- The Most Epic Babymoon - September 18, 2023
- Let’s Go Exploring! Hobbiton and Auckland, New Zealand: Fangirling over the Lord of the Rings - September 4, 2023
- Are Millennials the New Boomers? - August 28, 2023
Well, so much for a quiet week.
After our initial CBC article and video spot went up, we have been inundated. With emails and comments both here and on CBC where people are expressing surprise, jealously and frustration at our situation, commonly referred to as “haters.”
Well, the peanut gallery on CBC continues:
CBC: Ditching ‘cult’ of home ownership unrealistic for most, finance expert says
CBC: Wealthy 30-somethings doling out financial advice breed online hate
A follow-up article ABOUT the haters, which in turn generates MORE haters in the comments, which will create another follow-up about THOSE haters, which will…
Hmmm I think I see a problem here. Let’s see, that’s one…two…INFINITY haters! We’ve created an infinite hater generator! Awesome! Now if only we could find a way to plug a light bulb into that, we’d have no need for fossil fuels anymore.
Well, this is to be somewhat expected. Most people have built their entire financial lives around the underlying belief that “you have to buy a house or you’re a loser,” and what we’ve effectively done is reveal that “no, no you don’t.” And when confronted with evidence that a belief they’ve held to be true for so long turns out to be false, it’s far easier to simply attack the messenger than entertain the notion that everyone’s made a giant collective mistake.
But that’s OK. If we wanted to sit back and just sip margaritas on some beach, we would have kept our mouths shut and just sailed off into the sunset.
But then how selfish would that have been? To realize that life could be so easy, stress-free and awesome, while discovering a reproducible method of getting there that didn’t rely on starting the next Facebook or hitting a home run in the stock market, and then to just keep that secret to ourselves? That would have been the height of selfishness.
So that’s why we’re doing this. We’re doing this because this knowledge is too valuable to hoard for ourselves. We’re doing this because so much stress is just accepted as “that’s just how life is” when in reality it’s self-inflicted. We’re doing this because we want to bring along as many people with us as we can. And if we have to endure a couple rocks thrown our way, we will because Millennials need someone to stand up for them.
And you know what? For every hater we get screaming at us, we got emails like these that makes it all worthwhile.
1) I just wanted to comment on your achievements. Keep up what you are doing because it will start a revolution amongst younger generations… I do not subscribe to the idea that you need to work so damn hard all your life just to pay off that house and car. We live in a “sick” society that thinks this is what we are meant to do. It’s no wonder people are so unhappy in life. So I just want you say you two are fucking awesome!!! Enjoy your travels. Would love to meet you both one day and learn a thing or two.
2) I absolutely loved reading your blog and I actually was cracking up with your ability to “say it like it is”… You hit on so many truths and it was one of the best reads I have had in a long time, you got talent girl.
3) My girlfriend and I have been binge-reading your blog for the past 48 hours. I had to put off the last episode of Stranger Things because of you. Thanks. We really loved your financial insights (but more so your quirky remarks) on how to become financially independent.
Now where’s my margarita…
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“And when confronted with evidence that a belief they’ve held to be true for so long turns out to be false, it’s far easier to simply attack the messenger than entertain the notion that everyone’s made a giant collective mistake.”
You’ve hit the nail right on the head. You get the same hateful barking from the majority of the population if you mention the words “climate” and “change” in the same sentence.
Just remember that for every moron trying to self-validate their life mistakes by attacking you, there’s another moron (like me!) soaking in your wisdom. So thanks!
Thanks! All the positive readers (like you) makes this all worth while. The haters just make us laugh.
Great job you guys! Thanks for starting a much-needed revolution for millennials, especially one that is Canada-focused.
There’s one more benefit for couples to invest in a portfolio together instead of buying a house, and that is that houses can put major pressure on relationships. Think about it, if a couple breaks up (and the divorce rate is 50% so many do, unfortunately), then they can simply divide their investment portfolio down the middle and be on their merry way. However if they own a million dollar house together, they need to work together to stage it, sell it, deal with the paperwork, all the while finding a new place to live and dealing with the stress of a break-up. I’ve seen countless unhappy couples in Toronto stay together because they bought into the housing market and they know it’s easier to stay together than to sell the place. I even knew one ex-coworker who bought the house off her spouse when they broke up, creating extra debt and worry on her side.
