haha
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I believe that while it may be possible to change water into wine, it is not a frequent occurrence.
Ha
Ha
Can we nip this right in the bud, because it majorly derailed the thread over at Bogleheads. The definition of "retired" is certainly different for everyone. Some people seem to think that you can't possibly earn a dime in income and consider yourself retired. Others say that they work half a day a week at the local coffee shop and consider themselves retired. Others manage a rental property so that they can have enough cashflow to be "retired" from corporate work.
I think that we'd all be better off talking about the merits of LBYM and investing, and MMM does that pretty well. Whether or not you think he's doing it purely for self-promoting reasons or not, the message is still the same as many people in these forums.
Heck, I have not problem with people making money on the side when they are retired.... I had a BIL who did it for many years... ran a small yard light installation company... did it only when he wanted.... I would call him retired...
As I said, I do not know how much money MMM is getting blogging... I have seen on TV that a good number of people make really good money doing it... if MMM is one, then blogging is his job... kind of like writing for a newspaper... you have to crank out a certain number of columns to keep your readings coming back... If he gets NO money (or very little) from his blog, I would say he is retired and can do a few jobs on the side, make money and still be 'retired'....
As I said, I just do not know.... but I do think that there is a distinction that does matter... the millionaire mommy was clearly working even though she seemed to indicate she was not... all she did was promote herself and her writing... I do not see that with MMM, but I really do not know if he is or is not....
Also, he was making money on Credit Card referrals from his website, but the card company didn't like a word in his motto plastered on the top of the website "Badassity". So, instead of bowing to the revenue generator of those referrals, he just stopped working with them.
But have you noticed that there is no word "Badassity" across the title anymore? It is currently hidden on the coin.
Also, your post is incorrect and you might want to re-read the blog post about it. Chase dumped him while he was trying to explain why he has this word in there. It had nothing to do with "MMM stopped working with them".
This thread reminds of something P.T. Barnum is supposed to have said. Anyone remember what it was?
Ha
As I said, I do not know how much money MMM is getting blogging... I have seen on TV that a good number of people make really good money doing it... if MMM is one, then blogging is his job... kind of like writing for a newspaper... you have to crank out a certain number of columns to keep your readings coming back... If he gets NO money (or very little) from his blog, I would say he is retired and can do a few jobs on the side, make money and still be 'retired'....
Either way, I don't really care. I just find it hard to believe people are tearing into a guy who's primary message is "LBYM". That's what I get most out of it.
People are tearing him up for a few things:
- "He is phony". haha said it best. His $25k / year budget is also phony, since he does not account for many things, including Hawaiian vacations, etc.
The guy went to hawaii for 49 days on $2800 and will probably still have the same yearly budget... how is that not the same message? He worked around many obstacles to achieve that vacation in a LBYM manner...- His message does not match to what he does. He tells you "LBYM" while he is taking vacations to exotic places. There is nothing wrong with the vacations, but message & substance don't match.
His entire family spent $680 on gas for the entire year last year... He almost exclusively uses that car for such trips and bikes locally. I don't follow your logic.He tells you to dump a car and ride a bicycle, yet he drives a car across the country and back (Den to Toronto) himself.
I personally haven't seen that message on the site, but I don't really look for it. I have no stake in that claim.- He tells you to "save the planet" and "reduce consumption", yet his CO2 footprint last year from travel was much higher than for an average American family.
That's the first piece of useful criticism, in my opinion. Talking about actual strategies of ER, rather than ad hominem attacks on the guy.- His advice about 4% SWR is bad.
I don't want to do your homework for you, but when you attack someone like this, you really should look to see if he does account for these things. He accounts for vacations in all of his previous budgets, and had a very detailed blog post about his costs in Hawaii. Are you just making this stuff up?
The guy went to hawaii for 49 days on $2800 and will probably still have the same yearly budget... how is that not the same message? He worked around many obstacles to achieve that vacation in a LBYM manner...
Non-cash Income Taxable income may be in a form other than cash. One example of this is bartering, which is an exchange of property or services. The fair market value of goods and services exchanged is fully taxable and must be included as income on Form 1040 of both parties.
I don't want to sound like I'm a rabid defender here, but there have been a few posts of his indicating that he is using the blog revenue to form some sort of charity. Also, he was making money on Credit Card referrals from his website, but the card company didn't like a word in his motto plastered on the top of the website "Badassity". So, instead of bowing to the revenue generator of those referrals, he just stopped working with them.
Whether or not you believe that he uses the blogging money is on you... but doesn't Nords have a blog and a book that he says goes to charity? How is this any different?
His entire family spent $680 on gas for the entire year last year.
I've read it, but did you?
His budget line clearly states "we ignore Hawaiian air ticket because it was paid by the blog". How is it accounting in the budget?
He also did illegal activity with the lodging. If you are a contractor and your client provides you lodging instead of pay then you need to account that, report the proper value to IRS and then account for that in your budget.
Otherwise, the company that I work for, can just deliver food to my house, pay my mortgage and we can skip the money & the IRS.
Here it is from IRS website:
Taxable or Non-Taxable Income?
Driving from Denver to Toronto round trip @ 30 mpg would cost about $400 in gas alone according to MapQuest, without any other side or day trips.
So they ride their bikes to and from the grocery store in winter in Colorado to save on gas? Really?
bo_knows, yes, it is all on this page:
Exposed! The MMM Family
- "MMM's hawaii flight accounted for as blog business."
- Clear to see from the numbers that Hawaiian lodging was not included. He did barter it, but he was supposed to report it to IRS (by law) and then show it as "expense" in his budget. It is not there and he never mentioned it on his blog that he reported it to the IRS.
I'm glad that lady who wrote Possum Living isn't on the internet. She'd skin people like rabbits!
So they ride their bikes to and from the grocery store in winter in Colorado to save on gas? Really? Even the buffalo look pretty cold in this pic
Reader photo: Buffalo roam through Longmont-area snow storm - Longmont Times-Call