the wife and i have been on this path pretty much since we started working. for those who don't know much about it, it's essentially just living way below your means, investing a large amount of your income into stable investments, and controlling your spending to retire long before traditional retirement age. general rule of thumb is once you save ~25x of your annual retirement spending target, you can pretty reliably structure your investments so that you can live off them in perpetuity (your mileage may vary).

we're not particularly hardcore compared to others in the community, but there are notable examples of people retiring in their 20s and 30s using this approach.

My guess is a ton of people are now since March 23 stock market Fed rocketship. Check back in 2 years....

one nice side effect of the approach is when your investment horizon is basically your entire life, you get kind of insulated from the day to day anxieties of market swings

I had a married couple as clients, two teachers though the male half later became an administrator, that saved every spare dime they made and possibly some stuff they inherited. They were retired by the time they became my clients. Only child was a teacher as well (an Aggie). He retired at a fairly young age and moved up near Huntsville on some acreage. His parents called me and asked if I thought it would be a good idea to sell their home and move up near him. My reply was why not. They decided to make that move. They had a couple hundred thousand in savings bonds and HH bonds, and a couple million in certificates of deposit. The son called me a day or two after their call and said thanks for me talking to them. He said they were living in the same house they bought when they got married, same appliances for the most part, and had never gone on a vacation the entire time they were married. Not one. They did die pretty well off though.

30wedge said:

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He said they were living in the same house they bought when they got married, same appliances for the most part, and had never gone on a vacation the entire time they were married. Not one. They did die pretty well off though.

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My wife and I have hopes of retiring early hopefully in our 50s but while we save quite a bit, we also want to enjoy life. No vacations just isn't our cup of tea.

wild they never took a trip, but i guess some people are just like that - perpetual penny pinchers. not us though, part of why we're not rushing to lean-FIRE is that we want some padding for stuff like vacations, lifestyle inflation, and healthcare costs. we love to travel and while this last year was great for our savings (no vacations and reduced eating out), we're itching to visit other countries again.

65% savings rate right now

hedge said:

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65% savings rate right now

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Well done.

If only I made more

Carlo4 said:

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hedge said:

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65% savings rate right now

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Well done.

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Single and just moved out of his mom's basement, so not completely difficult to do.

really go find other 24 year olds with my savings rate and investment returns and I'll eat crow

Not sure I qualify officially but my plan is to save and invest heavily and aggresively enough to be able to walk away from the rat race by 50, if not before. Not sure I'd want to retire, per se. But more have the financial flexibility to take a big pay cut and do something with lower stress and fewer hours for the back half of my career without having to worry about saving any more for reiterement.

Yep it's more about having FU money, I can quit one day if I want to and not worry about finances

hedge said:

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really go find other 24 year olds with my savings rate and investment returns and I'll eat crow

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Good, he will be miles ahead of his peers if he keeps it up

hedge said:

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Good, he will be miles ahead of his peers if he keeps it up

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Yes he will.

Both my sons (other is a junior at A&M) are good savers. Although you young guys may all end up paying for the massive spend that is going on now in the government.

Probably, I'm not counting social security to provide when I'm of age

I've followed MMM for the better part of a decade, and now in my mid-30's would be considered FI where dividends, rents on some SFRs, and equity gains far out-pace my spending. And In 2009 I was basically broke thanks to a cancer diagnosis at age 24.

My gf and I live at the base (down the road) of a well-known ski resort canyon. I work remotely and we enjoy skiing twilight in the winter and trail running through the mountains in the other seasons. We love our weekend trips to Moab (just got back), Fruita, Uintas, the Tetons etc.

Most people scoff at the idea, or claim its impossible without living in your parents basement, but we have a freakn blast. Averaging about a 70% savings rate on wages, but working is probably optional at this point. I just happen to enjoy my current work.

This presentation by MMM pretty much says it all

hedge said:

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65% savings rate right now

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way to go, this is about where I was at when I was your age. the earlier you start, the more you benefit from compound interest. you may be getting **** right now for living at home, but it'll pay off for the years of working it shaves off your career (if that's a priority for you of course).

Old McDonald said:

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wild they never took a trip, but i guess some people are just like that - perpetual penny pinchers. not us though, part of why we're not rushing to lean-FIRE is that we want some padding for stuff like vacations, lifestyle inflation, and healthcare costs. we love to travel and while this last year was great for our savings (no vacations and reduced eating out), we're itching to visit other countries again.

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Same here other than I am already retired. Can't wait to be able to travel overseas again, but I am afraid that may be further away than I'd like!

John Francis Donaghy said:

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Not sure I qualify officially but my plan is to save and invest heavily and aggresively enough to be able to walk away from the rat race by 50, if not before. Not sure I'd want to retire, per se. But more have the financial flexibility to take a big pay cut and do something with lower stress and fewer hours for the back half of my career without having to worry about saving any more for reiterement.

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yeah this is kind of our plan as well. wife wants to teach, i want to be a ski instructor or backcountry guide. the corporate life has been good to us but it's not exactly our dream life plan.

there's plenty of case studies of people who rush to retire in their 30s and then lose their sense of purpose, get bored with "retirement", and go back to work later on. retirement is a nice goal to have, but FIRE is more about figuring out what kind of life you want and saving to a point where you have the financial security to live it without worrying about money.

Did you include my rent ?

MMM was the person who first got us into it, he's a bit too hardcore on the minimalist lifestyle for my liking (think he retired at 30 with something like $700k to his name) but a lot of the principles he stands by are widely applicable

Here.

