Dude retired at 33.

N1AK

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I kind of side with your brother and friends.

But they are young - they want to live NOW, and who can blame them - no one knows what's around the corner, so sometimes you have to take the chances when they arise.

As is usual, neither extreme is usually the wisest option. Making an informed decision to live now and be damned with the consequences is one thing, deciding to live now and refusing to consider the future is a completely different matter. From my personal experience people who want to 'live NOW' have no idea what trade off they are making, and that CANNOT imo be a smart decision.

Reue

My understanding is that Americans have several advantages over us which allows them to reach extreme early retirement easier:


- Wages for uni degree type jobs seem to be higher on average
- Housing is cheaper
- Additional retirement type funds available (some allowing early access I believe)
- Huge country. Perhaps this is just perception but I expect it'd be far easier to move for a better job from Florida to California than it would be for us to move from the UK to Poland.. for example

Ryan_Futuristics

lalman wrote: »

Ryan I find that inaction is the most costly investment. Many of my friends see what I am doing... see it as a positive but don't take the necessary steps to do it themselves. I agree that assets go up and down, and QE has inflated asset prices but you could say that about nearly if not all assets across the board.


I can't keep worrying about assets being too expensive relatively and holding on to cash in fear of it losing some returns... that's why its called a risk I suppose.


Personally I am buy and hold investor that tries to pay off my property asap... to further reduce risk... so when the downturn eventually does hit I can hold on to it and weather the storm!

Well it pains me to hold too much cash (but then not as much as losing it ... sometimes inaction is the right course)

No one really knows where things stand with asset prices, because no one really knows how healthy the economy is ...

Basically bond yields and oil prices say: global depression, while equity valuations say: the party's just started ... Both can't be right

The good thing is, if you're diversified enough, any asset class taking a hit becomes an opportunity - you can just shift profits into it when you rebalance ... This tends to play out quite well over even medium-term

Personally, I think you have to be diversified in more than just traditional asset classes now ... I think it takes a very brave person to go into such unknown and artificial market environments with just index trackers and bonds

Gadfium

N1AK wrote: »

As is usual, neither extreme is usually the wisest option. .

I think that this is an important observation. No matter what walk of life you are in, or what interests that you have, there will always be examples of extremism. A lot of people go fell walking at the weekends, but only a handful will go climbing 8000 metre mountains. Lots of people play chess, but only a few become Grand Masters.

The Internet makes it far easier for the extremes to spread their message and for people to hero-worship those.

Reue

I should also add that there is a (much smaller) group of UK bloggers going along the same lines as these. I find the UK blogs to not be as cult-like or extreme as the US ones but still convey the same sort of messages of not just living cheaply.. but actually enjoying living cheaply.


Probably the best known one is by MSE's own Ermine: http://simple-living-in-suffolk.co.uk/

Radiantsoul

Reue wrote: »

My understanding is that Americans have several advantages over us which allows them to reach extreme early retirement easier:


- Wages for uni degree type jobs seem to be higher on average
- Housing is cheaper
- Additional retirement type funds available (some allowing early access I believe)
- Huge country. Perhaps this is just perception but I expect it'd be far easier to move for a better job from Florida to California than it would be for us to move from the UK to Poland.. for example

Lots of Poles moved to the UK! And plenty of people from the UK retire to places like Spain.

atush

This is a language issue for working people not retired people.

To work somewhere you have to pseak the local language. While english is taught in european schools, Polish is not taught in UK schools.

In the USA you can move to any of the 50 states and still speak the same general language.

But dont forget the high cost of medical care in the USA. There is now more insurance for people, but if the republicans get in i dont think that will stay around. And a medical crisis can bankrupt a family.

Goldiegirl

blizeH wrote: »

I've noticed a lot of hate for MMM and others like him, but he would tell you to do it 'your way' too. He'd possibly encourage you to question your spending habits a little, and the way you have your money invested, but he's not about huge sacrifices.

It could be something like not getting a new phone/tablet/computer every year, or buying a second hand car instead of getting a new one on finance (or even ditching a car all together and cycling instead, if you're a multi car household) or it could be simply buying less stuff.

I enjoy holidays and going away different places, day trips or weekend breaks and the like, and we haven't cut our spending even slightly in this area (if anything we're spending more) - but we've made some huge savings in other areas that if I'm honest it's barely impacted us at all.

It's all about doing what works for you, but also being mindful that there is more to life than mindless consumerism and the idea that by spending more money you'll magically be happier.

We've made a few changes in our lives - we've gone down to one car, we've ditched Sky TV and have saved a lot of money by changing our supermarket buying habits, plus lots of other small things


We've been happy to make a few compromises, so that we can continue to have the holidays that we want - in fact we are going on a two week cruise, leaving tomorrow.


I genuinely think that websites like MSE and the blogs are a good place to get ideas and to see if the ideas work in your own life.


But I think it can be taken too far, and some people seem to get to the point where nothing else matters but the dream of early retirement / financial independence, even to the detriment of their current life / relationships. e.g, being so focussed on the future, they don't notice that their wife is sick and tired of it, and just wants a bit of life now!


That's why I can't really buy into this whole Mustachian thing

Goldiegirl

115K wrote: »

I know a lot of people don't take much stock in Myers-Briggs but did you see they did a poll on MMM and a lot of the members class themselves as INTJ which I think (partially) explains a lot of the views expressed on the forum.

When I tried Myers-Briggs I was all about feelings, which is probably one of the reasons why I'm not into the financial blogs!

Goldiegirl

N1AK wrote: »

As is usual, neither extreme is usually the wisest option. Making an informed decision to live now and be damned with the consequences is one thing, deciding to live now and refusing to consider the future is a completely different matter. From my personal experience people who want to 'live NOW' have no idea what trade off they are making, and that CANNOT imo be a smart decision.

It's all about balance


C-Dogs friends are preparing for the future as they are paying into pensions - but they also want to have some life now.


In 40 years time they may regret that expensive holiday and car because they have to work a couple more years..... or they might be dead, in which case they enjoyed their holiday and car while they could.


No one knows what's round the corner, so I really think a certain amount of living for now is perfectly acceptable.