Fifteen minutes of early retirement fame

[REWahoo]

One of our members here?

Quote:

ORLANDO - On Sunday night, there are no feelings of dread about the week to come. On Monday morning, no shrieking 6 a.m. alarm. No commute. No office. No boss. This is life for Marc Hardekopf, who this month celebrates his first year of early retirement. He's 37.

How to retire in your thirties without winning the lottery - CBS News

[Spanky]

Thanks for the link. It certainly require discipline of saving and investing to pull it through.

[powerplay]

I like the picture of Buffett in the cute little orange frame.

It sounds like the wife isn't totally on board with the plan though.

[heeyy_joe]

Naming the daughter middle name Buffett will not pay any dividend.

[W2R]

Very impressive! Wow. I wonder if he is a member? If he isn't, he should be!

I do wish they had given some general indication of how much his attorney wife was making during the accumulation phase, and how much she brought into the marriage. All that aside, they are being wise with their money and LBYM'ing and I would love to hear more from them about that.

[FUEGO]

Wow, that could be my story almost exactly. I finished college and law school by age 23 as well (though never practiced law). Never made more than $100k (or even close to it!).

The kid thing hits home. Even if I have to return to work at some point in my 40's or 50's when the kids are grown and out of the house, it'll be okay. I'm enjoying time with my kids while they are still young. I don't think I'll ever regret that.

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Very impressive! Wow. I wonder if he is a member? If he isn't, he should be! I do wish they had given some general indication of how much his attorney wife was making during the accumulation phase, and how much she brought into the marriage. All that aside, they are being wise with their money and LBYM'ing and I would love to hear more from them about that.

I agree, brushing over his wife's contribution during the accumulation phase undermines his story IMO. I too never made more than $100K and retired at 36 with a 7-figure portfolio. Woohoo! But wait, my wife contributed significantly to that portfolio. Combined, our income always was in the 6-figure range.

[Walt34]

Nice story, the point of which is that "it can be done by normal people". True it sounds like his wife may want to go back to work but at the same time she's fully on board with him being the SAHD. So it will probably work for them.

[springnr]

This is a stay at home Dad story.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd I agree, brushing over his wife's contribution during the accumulation phase undermines his story IMO. I too never made more than $100K and retired at 36 with a 7-figure portfolio. Woohoo! But wait, my wife contributed significantly to that portfolio. Combined, our income always was in the 6-figure range.

But talking about the wife also making money wouldn't make the "retire in your 30's story as interesting!

I was interviewed by an editor at CNBC for a big show they were doing on "redefining retirement" or something like that. We got to a certain point in the interview and then she said "Hey, I believe you, but your story won't sell. Your wife is still working and some will say "you're just a stay at home dad" and not retired for financially independent". That was the end of the interview. Hey, no biggie, I'm still early retired AND a stay at home dad (although I'm out and about as much as I stay at home).


For the guy shown at the link in the OP's post, I imagine they asked the guy about his finances and the impact of his wife working later on. He probably said something like "hey, we have enough to never work again; here's what we spend, here's how much we can withdraw from our investments". That's too complicated to fit in a 3 minute video.

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO But talking about the wife also making money wouldn't make the "retire in your 30's story as interesting! I was interviewed by an editor at CNBC for a big show they were doing on "redefining retirement" or something like that. We got to a certain point in the interview and then she said "Hey, I believe you, but your story won't sell. Your wife is still working and some will say "you're just a stay at home dad" and not retired for financially independent". That was the end of the interview. Hey, no biggie, I'm still early retired AND a stay at home dad (although I'm out and about as much as I stay at home).

Having a spouse with a half-decent job really makes it difficult to claim retirement or financial independence status, unless you are super rich. In fact, I am often reminded that the only status I can claim is that of "kept man" as if I played no part in my ability to retire early.

[rodi]

I don't really get that idea that a working spouse means you aren't retired. I work. My husband is retired. Is it only ER that doesn't count? (Hubby is 62). He's filling the role of SAHD... not to mention gardener, contractor/handyman, personal assistant... (Our kids are school age.) But he's retired and would be doing those things (except the PA) if I was retired also.

Is it the SAHD thing that negates the term retired? In the article linked in the OP - the wife isn't working.

Fuego, FIREd - you guys are retired because you can AFFORD to never work again.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd Having a spouse with a half-decent job really makes it difficult to claim retirement or financial independence status, unless you are super rich. In fact, I am often reminded that the only status I can claim is that of "kept man" as if I played no part in my ability to stay to retire early.

Wow, you let somebody un-retire you and then let them appoint you a "kept man"?

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodi Is it the SAHD thing that negates the term retired? In the article linked in the OP - the wife isn't working. Fuego, FIREd - you guys are retired because you can AFFORD to never work again.

I'm not up to speed on the latest orthodoxy with respect to the definition of "retired". I thought it meant "not working" and describes someone who has left a career (at the very least).

The "SAHD" part answers the "what do you do all day" question.

[MichaelB]

Does the spouse in Orlando share his commitment to ER or just support his choice, for now? Not clear in the article.

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO Wow, you let somebody un-retire you and then let them appoint you a "kept man"?

I don't care about the label enough to do something foolish about it, like getting a job. But I also don't have to convince readers that I am FIRE'd. So the label that people choose to put on me is inconsequential. But I think that all young ER bloggers have had a run-in with the retirement police at one point or another.

[gauss]

Quote:

Originally Posted by heeyy_joe Naming the daughter middle name Buffett will not pay any dividend.

That's pretty funny -- I get it.

-gauss

[photoguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rodi I don't really get that idea that a working spouse means you aren't retired. I work. My husband is retired. Is it only ER that doesn't count?

I think it's more a matter that when one spouse is working, the retired spouse has a safety net and can FIRE on a much smaller portfolio. They no longer need to worry about bad tail events (bad sequence of stock returns, expensive medical treatments, and before ACA being turned down for health insurance on the individual market).

If my wife continued to work, I'd be willing to FIRE with a portfolio maybe 50-75% our current size.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoguy If my wife continued to work, I'd be willing to FIRE with a portfolio maybe 50-75% our current size.

Then are you truly FI?

[photoguy]

As an individual, I think it depends on how close you are cutting it once you lose the benefits provided by the spouse. E.g., if I lose health insurance provided by the wife, can I still FIRE when I increase the health care budget by 200-300% to account for higher premiums and greater out-of-pocket maximum?

Hypothetically, if my WR had to increase above 3.5% I would not say I was FI without my wife. But this is a tricky game to play because many expenses are infrequent/unpredictable but costly and need to be amortized to a yearly rate for SWR calculations.