set of circumstances that led to their wealth. Did they work hard? Yes. Did they work smart? Yes, in terms of maximizing income. A significant portion of America does the very same thing and can't retire. The biggest reason is they've trained themselves to be unhappy.

 

[Kaido]

Research has shown the happiest among us aren't rich. What they have is time abundance.

Thoughts:

1. My takeaway from reading about people who are either wealthy or who have become wealthy is that having money doesn't make your problems go away, it just makes living with them more comfortable. Re: Anthony Bourdain. Chester Bennington. Robin Williams.

2. Time abundance, hmm. There is a segment of humanity who are self-starters & entrepreneurs. Most are not. Given more free time & perhaps unlimited free time, I would say that the majority of people are not productive. Which branches out into two other points:

2a. One of the things that I've found makes me feel good (re: happiness in life) is using my talents to provide service. That can be free or paid & skilled or unskilled labor. I currently work in IT & I like putting in a good day's work to help people overcome their IT problems - we both get benefits from the service provided. Or when you physically use your body to say help a friend move. Not necessarily right up your particular alley with whatever your gifts are, but you're helping someone do something, which is really all that "work" boils down to. Re: time abundance - if you have a lot of free time, but you don't do anything to kind of contribute to the betterment of your own life or contribute to humanity, I think it's kind of hard to be happy, because there's kind of a built-in trigger-reaction for doing good work & "helping" (in various capacities) on a regular basis.

2b. I was on bedrest for 4 months at one point in my life due to medical issues - no work or school allowed. The first couple of weeks were absolutely amazing...take-out, binging shows, non-stop gaming, catching up on reading books...then I got sooooooooo bored. Oh my gosh. You can't take a break from taking a break! I think you still need a hobby or a project or some charity work or SOMETHING even if you make it big & can retire forever, especially at a young age.

3. Re: the list in the OP. This is the same problem I have with stuff like Mr. Money Moustache, who do early retirement but with a laser-focus on frugality over personal goals (note: I appreciate his posts & he has a lot of excellent views on things, just discussing this point in particular). Which is fine if being frugal IS your personal goal, but everyone has different needs & wants, and you should really tailor your long-term plans to be geared towards what YOU want, and not what someone else dictates to you. For example, he has an interesting article about how luxury is a "drug", which has some good points:

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/08/29/luxury-is-just-another-weakness/

However, he also says this:

“I am Mr. Bigshot”, I thought to myself. “I sit in big cars, with muscular V-8 engines which waste huge amounts of gas while people drive me around. I sit upon polished strips of sliced-up cows, dyed and stitched together by workers who earn far less than me. When I get to the expensive hotel, I will be presented with an internationally-sourced meal prepared by chefs, and a large private suite, while others bow down and wait and pay me for the priceless solutions I deliver from my powerful mind. THIS is the treatment I deserve! Why have I been taking the bus and riding my bike and setting up tents all these years?”

Sure, but:

1. What if you like cars?
2. What if you like leather seats?
3. What if you like fine dining?
4. What about the people whose jobs it is to make those cars & prepare that food?
5. It's okay if you like to ride your bike & camp in a tent, too

The one, single rule that good financial hygiene boils down to is simply this: you can buy anything you can responsibly afford. Some things are worth going in debt for (an education that will lead to a job that can provide for your needs, a reasonable house in a safe neighborhood, a reliable car, necessary medical expenses, etc.), but beyond that, there are lots of traps out there designed to enslave you to "debt by choice". Past that, it's getting into fairly judgmental territory to tell someone they have to live a certain way & then look down on them if they don't.

Per the list in the OP, there's some normal stuff like tracking your spending to make sure it doesn't get out of control, working towards your goals, not over-spending, investing in assets, but then it gets into things like "don't have kids" and "move to a whole new country where it's cheap to live". Well, okay - unless your personal goals include having a family & maybe not moving out of the country, haha. So I think a better assessment approach would be:

1. What makes you happy on a personal level?
2. How can you setup your life to be happy?
3. When do you want to retire?
4. What's your plan for being able to retire? (both for the date & for what to do with your time)
5. What's your plan for achieving happiness in retirement? (per your personal requirements for happiness)

Based on what I've seen from people getting rich, especially movie star & musician celebrities, it's easy to get bored & then go on the party circuit & then drink & drug yourself to death because you're not really happy on the inside. I'm not quite sure how I got to that from an early retirement post, but anyway, go forth & do good stuff in the world & figure out what makes you happy & setup your life to maximize that!

 

[Kaido]

The biggest reason is they've trained themselves to be unhappy.

QFP

 

[Kaido]

Early retirement folks on the Internet be like:

#frugal #lifehack #befree #retireyoung

 

[LikeLinus]

Why is it always poor people who tell others it's easy to get rich?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I can't imagine retiring that early, does not matter how much you save. You need constant cash flow to pay all the bills. After all the bills are paid I only have a couple hundred left anyway so not like I can save any more than I currently do. I guess moving to an off grid property with super low taxes and no utility bills would make that a bit easier. That's kinda my retirement dream.