My husband and I (now 33) are working on building our investment portfolio together, and we look forward to renting in different condos around the city over the years. This will allow us to try out new neighbourhoods, and even move closer to work if we change jobs. We are so glad we didn’t buy into the housing market in our late 20’s, like so many of our friends did!
“houses can put major pressure on relationships”
So true, and I can’t believe I didn’t think of this until now. I also know of a couple who divorced and the poor guy had to take out a mortgage on his paid off house. Had it been a portfolio, they could’ve split it down the middle, but he was too attached to home ownership. So instead of being able to retire, he now has a new mortgage he has to pay off. It sucks.
Kudos for having a clear head and not buying into the housing cult like your friends! Freedom is priceless!
Worse still, houses can be the catalyst for relationship failure. I recall reading at one point that many (most?) relationships actually fail due to financial stress, which a house can add a lot of.
“And when confronted with evidence that a belief they’ve held to be true for so long turns out to be false, it’s far easier to simply attack the messenger than entertain the notion that everyone’s made a giant collective mistake.”
I’m not sure that I agree with this statement. I think being rigidly against real estate is no better than being rigidly for it. Is your intended message to be that real estate is terrible and nobody should touch it, because it often feels that way, but I’m not sure why.
I mean…you guys are outsourcing your investment management. There are several people in this space who would say “That’s a horrific decision, why are they needlessly throwing money away every year?”
Personal finance is personal first. There’s nothing WRONG with pursuing personal ownership of real estate. It’s certainly not some grand collective mistake at the societal level. Though it definitely could be a mistake on an individual level if it doesn’t allow you to the lifestyle that you want. I’m not sure that I would have the wealth I have today if I didn’t pursue real estate when I did (and at a time when I knew absolutely nothing about investments). I eventually sold, because like you, I don’t think it fits my lifestyle. I like being able to move around. I consider myself incredibly lucky that it has all worked out, but I’m not going to tell others that they shouldn’t pursue home ownership if that’s what the type of lifestyle they want to have.
We’re not rigidly against real estate, we’re rigidly…heh heh. Rigidly. ANYWAY, we’re rigidly against debt, and the belief that “you HAVE to buy a house or you’re a loser” is the primary reason that people go way in over their heads and signing jumbo mortgages that they’ll never be able to pay off.
As you said, there’s nothing WRONG with pursuing personal ownership of real estate. There’s something wrong with pursuing personal ownership of real estate at any price, damn the consequences because I MUST own real estate or I have no value as a human being.
I’m…not sure what we’re arguing about. We appear to be in agreement more than we’re disagreeing.
Heh heh. Rigid…
Get it girl!
I think you have beat the system. Congratulations!
Anytime you upset the “norm”, haters are gonna hate. I appreciate the information and the strategies presented towards financial independence. There’s a million ways to win a baseball game, and everyone wants to win. Some hit home run after home run, some play small ball and squeak the runs in. For those of us who were losing our baseball game before we found this blog, thank you and keep it up.
Here’s an argument against the ‘I can’t live on a $40,000 salary, that’s poverty!’
If your $40,000 are Canadian dividends, that isn’t taxed the same as a salary. Tax credits and gross-ups result in your taxes being 0, or close to 0. (See article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/strategy-lab/dividend-investing/you-do-the-math-almost-50000-in-earned-dividends-0-in-tax/article4599950/) You would need to be paid about $55,000 in a salary to get the same as dividends (http://neuvoo.ca/tax-calculator/Ontario-40000?salary=55000®ion=Ontario).
Yes, and what if they came out of a TFSA (oh I love these things) Tax free baby.
There are only 3 real tax free saving’s vehicles, do you know what they are ?