Paid off student loans aggressively back in 2019, purchased my leased car and paid it off in cash last year, and have pared down my spending to nearly the lowest it's ever been.

Savings rate is currently ~70% pre-tax, or ~85% of net income. Investing heavily in index funds and long-term stock investments.

Was able to double my NW since the start of the pandemic through a combination of lowered expenses and some lucky covid-related stock picks.

Additionally, I've started contributing extra cash to my 401k on top of max contributions through a "mega-backdoor Roth", which will allows me an even larger amount of tax-free gains for retirement. I only learned about this at the end of 2020, so this is a game-changer for me in the long-term.

Gotta say that moving out of New York down to Florida was one of the best things I ever did. Eliminated state tax, increased my salary, and brought cost of living down considerably.

hedge said:

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65% savings rate right now

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Dang, son. Married? Kids?

Single

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Here.

Paid off student loans aggressively back in 2019, purchased my leased car and paid it off in cash last year, and have pared down my spending to nearly the lowest it's ever been.

Savings rate is currently ~70% pre-tax, or ~85% of net income. Investing heavily in index funds and long-term stock investments.

Was able to double my NW since the start of the pandemic through a combination of lowered expenses and some lucky covid-related stock picks.

Gotta say that moving out of New York down to Florida was one of the best things I ever did. Eliminated state tax, increased my salary, and brought cost of living down considerably.

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yup, our NW is up 100% from this time last year, increased savings during shutdown and the market going nuts went a long way. feel a little guilty about it given how hard a time others have had, we were lucky to keep our jobs. we're at like 75% SR now even with two young kids, helps to have the in laws around to help with child care.

index investing is like a cheat code. it's so boring and unglamorous, but it's hard to be upset with the 10-15% gains we've seen over the last decade. very lucky to have started work when i did, the gravy train is sure to run out eventually.

That rate with 2 kids in incredibly impressive. Congrats and well done.

RockOn said:

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I've followed MMM for the better part of a decade, and now in my mid-30's would be considered FI where dividends, rents on some SFRs, and equity gains far out-pace my spending. And In 2009 I was basically broke thanks to a cancer diagnosis at age 24.

My gf and I live at the base (down the road) of a well-known ski resort canyon. I work remotely and we enjoy skiing twilight in the winter and trail running through the mountains in the other seasons. We love our weekend trips to Moab (just got back), Fruita, Uintas, the Tetons etc.

Most people scoff at the idea, or claim its impossible without living in your parents basement, but we have a freakn blast. Averaging about a 70% savings rate on wages, but working is probably optional at this point. I just happen to enjoy my current work.

This presentation by MMM pretty much says it all

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RockOn- do you live at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon?

Yes, I've been saving 60% of my income since I graduated. Started down the FI path before it was popular.

Took me less than 10 years to reach 25x living expenses, and a few short years later I'm nearly 60x.

Still working because why not? WFH has made work considerably more tolerable. I may try and reduce hours in the future and hope WFH can be full time after covid.

Wife and I have always planned for FIRE. The goals have changed through the years but having a plan and goals were huge.

In the last year, I have become unemployed while my SO has a small part time accounting gig. We bought a small camper and fished throughout the Rockies for 5 months this summer/ fall (chased out by snow!)

Because we have been focused on FIRE, we are prepared to move in a different direction. We are buying a small business in Durango, CO and moving around May (leaving Houston).

I plan on becoming a fly fishing guide, maybe work up to 75-100 trips a year. SO plans to run her business for a while then maybe step back and hire a manager.

I had a "10 year" plan before leaving A&M. We are currently 47/46 years old and ready to get back to bike rides, skiing, back country trips, big game hunting, fishing etc!

Just livin the dream.

LRHF said:

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Wife and I have always planned for FIRE. The goals have changed through the years but having a plan and goals were huge.

In the last year, I have become unemployed while my SO has a small part time accounting gig. We bought a small camper and fished throughout the Rockies for 5 months this summer/ fall (chased out by snow!)

Because we have been focused on FIRE, we are prepared to move in a different direction. We are buying a small business in Durango, CO and moving around May (leaving Houston).

I plan on becoming a fly fishing guide, maybe work up to 75-100 trips a year. SO plans to run her business for a while then maybe step back and hire a manager.

I had a "10 year" plan before leaving A&M. We are currently 47/46 years old and ready to get back to bike rides, skiing, back country trips, big game hunting, fishing etc!

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any pointers on pivoting to an outdoors career after corporate life? used to live in CO and think that's where we'll probably end up eventually, but i know next to nothing at this point about careers the outdoor industry (other than that I want one).

Old Mc-D

Good question. I think it's pretty important to prepare your finances while working for the man to give yourself a good shot. Next- you have to have skills/ knowledge/ desire and maybe contacts to help you make the move.

In my case, we've had a very active lifestyle for years and lived a few times in the Rockies during my professional career. Through the years we've had various ideas but my passions changed through time and now I see a clear pathway working as a fishing guide. I've spent the last 5 years really immersed in this world (despite living in Houston) and fished freshwater, saltwater and even traveled to 2 other continents to build my experience.

I can't emphasize enough saving as much as possible while you can! (I drove a 1993 4 cylinder Honda from 2001-2015 and only gave up on it after one of those pesky houston floods).

Last thing I can Add is take care of yourself. I've seen many friends and coworkers become very unhealthy and now a different path for them may not be possible.

i wouldnt say FIRE means living below your means -- as this would create a lower expectation for future annual spending

now, living below your means will help you achieve FIRE sooner

i hope to hit FI by 45-50 -- Fat (or obese) FIRE