Fuego featured in story on CNBC web site

[FUEGO]

Plus I'm relieved you haven't resorted to making your own rake like Jacob Fisker...

I'm still waiting for my trees to grow enough to necessitate a rake. And at that point, I'll spend the $5-10 for one from Lowe's or Home Depot...

I may walk the ~2 miles to pick it up, so there's that little frugality bit, but no way would I spend $4 to make a rake I could buy for a few bucks more.

 

[ohyes]

Nice to see news about active forum members: How I retired at 33 and so can you

Loved reading this. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ohyes]

I think it helps if we accept that other have accomplished whatever they have accomplished, without trying to define it and cram it into a little mental "retirement" cubbyhole of our own creation.

Love this - and all the positiveness you share on ER.

 

[FUEGO]

I think most people equate retirement with financial independence. If one stopped all 'work' (exchanging time for money) one could still pay all the bills straight through until death. If you are in a different situation, you are neither FI nor Retired, early or not. I know little about his finances, but if his $30k blog income is just 'extra' and his nest egg is sufficient for a 4% SWR, then yeah -- retired. Otherwise, no. Not retired. It's not about labeling someone, it's about how you define words. Words have meaning.

I'll throw some numbers out there and let the forum pontificate a bit.

We spent $34,000 in 2014 and $24,000 in 2015, an average of $29,000 annual spending so far.

Our nest egg after setting aside some $ for the kids' college education and paying off our student loans is around $1,250,000.

We're spending at a 2.3% withdrawal rate when you completely ignore the blog income.

I increased our target spending for 2016 to $40,000 because we aren't spending all that we could (again, completely ignoring blog income). That represents a 3.2% withdrawal rate. These spending figures include income taxes (including taxes on the blog income!).

I haven't run firecalc lately, but I bet I'd get some decent results spending between 2.3-3.2% for 50-60 years.

The blog income is purely "extra income" in the sense that we don't need it for living expenses or even to increase our standard of living. Obviously it helps for peace of mind but I do very little in terms of actual work on the blog (I post less on my blog than I used to post on the ER forum while I was working!). I expect to maintain the blog while it's an interesting pastime and then ditch it once it's no longer of interest to me (by ditch, I mean sell, because apparently these things are worth 2-3x annual revenue). Whether this makes me still working, retired, semi-retired, downshifted, career renaissanced, or some other term of FIRE art, I'll leave to my fellow forumites.

 

[HFWR]

Whether this makes me still working, retired, semi-retired, downshifted, career renaissanced, or some other term of FIRE art, I'll leave to my fellow forumites.

Or FART, for short...

When I was 33, I had a negative net worth...

 

[papadad111]

Congrats Fuego.

I personally enjoy both your blog and posts here as well as those of GoCurryCracker.

I particularly like some of the analytical financial topics that you've both posted on ACA subsidies and the income cliff, and income tax strategies etc. I was not aware of the student loan situation so will go back and learn more ...

Like everything in life, take it all with a grain of salt.

The CNBC authors surely are not retired yet, probably have hardly a clue about LBYM lifestyles, and all media loves to sell the sizzle ...

Regardless of accuracies or inaccuracies it must be Great exposure and am sure this will help raise your blog income.

Reading the posts even here, an educated crowd that knows the intricacies of FIRE, there remain some doubters and naysayers.

So I ask the forum sphere: if it would be interesting to read a blog that was done by an early retiree in their 30s or 40s who had

no pension or lottery win or inheritance, had no huge college debt to repay, did not plan a "strategic" default of home or student loans, had no working spouse, had no side hustle or blog income, wasn't using the ACA systems subsidy loopholes, or making their own garden tools, collecting rain water, growing their own vegetables, walking or bicycling everywhere, regularly drank latte a day and despite those adversities still made it to FIRE.

Someone who just "did it" via hard work and luck... And they are truly (by even the laymans definition) retired early and financially independent ?

I wonder if there would be any interest. What makes a good blog?

 

[2017ish]

...
I wonder if there would be any interest. What makes a good blog?

In addition to substance, for me to return to a blog, needs good writing and, usually, actionable/useful for me. A consistent, unusual persona can help as well. I think the latter helped draw me back quite a few times to E.R.E. and MMM even though I have never been interested in following their paths.

What is the message that you add to the mix--and how best to advance that message? A good example is White Coat Investor--he doesn't offer new, earth shattering advice and doesn't make any effort to supplant Wade Pfau and the like in academic return analysis. But he serves a healthy market niche by incorporating fairly standard advice into a well written blog aimed at those with the unusual borrowing/earnings path of physicians. (and, again, consistent persona/voice)

 

[kcowan]

I have a buddy who says: "Why don't you create a blog? You have so many interests!"
and I say "Because I am retired!" so I have to resist making any editorial comments!

I have been featured in early retirement articles but I will save you the trouble.

OTOH whatever works is fine with me. I have a friend who is working harder at writing now than he ever did while working. Motivation counts for a lot.

 

[mh]

I think it helps if we accept that other have accomplished whatever they have accomplished, without trying to define it and cram it into a little mental "retirement" cubbyhole of our own creation.



Love this - and all the positiveness you share on ER.

Being one that has done a few posts on this thread that have likely seemed less than positive, let me say as "pope of the church of fire" that I duly canonize Fuego as FIRED with all the rights and privileges that entails. Joking aside I don't disagree with any of Fuego's posts re the blog income issue.

I think it's just best to be abnormally up front and center with things like blog income as they arise.

As far as making mental retirement cubbyholes, that's half the value of this forum ( to me anyways ) seeing what everyone's idea of fire is and then maybe
refining your own in the process.


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