1. TFSA
2. Sale Principal Residence
3. Life Insurance Policy (yes its true, you pay no tax when you die… how nice)
This is very helpful! I currently save a ton off my paycheck, so at the end of the day, if you remove the monthly savings, I basically live off of 40k/year after tax, and I live a pretty comfortable life in Toronto. Once I’ve built my million dollar empire and no longer need to save every month, I know either a fun job with a 55k/year salary or a 40k dividend payout from my investments will allow me to live the same comfortable life in Toronto that I’m currently enjoying (renting in a nice condo, groceries, gym membership, two vacations a year).
If I decide not to live off my dividends, I might choose Financial Independence’s ‘little sister’, which is ‘never having to save again because you are set for retirement’, but you still work and do fun things for your day-to-day expenses, like freelance or teach English abroad.
So, basically, save early and often, kick-start your retirement savings, and you’ll have more options in the future.
I love what you both have done and are doing. I’m a Boomer that diligently saved anywhere from 15-30% of each pay check from age 23 to age 50. Most of it was invested in stocks bonds some cash and yes real estate. Its compounded quite well during this time! I own a house, in fact two, however made sure I could always afford the payment insurance taxes repairs and maintenance. I would not have bought in areas with really high price to rent ratios (see Vancouver Toronto SF). And what I have now is the choice to work or not to work! It would be easy and simply for me to sell my two homes, rent a nice condo and travel alot…and this choice is All Mine! Keep doing what your doing…it is awesome and empowering…
“I would not have bought in areas with really high price to rent ratios (see Vancouver Toronto SF).”
Thank you for being level headed! I’m glad someone agrees on the insane PR ratios in Van and TO. FOMO is so strong in those places, most people don’t bother running the numbers.
I’ll keep my reply short and sweet.
1. You created a goal and worked towards it. Well done.
2. You worked towards your goal with dedication and discipline. Another well done.
3. You kept working until you realized your goal. Another well done.
4. You are taking some time and opportunities to celebrate your goal. Good for you.
As long as you are not hurting anyone in the progress of your goals, realizing your goals regardless of how hard or how simplistic they seem to others, is worthy of recognition and respect.
The same process applies to anyone and anything.
So, well done.
Mark
Well said and thanks!
Hey guys,
First, I’m a huge fan and so grateful that you guys are sharing what you’ve learned.
My household income is 35k per year.
I would LOVE to see a post or series on what people in my situation should do. I can save a few hundred every month but what is the best way to invest it? If I could afford Garth I would hire him but since I can’t, any ideas?
Thanks so much!
Checkout http://www.greaterfool.ca
The advice Firecracker and Wanderer have used, is valid for everybody. Make your money from stable dividend paying investments, balance every so often to about 60/40. Dont’ panic in down turns. Have you bank deducted 10% of your income, no matter what. Learn to live on the rest.
Live Well Within Your Means….
You can use a Financial Advisor or go it alone. Invest in yourself. Your household income is low, but are there are ways to increase it? Do you love your job? Is there a job that you can train for 6 months to do? Sometimes, all you need is to invest in a little training for a lot of payoff.
Are you organized? Could you run your own business?
And if you don’t want to do any of that, well you can still Couch Potato Invest. Read this thread: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/couch-potato-investing-last-9-years-tracking-my-progress-1489988/
More than anything else, be patient, live within your means, and enjoy your life.
Woohoo! Smart reader to the rescue! Couldn’t have said it better myself.
With the magic of compounding and a ROI of 6%, if you can put away $500/month, in 30 years, you’ll have half a million dollars.
Now, if you want to retire earlier by bringing up your salary, I’ve written a post about how to make more money here: https://www.millennial-revolution.com/build/10-no-bullshit-ways-to-make-more-money/
I love the FIRE alternative that you’re presenting to the world. Naturally, anytime you do something unconventional many people will simply reject it immediately. Do not be deterred because your message will reach many people searching for a more fulfilling life. The FIREvolution is real!
Best of luck,
Ed
Thanks, Ed! Being a contrarian is not easy but readers like you make it all worth while!
I know you can’t “recommend” specific ETFs for individuals to invest in, but could you simply “list” a bunch of ETFs (i.e. pref shares, corp bonds, international equities, etc.)?
Just say, “Here is a list of ETFs.” and list them. 🙂
You’re blog is great – a pleasure to read.