 

[Viper GTS]

I have a lot of issues with the fetishization of this lifestyle and how it's sold to their readers.

The rare people that are simultaneously talented/motivated/frugal enough to quickly reach the net worth needed AND willing to drop it all and walk away when they reach some trivial amount ($1-2 million to retire at 30? Are you out of your fucking mind?) are welcome to do that. For the rest of us the normal slave existence is probably a better fit.

I suspect many of these individuals are going to be in for a very rude dose of reality. The amounts of money they are retiring with are woefully insufficient to handle any unexpected events. They won't be young and healthy forever. Bad shit happens sometimes even to the young and healthy. Their income from their blog could and likely will evaporate once advertisers move on to the next big thing and/or your readers figure out you're selling them a lie. The gravy train of credit card signup bonuses is likely coming to an end. Finding yourself a decade removed from a high paying career at 40 with a sudden need to rejoin the workforce is not my idea of fun, nor is having to ratchet down an already frugal lifestyle to adjust to the new reality.


Viper GTS

 

[Sonikku]

1) Track spending
2) Work your ass off. 16 hour days, until you reach your goal
3) Keep spending to the bare minimum
4) Only invest in things that produce income.
5) No kids. Dual income wife/husband could be great. Just make sure that she is on the same page.
6) Start a business that can scale. Preferably online, little start money. Notice that the people listed in the article all have online businesses. But, if you don't want to go there. Just save a ton.
7) SE Asia is an excellent option for people who want to retire young. It's very cheap and if you work online you don't have to be dependent on one location. SE Asia isn't mandaory though.
8) One life. In the end 99% of the crap we worry about doen't matter much. And, you don't want the regret that you didn't go for it when you get old.

What Sonikku wishes she knew in her 20's:

1)Invest in bitcoin.

 

[Thebobo]

I made a point of not setting down till I traveled as much as I could while I was healthy. I did this with minimum resources. Fortunately I had a lot of like minded friends. So in a sense I pre-retired in my 20s and now I've been am paying for it for 30 years and I'm coming up on my post retirement retirement.

 

[Exterous]

3. Re: the list in the OP. This is the same problem I have with stuff like Mr. Money Moustache, who do early retirement but with a laser-focus on frugality over personal goals (note: I appreciate his posts & he has a lot of excellent views on things, just discussing this point in particular). Which is fine if being frugal IS your personal goal, but everyone has different needs & wants, and you should really tailor your long-term plans to be geared towards what YOU want, and not what someone else dictates to you.

I agree - While I am quite frugal in certain areas I would not be happy with the level of frugality many (most?) on his site ascribe to. I like my expensive audio equipment, having 3 cars and staying in moderately priced and above hotels instead of dirt cheap hostels\1 room airB&Bs. I am willing to spend more time working to continue to have those opportunities

I can't imagine retiring that early, does not matter how much you save. You need constant cash flow to pay all the bills.

One of the guys supposedly has $1.25M which should generate $50k a year without reducing the principle. Add in some money from his books and blog and he's probably pretty close to the median income

 

[Thebobo]

I agree - While I am quite frugal in certain areas I would not be happy with the level of frugality many (most?) on his site ascribe to. I like my expensive audio equipment, having 3 cars and staying in moderately priced and above hotels instead of dirt cheap hostels\1 room airB&Bs. I am willing to spend more time working to continue to have those opportunities



One of the guys supposedly has $1.25M which should generate $50k a year without reducing the principle. Add in some money from his books and blog and he's probably pretty close to the median income

Back in the 70s 100K would of been enough.

 

[shortylickens]

why do we have a thread for obvious click-bait?

 

[Red Squirrel]

One of the guys supposedly has $1.25M which should generate $50k a year without reducing the principle. Add in some money from his books and blog and he's probably pretty close to the median income

So basically you need to be a millionaire lol. Most people arn't millionaires and won't make that kind of money in their life time let alone by their 30's. Definitely unrealistic.

 

[Kaido]

So basically you need to be a millionaire lol. Most people arn't millionaires and won't make that kind of money in their life time let alone by their 30's. Definitely unrealistic.

One out of every 6 retirees is a millionaire:

https://www.inc.com/business-insider/how-to-retire-as-a-millionaire.html

You can see it early just by chatting with people who you know & work with - some people budget & do things like contributing to their 401k, and others think those things are a waste of time.

 

[ultimatebob]

What Sonikku wishes she knew in her 20's:

1)Invest in bitcoin.

With my luck, I would have had it in one of the many crooked Bitcoin exchanges out there when they went bust and lost everything.

Looking back, spending the little Bitcoin I had on a flashlight back in 2012 was a poor choice. I liked to think of it as my $10,000 flashlight before it died.

 

[Fenixgoon]

my retirement calculator says if i continue my current savings rate i'll have about $5M in another 30 years. does that count for anything?

 

[Kaido]

my retirement calculator says if i continue my current savings rate i'll have about $5M in another 30 years. does that count for anything?

That doesn't even cover the entry fee for the ATOT Baller's sub-forum

 

[Fenixgoon]

That doesn't even cover the entry fee for the ATOT Baller's sub-forum