If you had the money to retire at 30, your savings would be invested and on an average year your earnings would cover your expenses. You would have health insurance, so no worries there. The only catch is that you would have to keep your expenses at 65% of what you spend right now. Would you take it, or would you rather work a few more years for a better lifestyle and financial security?
65 percent of jack shit is not enough to live on my guy.
Good point, but also my question is pointless if you are already living frugally, because that would basically be “would you like more time and money?”
Yes I would like more time and money thank you
Can I get like 3 time and 1 money and… uhhh… a chocolate shake.
If I could retire right now at 38, and kept my expenses at 100% of what they are right now, I’d still be choosing which bill can wait a week and a half past the due date to make sure we can all eat.
65% and we start drawing straws for who gets eaten this week.
I think this question varies greatly depending on your current salary, if you have dependents, and what your cost of living looks like.
If you had the money to retire at 30
Not possible, since I am well above 30 :)
Instead of hypotheticals, am Auatralian. I (m) retired at 35 and divorced/moved at 45 and lived frugally in a mud brick cabin, off grid (solar and septic) on a dirt road in the bush, for a decade with my new (f) partner, she worked part time 2 days a week, grew lots of our own food, rode our MTBs on fire roads and trails, hiked, kayaked, swam in the river (we could cycle to) on hot days etc etc. Never thought we were missing anything, quite the opposite.
My small untouched share investments compounded hugely. As well as that, I only took 1/2 the dividends to live on, the outer half were reinvested as well,
A series of unfortunate events (aka mega bushfire) saw us buy an apartment in the city near the beach to get our heads stright just before covid lockdown, lived car free there etc , sold that 2 years ago and made a ridiculous profit, bought a place in a small rural village in the back of bumfuck for way less. No flood risk, no bushfire risk and it gets decent rainfall.
Now I have more money then I know what to do with…by that I don’t mean I am a billionaire, I mean living frugally becomes a habit so my shares and income have grown and grown. I now donate 25% of my investmwnt income to charities, 25% is reinvested.and I.use the other 1/2 to live on.
My parter works 4 days a week for 6 months of the year, then has 6 months off completely. She wants her.own independent income etc
My only regret was not being brave enough about retiring earlier. I missed those years of freedom and wing get them.back. Am now 60.
Damn, sounds like a dream
A dream with spiders.
No major health issues?
Healthcare is free, so doesn’t matter.
Free-ish, but also you can’t live off grid in the bush with major health issues.
No flood risk, no bushfire risk and it gets decent rainfall.
As a fellow Australian - where the heck did you find this unicorn of a location?! I’ve been house-hunting (well, land-hunting, really) for over a year, and everything seems to come saddled with a bushfire overlay, flood overlay, or both. I’ve pretty much resigned myself to being stuck in a bushfire zone.
(Note: not asking for you to dox yourself with the actual location, though I am deeply curious.)
I don’t think most people could live on 65% of their current income. Many people are poor and can’t handle a surprise $500 expense.
I could live happily on the median income of my area (NYC) - $113,400. Even if I got a more expensive apartment, I could make that work.
I do wonder about people’s budgets sometimes. One of my friends has crushing medical, student, and credit card debt so they’re always struggling. But another friend was like “I can’t leave my job at [evil megacorp]! I need the money!” But when pressed slightly, their “needs” included broadway plays, fine dining, and every hot new game on steam (that they don’t even play). Most people are probably between those two extremes.
I, personally, also prioritize living life.
What’s the point of life if im going to eat rice and beans and never enjoy it. I’d simply resign.
My ‘needs’ include what makes me want to continue living, regardless of what it looks like from your perspective
My ‘needs’ include what makes me want to continue living, regardless of what it looks like from your perspective
My parents would fight about this sometimes. They would blur “need” and “want” together, and that caused difficulties. It’s imprecise and, in my opinion, immature, to conflate the two categories. If you’re looking at a budget and you smush everything into “needs”, how are you going to know what to cut? The electric bill by any reasonable metric is more important than another lego death star, assuming you plan to continue living in society.
Furthermore, “I can’t quit my job at [evil megacorp], because then I might not be able to do luxury dining experiences as often” is laughable. Like, sure, there’s no way to live pure in our capitalist hellscape. We all have bills to pay. But highlighting “I like broadway” as the justification for “I help build AI used by ICE to deport people”? Come on. I’d respect it more if they just said out right that they don’t give a shit about other people. At least that’d be honest.
Given the rate of inflation, and shrinkflation, I don’t think it’s economically feasible for many people to survive on 65% of their income. At least, I couldn’t. Especially not with two young boys who need clothing, a metric ton of food (and growing!), plus sports, etc. nope. I’m stuck n indentured servitude for the rest of my life.
Yeah this is why I don’t have kids lol
It’s a trade off. It’s not easy either. Even when I was married and had a partner that could tag in and help me out. It’s much harder now that I’m single and I no longer have backup. It’s not like there’s an instruction manual either; each kid/situation is distinct and different.
But you know what, there are moments (more often than not) when they do or say something amazing, and it feels like the world is not such a bad place after all; because of them.
It’s not perfect. We sometimes get mad at each other. But that’s any relationship; it’s love. And I wouldn’t trade it for any amount of money in the world.
Yeah this is why I don’t have kids lol
But you should have kids for this reason. At least 5 or 6. Then hope that they care for you (or at least some of them) when you are old.
The only catch is that you would have to keep your expenses at 65% of what you spend right now.
Permanently? or like, adjusted for inflation? do I get rent control?
Because 65% of what I make now will be worth a lot less in 10 years.
You never know what the future holds. Much better to work now while you are in a good position to do so, than to be forced to work later on, when you have been out of the workforce for years.
Yes.
Source: I did this.
How?
If I was able to retire early at any age, I’d probably do some odd jobs or perhaps I’d volunteer for stuff. I need something to do.
I’d find a comfy job that’s easy to do even if it doesn’t pay the best.
If I could retire now I would. But living in the US is expensive and gets more expensive every year. From real estate taxes or rent, from insurance, from cost of food, from basic utilities like electric, heat, gas… Neverind if you want a hobby, or a vacation, or Any leisure activities…
Every time I leave my house it costs me $100 no matter what I am doing.
There’s no way I would have enough money to retire comfortably.
You don’t need to buy new shoes every time you go for a walk, you know?
No. I’m already living frugally. Cutting my spending by further 45% would make my life unsustainable.
I’d work a bit more. Seeing my parents struggle with money made me never want to do that. So I’ll do what I can early on to reduce the chances of that ever happening.
