I had planned on retiring at age 61 or 60, but given both how the stock market has done in the past year and my ability to get cheaper Marketplace insurance, I’m considering retiring in the summer of '22 when I turn 59.
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OK
Summary
Boomer
So how the heck are people living on 30k a year? Are they just sleeping in their cars? Going to yute hostels? I’d rather keep working.
Insurance alone is like $20k, or at least it was before Obamacare.
oh shit, just travel in places that have UHC. Genius!
So, everywhere I guess?
A lot of folks either permanently move outside of the US, or at least spend a lot of time in countries where the cost of living is cheaper. Some just live very minimalist lifestyles where they cook their own food, stick to a very bare bones wardrobe, use bikes for transportation so they don’t have to pay a car and the associated expenses, etc. Maybe they live in a house that is already paid off. Few if any have kids that they need to support.
And if you think it’s impossible (and I know that I personally would really struggle with that budget), just keep in mind that $20k is more than someone makes working a full-time job at the current national minimum wage [52 weeks, 40 k
hrs/week, $7.25/hour].
It also comes down largely to what people like to do with their time. I can actually understand the appeal of a slow life made up of walking for recreation, reading books from the library, cooking healthy food, and generally just relaxing constantly. But I don’t hate work enough to give up all the stuff that I can have by working, especially because we make enough money to live a higher quality life now and save for a higher quality life in retirement. I guess when I’m in my 50s I’ll reconsider if work starts to really impact my health or something.
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It’s not that I find that sort of budget impossible – I spend around 2500 bucks a month without really trying to limit my spending too much. I could easily cut back to about 1500 if I really tried to. I just don’t see how anyone could spend 30k a year while traveling around the world; it’s way easier to wrap my mind around that sort of budget just living in the US (excluding health insurance).
Yeah the travel does seem difficult. I guess maybe stick to relatively low cost areas and do extended stays (maybe rent an apartment for a month or two before moving on to the next city), so you don’t bust your budget on transportation between destinations? Or do the aggressive travel hacker stuff where you basically generate artificial spending on your credit cards in order to get airline miles and hotel points?
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just because you can survive on 20-30k when you are young and healthy doesn’t mean you will be able to forever. getting older is expensive. nursing homes are expensive. if you or your spouse has a cancer scare or some other medical emergency and only 300k in bank you can wiped out in a few months.
For sure if you have a chronic health problem traveling the world w/o health insurance is probably not an option. But if you’re willing to risk it, healthcare is either cheap or free every where outside the US. I walked in and asked for a foot X-Ray at one of the best hospitals in Mexico, got seen almost immediately, got a diagnosis and a prescription - in and out in 2 hours for $125.
As far as $30k, it’s freaking easy, even including car shipping and occasional flights back home. You camp out or sleep in your car in expensive countries, and do that or hostels in cheap countries. Some people almost never pay for lodging. No utilities, no car insurance except where mandated and then it’s cheap (basically you’re never getting comprehensive anyway), buy a lot of cheap food, or live mostly on cheap street food like I did. You really don’t spend that much on gas compared to even a modest commuter.
I probably spent $3000/month and I lived like a maniac compared to most overlanders. I had friends coming along at times who wanted to get fancy meals, stay in $100/night places, etc. Some of the people who always make their own food and never pay for lodging get by on $1200/month.
This guy breaks it down pretty well:
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Are you really that much better off if a $million gets wiped out? I figure at some point you’re going to be a ward of the state if catastrophe hits no matter how much you have saved away.
I loosely follow FIRE stuff now but definitely went down the rabbit hole for awhile (have read multiple books and used to listen to all the podcasts during commute). I see the financial independence side very appealing and the “retire early” side just meaning I may not have to work a traditional job after a certain point. It’s more than likely if I retired early, I’d probably spend some time off completely from work, then come back and make the future version of TikTok NFTs for a living or something. Additionally, I want to be able to approach this type of situation:
with confidence. If that type of situation pops up for me, being able to say “nah, fuck work” will be worth the time and money invested. In other words… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eikbQPldhPY
Regardless, I’ve learned a ton about personal finance I never would’ve learned otherwise and this rabbit hole has been an education for myself.
So I look at the dipshits in my company that earn like twice as much as I do and do zero actual work. Now, most people might be frustrated by that reality, but I’m inspired. I can work hard for the next five or ten years, save up a nest egg, and get promoted to one of these positions. At that point I should be more or less financially independent, and then I become one of these highly paid boat anchors. And I will push the envelope: I will benchmark myself against my peers and do even less than they do. These assholes appear to be unfireable, doing little but annoying people who actually work for a living by phone and email. I will test that assumption, doing all I can to draw attention to this corporate cancer. And, perhaps, earning myself a nice severance package or, failing that, an age discrimination lawsuit settlement.
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It’s not the worst dream, but securing a position like that is not necessarily the result of merit or tenure.
I’ve personally seen multiple people try to make common sense suggestions in large organizations and get instantly nuked. It’s legitimately a cartel in almost every big company.
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Housing market is fucking insane right now. My parents just sold their house for 10% over list while also waiving an appraisal and taking all the realtor fees. On the market for three days.
you see, that’s why I have to get my contrarianism out on the internet. There’s absolutely no place for it at work.
Can anyone cliff notes for me exactly what the fuck is going on with this and why it is happening?
It seems to be happening absolutely everywhere, and not just in the US.