Thanks!
Read this thread for starters. Lots of people will give you advice there too.
So we’re doing the whole *nudge nudge wink wink* thing huh?
Go look up iShares ETFs that tracks the TSX Composite Index, the S&P500, and the MSCI EAFE (Europe Australasia Far East) Index.
Now please go do your homework and stop trying to get us landed in front of an OSC tribunal. 😉
Ever since Gail Vaz-Oxlade went off the blogosphere a few months back, I’ve been missing my weekly/daily dose of common sense financial advice. She had a similar message which reached a certain number of ears (and didn’t reach others). I think you’re reaching different ears. People who are open to hearing the message, they’ll hear it. BTW, have you heard of Andrew Hallam, from Victoria BC? He wrote the Millionaire Teacher a few years back. A most excellent book with a similar message.
Ahh good old Gail…so good at screaming at idiots. She’s the best.
And yes, I have heard of Andrew. Loved his book.
Haters gonna hate because they’re pissed that they didn’t think of this shit first. 🙂
Just know that deep down inside all of those haters is an insecure voice subconsciously questioning themselves, asking “wow, maybe they are right and I DID fuck up my life trajectory”.
Ha ha. They did fuck up and they should be mad.
I’d like to add we’re jumping into the same plan out of necessity. We’re in our middle age, and luckily paid down a significant personal debt via selling out of our house in the GTA and moving to rent. Too many people said the same – it’s silly; it’s irresponsible; you lose equity; etc. Interestingly I find everyone in our family circles who says this is also quietly struggling with debt, some are counting on a home sale to fund future liquidity – IE if they don’t sell at a profit vs their debts they will starve. The insanity must stop. Sadly it will come at a severe price for some.
Home ownership is more than just equity. Home warranties are largely ignored. We had a friend who was able to purchase a house with a stop work order order on it…it was never legally fit for habitation yet 180-20 of these units were put up for sale and the banks gladly issued mortgages. The new homeowners kept a mafia-like code of silence around the home issues for fear of not being to cash back out later on. Tarion refused to fix issues that were brought up asking the homeowners to contact the bankrupt homebuilder. Municipalities are caught in the middle as addressing the problem also jeopardizes the equity of neighboring homes when bad streets are addressed…it’s a reputational issue not dissimilar from the grow-ops. IE, if a home was found to be a grow-op, or even near one, home value was affected.
All of these issue come about due to private homes becoming lenders or last resort. It’s out of balance.
I hope you take all complaints with a grain of salt. Keep your message earnest and focused on solutions…I think you make great spokespeople. Why shouldn’t we enjoy our lives, not spend it slaving away only to go backwards.
Good Luck!
“selling out of our house in the GTA and moving to rent”.
Holy shit! I found a unicorn! *Takes out comb. Starts softly brushing* “There there. No glue factory for you.”
LOL
It certainly helps hearing that, after several years of being called jackasses 😀
Good luck and keep updating. We need a freedom from debt bootcamp.
Signed – “one more Line of Credit gone and paid by Nov 2016 – June 2017 we’ll be cash only and saving aggressively”
Good job paying off that debt! Keep it up!
Its simple: it would all be different if the house was the same income to price ratio that the boomers had. Back then you could buy a house and pay it off with a 1 year’s income (so mortgage for 2 years and you’re done).
If houses were $100 to $150K it would totally make sense to put that money down as a 10-20% (max 30%) of your networth and invest the other 70% until you fully pay off the realestate.
But houses are at least 10 times more expensive and that changes everything.
(For the sake of argument, imagine that instead of 4-6% you had only a 0.4-0.6% return from your globally diversified index based portfolio. Would you still invest in it? Ofcourse not.)
Exactly. Times have changed, people haven’t. They need a wake up call.
Thank you for sharing your story, it is very eye opening. I came to this blog from the Cbc article and also binge read for hours.
You’re welcome and glad you enjoyed it!
On the adoption of new ideas, by geneticist J.B.S. Haldane (1964):
“New ideas have four stages of acceptance:
i) this is worthless nonsense;
ii) this is an interesting, but perverse, point of view;
iii) this is true, but quite unimportant;
iv) I always said so.”
