NYT Article: How to Retire in Your 30s With $1 Million in the Bank

You misunderstand the FIRE premise for the majority of followers. It's not a means to get out of a crappy job, it's about focusing on what your values are and what truly makes you happy rather than pursuing unnecessary money, assets, and ultimately things .

At any rate, I pity the pissant that judges a man based on what he deems is enough money to retire on. For that poor sap, all I can say is: get a life.

The key to FI is passive income thru real estate investing. I'm 30 now, I work less than 5 hrs per week on maintaining my rental portfolio. I have 10 income producing properties with over 30 units.

I spend my time doing whatever I want. I have a growing income and $4 million in appreciating real estate so I'm not pinching pennies.

When I want to work to grow my portfolio I do. That is what FI is all about, work because you want to not because you have to.

If anyone is considering retiring early I recommend buying 3 or 4 rental properties to get some nice passive income. I cant imagine that obsessing over your IRA and the stock market every day is very relaxing.

Rentals are fine if you don't mind the hassle. Too much like work for me. I do have one condo that gives me some income, and it's paid for, but I don't want any more. I'll stick to the stock market, REITs, ETFs, bonds etc for my passive income.

I have about 4 mil saved not including the equity in my paid for house. I could retire now if I wanted but for now I'm happy to keep throwing money on the pile and having my health insurance paid for. My job's still interesting and I'm at peak earning. I'll go in another 3 years when I turn 60.

nofreakingway wrote:

I didn't even bother reading any posts past the first, so this has probably been much repeated: but there is no way to live comfortably on $1 million and retire at, say, age 35. Unless your definition of "comfortable" doesn't require much...

I'm curious what people spend their money on. If you retire at 35 on $1mil, you can conservatively pull $35k from your investments per year. Or about $3k per month.

Assuming your house is paid off too, what do you spend $3k on per month?

Here's some back of the envelope numbers of monthly spending for a household of 2:

Health insurance (subsidized for household making $35k per year): $200

Property taxes and homeowners insurance: $400

Utilities (including TV, internet, and cell): $400

Groceries: $500

Car and insurance: $200

So, you have mandatory expenses of about $1700 per month and $1300 a month to blow. Presumably, you put some of that into savings for years where you aren't healthy, but that's still a lot of excess money to find "comfort."

And let's not forget that a lot of these people get part-time jobs or hobbies that generate additional income from time to time.

As per the topic of this thread, see this:

https://firecalc.com/

I am 35 and retired with $1mill cash+asset. Moved to cheaper country where bank interest rate is high and living cost is low. Growing my cash portion by 10% only putting in low risk investment and drawing only 4% for living. In 20 years that $1 mill will grow by itself to close to $2.5 mill since principal will never be drawn and half of interest went into saving

Which country?

Why would I retired when I bring in $40-70K a month?

So much bs on this thread, but 10% on low-risk investments is pure garbage.

Tell me what it is, and I will assess the risk.

Put up, or shut up.

Early retirement sounds amazing, but it can take a toll on your mental health

October 4, 2019

Jordan, a physician from Illinois, earned a fat paycheck, was frugal and had real-estate investments — a perfect candidate for early retirement, some might say.

When he learned about the FIRE movement, short for “Financial Independence, Retire Early,” Jordan knew his savings were enough to quit a practice that was slowly burning him out. But the idea of being financially independent made him anxious. Jordan felt he would not only be leaving a job, but the identity of a doctor that he worked so hard to build.

“I knew I was getting tired of it, but it was never a reality to stop being a physician and start being something else,” said Jordan, who prefers to be called by his alias Doc G and blogs at DiverseFi. Because he never envisioned a world where he wasn’t a physician, the option of quitting work made him “scared, worried and anxious.”

Having enough money in the bank and the potential to never work an office job again excites many people on the journey to FIRE, but they often overlook the possible downsides.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/planning-to-pursue-early-retirement-consider-your-mental-health-while-you-count-the-cash-2019-08-09?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo

Anxiety, one of the lesser-known aspects of FIRE, plays a prominent role in this movement. So, while retiring early with hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) saved sounds great, it’s common for anxiety to creep in when you don’t have too many people retiring around you, said Brad Klontz, author of “Mind Over Money” and co-founder of the Financial Psychology Institute. “In some ways, retiring at a standard age is easier.”

Retirement at any age can shake a person up emotionally. Depression and binge drinking is common, as is loneliness and deteriorating health. Getting psychologically ready to shed the identity you have built over the years can be unnerving.

With FIRE, you take that emotional vulnerability and turn it up a notch. Going against the classic tide of life can add in a lot more worry: concerns about running out of money, doubts of making the right choices and fears of no longer being useful to the world. Not to mention the “I-told-you-so’s” from unsupportive friends and family members if your plan fails.