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My guess that those that believe that it cannot be done will probably never do it. I finished college in 2 1/2 years, and a part time job, law school in 1 1/2 years, no inheritance, saved invested,, that was 26 years ago when I was 41. Got my 40 quarters of SS, own a home paid for, an older car paid for, zero debt, and steady Dow investments for the 20 years while working. Have a lot more than 24k a year in income. As things mature or I sell investments I re-invest and that keeps me ahead of inflation.
Try it you will like it.
My guess that those that believe that it cannot be done will probably never do it. I finished college in 2 1/2 years, and a part time job, law school in 1 1/2 years, no inheritance, saved invested,, that was 26 years ago when I was 41. Got my 40 quarters of SS, own a home paid for, an older car paid for, zero debt, and steady Dow investments for the 20 years while working. Have a lot more than 24k a year in income. As things mature or I sell investments I re-invest and that keeps me ahead of inflation.
Try it you will like it.
Yeah. According to Dave Ramsey I'm getting weirder every month and I like it. There's more than one way to make it to financial well-being. But one must start with an open mind.
As more than one poster pointed out, it's all about choices. If you WANTED to do this, you probably could. We chose to do the "lifestyle limit'. We have lived on essentially the same income, adjusted for inflation, that we did in 1995. We certainly won't retire in our 30's, but we will retire before 55. I chose to work jobs with pensions.
And we save 60 percent of our income. We haven't inherited anything and won't. Our home is paid for, we have no debt.
My guess that those that believe that it cannot be done will probably never do it. I finished college in 2 1/2 years, and a part time job, law school in 1 1/2 years, no inheritance, saved invested,, that was 26 years ago when I was 41. Got my 40 quarters of SS, own a home paid for, an older car paid for, zero debt, and steady Dow investments for the 20 years while working. Have a lot more than 24k a year in income. As things mature or I sell investments I re-invest and that keeps me ahead of inflation.
Try it you will like it.
Most of us do not have the income of a lawyer so naturally we can not save at the rate you were able to save.
I think one reason that we have trouble competing globally is frugal living is the norm for much of the world. Our poverty line is a middle class family income in a lot of other countries. We are really spoiled here; we think cable and internet are standard utilities. I used to work with a guy who liked to drive new BMWs. He would lease every 2 years (3 years leases, but the dealer would take it back in trade when leasing another). He went over 10 years without buying tires (according to him; according to me he bought at least 5 sets). When he worked with me he was late 20s to mid 30s. If he had driven an economy car until the doors fell off he probably could have banked and extra $100,000 for retirement. But he really liked driving new Beamers...
I think one reason that we have trouble competing globally is frugal living is the norm for much of the world. Our poverty line is a middle class family income in a lot of other countries. We are really spoiled here; we think cable and internet are standard utilities. I used to work with a guy who liked to drive new BMWs. He would lease every 2 years (3 years leases, but the dealer would take it back in trade when leasing another). He went over 10 years without buying tires (according to him; according to me he bought at least 5 sets). When he worked with me he was late 20s to mid 30s. If he had driven an economy car until the doors fell off he probably could have banked and extra $100,000 for retirement. But he really liked driving new Beamers...
It wouldn't let me rep you again, but I can get around that. I do think we are very spoiled. I've worked with people like that too. I got a lot of flak when our pickup was 5 years old, Why are you driving that OLD thing. We kept it another 15 years, I then divorced and he kept it many years after that.
We did pretty much our own repairs/maintenance, had a big garden, went in !/2 for a cow with someone else, heated with wood, went camping for vacations etc. It all made it possible to live on very little.
The whole 20 years I was married we lived on one (the lower) income and invested the other. We never made over 60k combined. (I divorced in the mid 90's). After I was divorced I lived on about 2k/mo and saved about 1k/mo. Quit working in my mid 50's due to arthritis. I think MMM is exactly what he says. Sure they have more money than that, but they live on a lot less.
I think the key is to get rid of the excess. I really never do without anything I really want, I just don't get/do the things that aren't all that important to me. I find my pleasure in simpler things. I have done it so long now, that I don't even think about it.
Last edited by Aqua Blue; 09-28-2015 at 08:04 AM..
Reason: added the last paragraph.
In this case I probably don't deserve the rep anyway; I don't walk the walk right now, at least not completely. We do eat almost all meals at home and I usually bring left overs in for lunch. We experiment with generic products and have found several we are happy with, but still get name brands of some products. I drive used cars, but bought 3 new Odysseys over the last 15 years for hauling the kids around (the third one is still quite new and will probably be the last). I want my family in a safe dependable vehicle. We have cable, high speed internet, smart phones, tablets and computers. I shop hard for deals when we go on vacations but they aren't cheap vacations. My biggest expenses right now are tuitions. A huge portion of what I spend is on people who are becoming adults. I am fortunate to be doing well right now, so I am still managing to max out 401k with catch up. Since I qualify for catch up, and have for a few years, I obviously didn't do the retire early thing but I should be able to retire comfortably in my early to mid 60s.