In the CBC comments, it looks like we’re stuck in an infinite loop at stage 1. That’s okay. More freedom for us, more debt and corporate prisons for those idiots!
Been following your story and it’s really inspiring. Hoping I can get in your position soon.
The thing that sucks for us is starting out our careers late and in the student loan hole.
I got my first job at 27 and then had to take 2 years to get out of the student loan hole. Fiance won’t even get her first paycheck until she’s 32 years old (after 8 years of post college education). By then you already had a million in the bank! Any words of encouragement for those of us starting out our careers late?
Is 45 or so too late to retire? Haha.
“Is 45 or so too late to retire?”
No way! 65 is the normal retirement age, so you would be 20 years ahead! And not only that, you can do what I call a “partial retirement” with a smaller portfolio or a global arbitrage portfolio (more about this in a future post). Then you can get there in 10 years or less!
I highly doubt this type of lifestyle will catch on with most young people. Just take a look around. Most people are working most of their time just to impress others. I see luxury cars people don’t need, tattoos all over broke people, giant homes with granite counters and hot tubs and pools, boats, ATV’s etc. Most people live for the moment, never imagining they will get old. Even the old people are driving sports cars around trying to impress others and look young again. I have friends who tell me about their cars and boats and huge home and say ‘I’m doing pretty well for myself aren’t I’. As if that is the gauge of success. I know people who have had 4 cars insured at once or bought 8 cars in 8 years. Meanwhile ask them about stocks and they say ‘That’s risky, that is like gambling isn’t it?’
To me I would much rather be able to look at my investments and feel secure knowing that if I don’t feel like working, I don’t have to. If I want to travel I can. If I want a year off, no problem. If I want to work a few months a year, I can do that. There is nothing like having that feeling at a job that if you are not happy you can leave whenever you want. ‘F$%# this job!’ money. No boat, car or tattoos are worth trading that feeling for. People also look at you like you are a genius because they are so far from your reality they can’t even imagine it and look up to you. That’s a good feeling too. Takes a very different personality type to get rich off of a normal job.
I love those people. They will continue to work, paying off their massive mortgages, and buy expensive shit. And meanwhile, I own shares of those companies in the index, so the harder they work, the more I get paid.
And I think it’s hilarious that people think I’m a genius! HA! I can barely figure out how to put on pants in the morning. That’s why we chose index investing. So we don’t have to be geniuses to do it.
Only a genius would say something like that.
“But then how selfish would that have been? To realize that life could be so easy, stress-free and awesome, while discovering a reproducible method of getting there that didn’t rely on starting the next Facebook or hitting a home run in the stock market, and then to just keep that secret to ourselves? That would have been the height of selfishness.”
very altruistic of you!
Thanks! (assuming you didn’t mean that sarcastically)
Good on both of you for being thick skinned and weathering all the criticism in the name of sharing your very important message. Bravo!
I found the article featuring Kelley Keehn particularly repellent. In my opinion, she really trivialised the fact that you both worked very hard to get your initial $500,000, and that “doubling [your] money” took hard work and some very aggressive saving. The article partly gives the impression that you both basically fell ass-backward into wealth and live on far less cash than “most people” would be able to. It’s unhelpful, and snide.
I do partially agree with the statement that it would be difficult for a couple with children to live on that amount of money. However, with your lifestyle habits, your portfolio will continue to grow and will soon be able to support children as well if you so choose, so you’re on a very sustainable course. Certainly more sustainable than a lifestyle anchored on conventional employment and its companion uncertainties.
Keep it up!
I love how people hide behind their kids as an excuse for not trying. Kids are NOT that expensive. I know another early retiree who’s raising 3 kids on 40K/year. Totally doable. Kids don’t need fancy things. They just need you to love them and spend time with them.
Also, people tend to forget the #1 thing driving up the cost of kids is childcare (people pay as much as $1200-$1800/month per kid!). Once you’re retired, that goes away.
I too saw a lot of criticism about how it’s impossible to retire when you have kids. Maybe you should write an article how kids would affect your finances? I’m don’t think frugal early retirees will be troubled in the slightest by the expenses on kids.
