MMM on PBS

[imoldernu]

Watched this PBS video on PBS... you might be interested.

How-these-penny-pinchers-retired-in-their-30s

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-these-penny-pinchers-retired-in-their-30s

MMM in person...

 

[Elbata]

Thanks for that. I wanted to record it, but I forgot.

Oh boy. Started watching it. I'm not sure this should be posted on this forum. Most here don't agree with his philosophy.

Popcorn is cooking.

(Full disclosure, I'm a huge MMM fan.)

 

[frayne]

Good article and nice to see some younger people do have their priorities where they should be.

 

[Red Badger]

MMM can be a little preachy on his blog. But I believe his heart is in the right place and he's a leader in the FIRE movement.

Thanks OP.

 

[Beer-man]

That was great

 

[Toocold]

I think in many ways, FIRE was born out of this forum. The majority of the people here are Baby Boomers and some X'ers like myself. The majority of the people at MMM forum's are millennials. Of course there is alot of bleed and terms used like "early retirement" continues to evolve.

The philosophies are more similar than they are different when compared to the "norms" of society. I read both, as well as other blogs, because I get value from the various perspectives.

 

[Jerry1]

Thanks. I enjoyed that. I don’t follow MM, but reading his website was helpful in my decision to retire. I’d call it MM light. By just being a bit more frugal and conscious about my spending, I felt more comfortable retiring on less money than if I budgeted to maintain my past spending levels. I wish I’d have seen the light sooner.

 

[pj.mask]

We are alike in some ways but different in others. I don’t buy a lot of things (consumption) and I drive a 30mpg car (fun to drive 6 speed) because my ideology is to consume less and leave more resources on the earth for the next generation. However the things we do buy are quality. Does it take more resources to make prime grade beef vs (whatever lowest grade is?) if we eat steaks maybe 4x a year it isn’t about consumption but I do enjoy high quality cut. Even if it costs $40/lb

Edit* we do have high savings rates but not the 75% MMM level. Can’t justify that extra 25% to retire a few years earlier.

 

[Ready]

Very interesting video. That's the first time I've seen Pete disclose his last name or his actual retirements savings.

I sent a link to my twenty something friend whose just getting started in his career. He said he was fine with everything except the hand me down furniture. I guess that's a good start.

 

[walkinwood]

Thanks for posting this excellent piece.

 

[Marita40]

I don't see how this could be controversial. I for one am on board with it 100%. Nice video.

 

[W2R]

I don't think it is very controversial, either!

My first reaction was, "Why does he have to pinch pennies so much to get his spending down into the low $30K's (when including health insurance)?" But then I realized that his spending is for an entire family. While I am spending less than that, my spending is just for me, not for a whole family.

I loved watching him on that bicycle. He seems so fit and healthy! And I'll bet that biking instead of driving a car, is a big reason why.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I like MM a lot but don’t like that he doesn’t include his travel in his budget. He says they are business expenses. However, I bet even without the blog he would travel to Canada to see his family. They are donating the money made by the blog to charity which is awesome.

 

[lhamo]

Very interesting video. That's the first time I've seen Pete disclose his last name or his actual retirements savings.

I sent a link to my twenty something friend whose just getting started in his career. He said he was fine with everything except the hand me down furniture. I guess that's a good start.

He's been pretty open about the various financial details on his blog -- including the ugly details about how his spec housing "partnership" nearly destroyed the ER plan in the early days. And his full name has been floating around at least since the WaPo story a few years ago.

I loved the video, but I do wonder if now he is going to have the Longmont police on his case as much as the Internet Retirement Police are -- he blasted right through a stop sign!