My guess that those that believe that it cannot be done will probably never do it. I finished college in 2 1/2 years, and a part time job, law school in 1 1/2 years, no inheritance, saved invested,, that was 26 years ago when I was 41. Got my 40 quarters of SS, own a home paid for, an older car paid for, zero debt, and steady Dow investments for the 20 years while working. Have a lot more than 24k a year in income. As things mature or I sell investments I re-invest and that keeps me ahead of inflation.
Try it you will like it.
That makes you 67 today.
The legal market has been in the dumps for years now. New law graduates often end up working as clerks or paralegals or out of the legal industry altogether, significantly burdened by student loan debt. It's a significantly different, and more difficult, market now than what you dealt with. A part-time job is not enough to take care of basic living expenses in most cases.
It sounds like you were 22, maybe 23, when you finished law school. Most people don't finish law school that early. During your day, lawyers also had a high income relative to today.
It sounds like you had excellent foresight, a lot of luck, and you happened to benefit from times far more advantageous than these days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MG120
As more than one poster pointed out, it's all about choices. If you WANTED to do this, you probably could. We chose to do the "lifestyle limit'. We have lived on essentially the same income, adjusted for inflation, that we did in 1995. We certainly won't retire in our 30's, but we will retire before 55. I chose to work jobs with pensions.
And we save 60 percent of our income. We haven't inherited anything and won't. Our home is paid for, we have no debt.
It can be done.
Choices are only a part of it.
I make a bit of an above average income for Indy - ~$60k. For me to save 60% of my income, that would put me living on <$24k pre-tax income annually. I would basically have to get roommates, live in a less than desirable area, etc, to meet these goals. For me, it's not worth living in a rough neighborhood in a city where there are killings every day or way outside the city where it's cheaper (but I spend more in commuting costs) to save $100-$200/month in rent. I value my safety, convenience where everything I need is nearby, and living in a neighborhood where I can pretty confidently leave my doors unlocked over saving a couple hundred bucks a month in rent.
"Choosing to work a job with a pension" isn't really a choice these days. Most employers simply do not offer pensions or are phasing out existing ones. About the only place you can reliably find pensions are the military or government employment. It's not like it is an option freely available everywhere. I'm sure most employees would love to work for an employer with a pension, but there are too many people competing for too few spots.
You won't get any argument from me that there is a consumption problem in this country, but the Money Moustache guy is the extreme outlier to the guy charging $50k+ on the credit cards, then filing bankruptcy. Neither case is really applicable for most folks.
The legal market has been in the dumps for years now. New law graduates often end up working as clerks or paralegals or out of the legal industry altogether, significantly burdened by student loan debt. It's a significantly different, and more difficult, market now than what you dealt with. A part-time job is not enough to take care of basic living expenses in most cases.
It sounds like you were 22, maybe 23, when you finished law school. Most people don't finish law school that early. During your day, lawyers also had a high income relative to today.
It sounds like you had excellent foresight, a lot of luck, and you happened to benefit from times far more advantageous than these days.
Exactly right. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past 26 years retired, Stay busy, travel a lot. But still we all have choices. It is a lot tougher today granted. I have a son 37 and he is on the same path as me. It is going to take him until he is 45, 8 more years, but he feels, no pain no gain, and I am sure he will make it.
I think one reason that we have trouble competing globally is frugal living is the norm for much of the world. Our poverty line is a middle class family income in a lot of other countries. We are really spoiled here; we think cable and internet are standard utilities. I used to work with a guy who liked to drive new BMWs. He would lease every 2 years (3 years leases, but the dealer would take it back in trade when leasing another). He went over 10 years without buying tires (according to him; according to me he bought at least 5 sets). When he worked with me he was late 20s to mid 30s. If he had driven an economy car until the doors fell off he probably could have banked and extra $100,000 for retirement. But he really liked driving new Beamers...
The guy with the BMWs is just being dumb. There's no other way around that.
However, comparing our poverty line to the standard of living in developing, cheap countries is apples and oranges. Just because the absolute dollar figure of income doesn't change, costs do. Rents keep going up here. Gas prices fluctuate, sometimes wildly over short periods of time. Health care and education costs have far outpaced inflation.
When I was making in the $11/hr range two years ago, life was very tough. My employer didn't offer health insurance, and I couldn't afford insurance on the private market. I ended up with bronchitis and it cost me $600 at the urgent care. I made too much for assistance. Some weeks, it was basically choosing what bill got paid at the expense of others. I wouldn't wish this on anyone, and it certainly wasn't middle class.
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. I do think we are very spoiled. I've worked with people like that too. I got a lot of flak when our pickup was 5 years old, Why are you driving that OLD thing. We kept it another 15 years, I then divorced and he kept it many years after that. 
