Is anyone “poor” and happy?

Good website called Mr. Money Moustache. About a guy with his wife were software engineers and never made more than $67,000/each and retired after 10 yrs. with a kid.

fine by me wrote:

Thinking about dropping out of college despite having a full ride because the education is not worth the time investment, and I can train for running by myself. Does anyone here have experience with living in a very modest home/apartment, being single, not having a ton of material items, and making a small amount of money due to not working many hours? I could see myself living off $35K or less, but I live in a small state and that is probably pocket change for people in cali, NY, etc.

You’re presumably still young and there’s really no reason you can’t experience both of these thing. PLEASE consider finishing college, having the full team/school experience and leaving with a degree. You’ll still have plenty of time to try the poor running life but you will have options for the rest of your life that you won’t have if you don’t just stick it out for a few more years. As someone only about fifteen years older than you I’ve learned that big decisions in life often have consequences way beyond what you can see at the time. Professional, social and even romantic opportunities can be a lot different if you a choose a different path. College can be rigorous and tough both socially and academically— it’s part of life. But beyond your childhood, high school and college you will rarely find times in life when pathways to success are so clearly laid out for you and when you’re surrounded my masses of people in similar life situations who are actively seeking social interaction and friendship. That’s not to say you can’t find these things elsewhere but these opportunities are truly not as prevalent in the professional world or as you age. Also, if being the best runner you can be is your goal in life you might find out in the end that the college years were pretty beneficial to that as well.

ck3237 wrote:

Good website called Mr. Money Moustache. About a guy with his wife were software engineers and never made more than $67,000/each and retired after 10 yrs. with a kid.

They hit close to 200k/year a couple years out from "retirement" (really financial independence), so not really but it's impressive nonetheless. I personally wouldn't want to retire to with 800k at 30 though, but clearly there are posters here who are happy with much less so good for them.

If you let money define your happiness then you will be unhappy, even if you do have a lot of money because you are likely filling a void for another issue(s) that you have. Another key component is not to compare yourself with others. If you let being broke and poor bother you, then you will be unhappy. I'd you accept things you can not or may not change as they are and enjoy being yourself and love yourself, you will find happiness.

fine by me wrote:

Also, does anyone agree with the opinion that the overwhelming majority of classes are unproductive, and not worth the time? It’s the degree that is arguably worth the time, not the actions taken to get it. At least that’s how I feel. Maybe it’s different for engineers and such but medicine/biology has so far in my three years consisted of stuff I can read in a book (and have) ad well as material from high school. Don’t even get me started on classes like speech, sociology, etc.

If that's true, then it is definitely different for engineers. The education is extremely valuable. I couldn't do what I do without my education, and most other people can't do what I do because of my education.

A full ride is a once in a lifetime opportunity and probably the best investment you could ever make, assuming that you study something worthwhile and get a valuable degree that does give you a good return on the investment. How anyone could voluntarily choose squander that opportunity is beyond me.

Do you plan to save for retirement some day, or do you plan to go to work at your $35k/year job until you die?

You should finish college. At least if you have a degree you can find jobs even if you don’t want to earn a lot of money. It might seem like a big time investment to complete your degree now but when you’re 50 and looking back you’ll regret it.

You’re not even paying for school. 99% of your classmates would take your full ride in a heartbeat. You really can’t imagine what it would be like to most of them to graduate with no debt and you’re throwing it away.

What you’re thinking of doing is peak of generation Z selfishness and privilege. I pity you.

I would like to reiterate to people that I never claimed $35K is poor and that the quotations exist for a reason. Also, “RunningManJumpSuit”

If Gen Z privilege is desiring a riskier, alternative, and more ambitious path then the one that was prescribed for me by society at birth, then sure, I am privileged. Take your pity somewhere else.

fine by me wrote:

I would like to reiterate to people that I never claimed $35K is poor and that the quotations exist for a reason. Also, “RunningManJumpSuit”

If Gen Z privilege is desiring a riskier, alternative, and more ambitious path then the one that was prescribed for me by society at birth, then sure, I am privileged. Take your pity somewhere else.

It could be argued that college is the more ambitious path. Again, once you finish you are still under no obligation to follow the "prescribed" path, it will just give you WAY more options as you progress through life. A couple things to think about- what if you sustain an injury running or otherwise and cannot run. Would your non-college life track be based mainly around the love of running? What if you have a spouse and kids one day and want/need to increase your standard of living? Or what if one of them needs additional health care or education for unforeseen reasons? A few years of hard work while you're young could really give you resources that make a huge difference later. Also, it's sad but true- people in general will just care less about you as you age. If you start talking about dropping out of college you'll likely get a lot of attention and people who want the best for you telling you how smart and talented you are and how much potential you have. All that matters in the long run is what you do with it. Opportunities don't stay open forever.

fine by me wrote:

I would like to reiterate to people that I never claimed $35K is poor and that the quotations exist for a reason. Also, “RunningManJumpSuit”

If Gen Z privilege is desiring a riskier, alternative, and more ambitious path then the one that was prescribed for me by society at birth, then sure, I am privileged. Take your pity somewhere else.