Far as I know your income would be optimized so that you get the max child subsidy- $8000 I think. And since you are retired a kid will be like $150 a month groceries and some clothes (you are retired- childcare does not apply, neither does housing) So we get $2400 a year cost- let’s make it $3000. That’s still $5000 extra income coming from the government. And it’s not that you even have to save for their education- Ontario OSG is basically free tuition for “low income” early retirees.
I’m sure it could be a popular post if you can do an in depth analysis of this.
If it’s the way I think it is – early retirees in Canada should have as many kids as they can since economies of scale kick in:)) I don’t think the system is ready for early retirees since it allows us to escape tax and qualify for pretty much every benefit that was designed for low income people.
And it’s not that we have to pay for health care or insurance for either kids or ourselves. This year our health premiums are almost non existent despite over $100,000 income. Even more so in retirement. Compared to the US people who are in a bit of a tough place.
My wife and I are on the same path as both of you, only we didn’t start until about 3 years ago and our savings rate is a bit lower. Bravo to both of you for getting this done so early in life. Unfortunately envy is something that anyone who follows this path will likely have to deal with. You’re being bombarded with a thermonuclear explosion of envy right now but you’re handling it like champs. We follow a stealth wealth approach meaning that we keep our FIRE plans under the radar and don’t reveal much about our financial plans to others. I figure there’s 100 or more of us stealth FIRE people for every Kristy/Bryce. I hope you inspired a lot of people and planted some FIRE seeds. Hopefully in 5-10 years we’ll see a bunch of early retirees who will cite both of you as influences.
Yeah, I’d imagine there are many FIRE people out there who value their privacy and are staying quiet. I struggled with this for a long time too, but after listening to so many friends (renters) get blasted by owners for “being losers and missing out on the market”, I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m NOT exactly a “shut up and take it” kind of person (if you haven’t noticed), so I HAD to get this message out there. If it can help them, it’s worth losing my privacy.
I am torn between keeping quiet and raising awareness as well, so far I’ve been quiet but I do feel it behooves me to at least try to explain my position. Any realistic rent vs. buy analysis will clearly show that renting is superior to buying under almost all conditions in the GTA right now. You’re achievement proves the math in an extreme way but it all really boils down to simple math. It’s almost embarrassingly obvious but I guess the “houses are always the best investment, and you can live in it!” crowd isn’t easily swayed by reason.
Well put. I think it’s because people see any criticism of home purchase as an attack on their identity. Whereas, if you attack my 60/40 portfolio and say, “hey stupid, why don’t you do 75/25 instead? You’re missing out on gains.” I wouldn’t get offended. I’d simply ask them to show me the numbers and have a logical conversation about it. That’s because the portfolio is simply the tool I use to live the life I want. There are no memories tied to it like “the room I grew up in” or “the yard my kids played in”. I can separate the logical from the emotional. It’s difficult to do that with houses.
I love hearing early retirement stories, and how people get there. My husband and I are 42 and 37, retired 8 years ago, and only worked part time to get there. Part time at our “normal” jobs. We lived frugally bought real estate, made an income property, ….then two…we currently own 4 dwellings, live in our dream home, have travelled the world and pursued our true passion in volunteer work. Each early retirement success seems to have at least one thing in common…..it doesn’t happen following the “norm”. Glad I found your blog, look forward to reading more. Have you heard of mr.money moustache? Love his blog as well.
Nice! I’ve heard of people getting to FI using income properties (like Paula Pant) so I know that’s definitely another path to get there. It just requires a lot of research and more risk so it’s not for me. But good for you guys for kicking ass at it!
And I’m a huge fan of MMM. He’s one of the inspirations for getting us here.
Came here because of the G&M article. I laugh at the haters and happen to know a few people like that. They like to blame everyone else for their lot in life and can’t give up Starbucks or their car. I am post baby boom (not a Millennial) and have always been frugal. This has allowed us to own a home in downtown TO, no mortgage, and enough to retire now. We just aren’t so our kids can finish high school here instead of moving to somewhere smaller. It took till my 40s to wake up and realize corporate work life was total shit. Now I consult, work from home and bring in almost triple my earnings, saving 70 percent and investing in ETFs. I wish I had this knowledge sooner!