For reference and discussion's sake. I'm making no comment on income vs. happiness. We all know money doesn't buy happiness. There seem to be varying opinions on whether some amount of money ($25k? $50k? $100k?) just makes life easier.

$35k is the 27th percentile of income. Here's a table on male 5k times pulled from 34.6 million "race" results (they seem to have gotten their percentiles backwards, but I can only assume the math behind the table is right). I put "race results" in quotes because obviously most people are walking. I submit to the infinite wisdom that walking a 5k is like punching a clock. There's nothing wrong with either one, and it's the path that most people take.

$35k income = 40 min 5k. I'll bet most people doing a 40-min 5k are enjoying their Saturday morning with their family and getting a free T-shirt.

Percentile Male finish times

1st percentile 00:17:49

10th percentile 00:22:06

20th percentile 00:24:38

30th percentile 00:26:48

40th percentile 00:28:56

50th percentile 00:31:18

60th percentile 00:34:15

70th percentile 00:38:17

80th percentile 00:44:24

90th percentile 00:53:22

Thanks for the perspective. My bias against school seems to be getting the best or my judgement. I just have a hard time picturing going to boring classes and getting an arguably worthless job is more ambitious than running near my genetic potential on my own terms and then attempting to join the navy seals or some other elite military group.

You guys are right though. I can come back to that later if I want to. The doors won’t stay open if I exit now. I’ll take my chances in college. Thank you all for the perspective and discussion. It may not mean a lot to you all but it does to me, even if you think I am stupid or trolling.

I'm glad you're making the decision to stay.

FWIW, I've been in the Navy for 14 years. I've known lots of SEALs. Most of the ones I've known have degrees. I'm on the officer side, so that skews things a bit, but there are plenty of enlisted guys in the SEALs with degrees, too. Many of them chose that route because they wanted to stay close to the "operator stuff" throughout their careers. The officers do the cool stuff (what you're probably thinking of as cool stuff, anyway) for the first five years or so (maybe longer if they end up going to Team 6, but that's rare), then they move on to staff roles developing plans for the younger guys to execute.

One more thing I thought of. If you want to do SOF, definitely try for SEALs.

My little brother went Recon (one of the Marine SOF options), and I think he regretted it. They did all of the same training, somewhat similar missions in the field, but the Marines get paid like 30% less. Also, SEALs on deployment tend to sleep in nice hotels then go rough it for three days at a time (depending on the assignment). The Marine guys sleep in tents.

NeverAWMDRF2020 wrote:

never following a religion, never having kids and never getting married.

You made a choice at age 33, based on how you felt at age 33. I think it's bad practice to try and make lifelong commitments to do something, when the winds will shift. At 33, you wanted to be a millionaire. Was it worth it?

Macklemore seemed to have a great time thrift shopping.

WFH mileage wrote:

fine by me wrote:

Percentile Male finish times

1st percentile 00:17:49

10th percentile 00:22:06

20th percentile 00:24:38

30th percentile 00:26:48

40th percentile 00:28:56

50th percentile 00:31:18

60th percentile 00:34:15

70th percentile 00:38:17

80th percentile 00:44:24

90th percentile 00:53:22

8:15 per mile puts me at the 25th percentile ? I should be able to do that in a few months when I enter a 5K. My 60th Birthday is this week.

You made my day.

DanM wrote:

8:15 per mile puts me at the 25th percentile ? I should be able to do that in a few months when I enter a 5K. My 60th Birthday is this week.

You made my day.

A post on LRC made someone feel good? I need to work on my posting quality.

The challenge is that you just don't know what life will bring, both good and bad. You may be happy being single and stay healthy until you die of old age and a low income, modest, healthy lifestyle might be perfect. Or, you may meet someone, fall in love, start a family, develop an illness.... who knows? Ask any older person and they will give you a list of curveballs that life has thrown.

If you are already on track to get a college degree with a full ride, you would be foolish to close that door. After all you can start living your dream now and life a simple lifestyle, run, AND complete college. Having the option later to get a job with healthcare benefits if you choose that lifestyle is incredibly valuable.

At this point, I would stay true to your dreams, while not closing any major doors that you can never open again.

fine by me wrote:

If Gen Z privilege is desiring a riskier, alternative, and more ambitious path then the one that was prescribed for me by society at birth, then sure, I am privileged. Take your pity somewhere else.

Your plan includes "bumming off your parents for a couple years" to pursue your hobby. That is, by definition, privileged. Many of us never had that as an option.

There is absolutely nothing ambitious about depending on your parents.

Greg wrote:

Yes, I live below the poverty line in Canada and am reasonably happy.

Have my own place. Nice apartment. Decent area of town.

Relative to many people in the world, I live a first class lifestyle.

Changing my answer.

I am not terribly happy. I am not UNHAPPY yet I am not completely HAPPY either.

I said reasonably happy because that's the politically correct thing to say.

Society wants us to be happy, act happy, do happy things, give off a happy vibe.

I'm not UNHAPPY right now per say but I'm not compeletyely HAPPY either.

Maybe 50% happy.