I love this blog and MMM too. Appreciate all the great advice even if this wasn’t our exact path. Ignore the haters, they haven’t figured it out.
Good For Both of you. It is really about choice that one makes in life…
I am a 40 year old working mother with 2 kids… I make 85K per year and my husband stays at home. We live in the expensive city of Vancouver and live in West side. We rent…. No mortgage. We go to Asia every 2 years, lately it’s been once a year and our travelling cost eat up most of our budget. It cost about 15-20K for 4-5 weeks of travel.
So far the plan is for me to retire at 55. No unfortunately we cannot both “retire” due to the cost of kids “enrichment classes” and travel.
We also own a home in a different city which is paid for and collect rent. We do not have enough to have a portfolio like yours but we have modest RRSP’s and RESP’s and continue to put it in monthly.
Also focus on getting a good education, starting your family early I have my kids at age 27 and age 30.
I also have read up on Mr. money mustache and agree with his frugality tips. Avoiding the Ivy League syndrome. We save when we can but we also like to eat well and go to restaurants as a family frequently.
It’s all about how much one can save rather than how much one makes…
“It’s all about how much one can save rather than how much one makes…”
Exactly. Good for you for paying off those mortgages! 🙂
Haters will always hate. Great for your guys to ignore all those comments.
So many of the comments are so entertaining! Tell me I’m not the only one who loves reading hateful or poking comments?
I used to have so many of these types of comments the first 3 years of FS. Now, they’ve declined by like 90% despite FS being so much larger now.
Comments are motivating. AND you can create comment commentary posts. Give it a go! So fun.
You’ll find that the longer you are around, the less hate you will get b/c people will realize you’re here to stay. After being away from the workforce for almost five years now, nobody gives me any shit about early retirement anymore, for example.
Sam
I love reading them too! They are hilarious. Especially the ones about “mommy and daddy probably paid your way through school”. Or the one about “this will never work because inflation will eat up all their money.” Wow, someone with no money and no investment experience giving financial advice. That’s rich…oh wait. No, it’s NOT!
Very eye-opening to know that your hate mail has declined! I would’ve thought they would snowball once your site took off! Guess you’ve proven the haters wrong 🙂
Thank you guys for sharing your story! Your choice was definitely unconventional and many people are probably giving you slack for it because it goes against what they learned their whole life. Hence they always check to see if you guys are “failing” like Don was. Personally, I totally agree with you. You can be FREE forever with a 1 million dollar portfolio.
Your story is very motivational and I want to congratulate you two on your achievements. Keep doing what you have been doing. Aside from your portfolio income, I also think it’s hard for the two of you to run out of money in retirement. You can always earn more or spend less – you have an extra 50-60 hours every week now to do that 🙂 I feel confident your net worth will skyrocket even 😛
P.S. I’m ALSO super glad you guys started this blog because you’re from Toronto and you’re Asian haha
Thanks! Comments like yours make all the online hate worth it 🙂
First, thanks for sharing your story. So far, I only read several of your posts. I will definitely read the rest as soon as I can. I am very happy for you guys. Great job. As other readers said, there are always going to be naysayers no matter what you do. But, on the bright side, you guys are already made it.
I am in my forties and finally got tired of the daily grind. Planning on doing whatever it takes to get my freedom back and retire as early as possible. Having said that, over the years I bought 3 houses and currently living in one which is almost 4000 sq. feet. I always thought that was what we needed to do achieve the American dream. Finally, I realized that it was the single biggest money mistake I made. So, one of the first things on my list is to get the house ready and sell it. I have to admit though. It took work to convince the wife. ?
Wow! Good job convincing that wife. That’s a monumental task in of itself (or so I hear from my friends).
Out of curiosity, where do you live and where did you buy those houses?
I live in Midwest and all the houses are also in Midwest. Since I still work for the man for a living I figured it would be wise not to reveal my exact location. But when the financial independence kicks in I will let every one know. ?
Fair enough 😉