The Money Habit Blog

[Trueace]

Hey all,

Has anyone seen the above blog? Not sure if we're allowed to post about other blogs on here without directly linking so apologize if so. I was curious if anyone had any thoughts on the blog.

The lady mentions she was able to retire at 28 with $2.25mm after about 7 years of work. She was working a high finance investment job in NYC but even so this seems to be a ton of money. Must be a really unusual case because I did some calculations based on SP500 returns and she would have had to been making an enormous amount when you take into account she was still spending ~24k a year and then NYC taxes.

She would have been making much more than your typical IBD analyst/associate so just wanted to hear you guys thoughts. Maybe she was a trader I suppose or started right off on the buyside at a hedge fund / private equity but maybe you guys can figure it out.

I asked her for a play by play but she said she is still contemplating if she'll do a post on it. I would think it is the only way to see how it was accomplished given such a large amount at a young age. Much more and younger than MMM for example who retired at 30 as many of you know. It just doesn't leave much time to compound by 28 which makes it so interesting and thus is probably a revenue story.

 

[Chuckanut]

IMHO, most young people are probably better off studying Jonathan Clements' new website Humbledollar.com .

 

[Trueace]

That link doesn't seem to work.

 

[MildlyEccentric]

Perhaps the link should be HumbleDollar.com.

 

[GrayHare]

Given the number of people that invest, surely somebody somewhere had picked the right combination of equities to hit it big. For example whoever bought a large number of shares of Microsoft or Apple at the right time would have seen his/her net worth bloom over a 7-year period.

 

[Starsky]

It doesn't seem very unusual for New York City. I don't know how you could permanently retire there at 28 on $2.25M but it wouldn't be hard to accumulate $2.25M working at a moderately high level on Wall Street in 7 years. The year-end bonuses they get are obscene and the real estate market in NYC has blown up like crazy in the last decade.

Edit: Here's the article. She made her money and she's done. Her husband still works though.... doesn't seem fair (or retired). She's really a stay-at-home wife whose investments 'cover their expenses'. How This 28-Year-Old Woman Retired with $2 Million Click bait.

 

[cathy63]

I wonder if she is the same person described in this thread: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...-old-retires-in-nyc-with-2-million-84207.html

 

[aaronc879]

It doesn't seem very unusual for New York city. I don't know how you could permanently retire there at 28 on $2.25M but it wouldn't be hard to accumulate $2.25M working at a moderately high level on Wall Street in 7 years. The year-end bonuses they get are obscene and the real estate market in NYC has blown up like crazy in the last decade.

$2.25M is a lot of money at any age. With a 2.5%WR she should have plenty of money to live anywhere if she stays childless and is willing to live in a cheaper apartment. Dividends alone should pay at least 2% so a 2.5%WR is conservative even at her age. She also has blog income not that she needs it.

 

[MBAustin]

Thanks for the link to Jonathan Clements' site - I always enjoyed his WSJ columns and will send this on to our kids as a great resource.

 

[Starsky]

$2.25M is a lot of money at any age. With a 2.5%WR she should have plenty of money to live anywhere if she stays childless and is willing to live in a cheaper apartment. Dividends alone should pay at least 2% so a 2.5%WR is conservative even at her age. She also has blog income not that she needs it.

$56,250 is not a lot of money in NYC, especially the way property values are shooting up. It sounds like she lives in the Bronx with the rent she's paying. I think they have a child - or a renter - the article talks about their tiny apartment holding three people. Today, the average cost of a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan is $3,895, almost $47K per year. There is a whole lot of information left out of this story.

Taken as a whole, the synopsis would be: High-power Harvard grad decides to 'retire' at age 28 to live like an urban monk in NYC with $2.25M in hard-won savings from a brief, but lucrative, Wall Street career [and a working husband].

What's not to love about that? It happens every day in Forbes' America. Get busy you lazy millennials!

 

[LOL!]

So I read the Forbes article and the previous one by the same journalist on "JP" and looked at the blog. People are not reading these articles with an understanding of what's going on. Here are the facts:

JP invested in index funds that past few years and got the returns of the index funds just like we all did. Nothing special here.

JP has a husband who works. Her previous job at JPMorgan paid well. She still receives deferred compensation from JPMorgan. I don't know the income of her spouse, but let's just say that since she is not living off her portfolio she can afford to be 100% equities if she wants to.

So there is not much to see here. There is nothing wrong with making a lot of money and then investing it in index funds.

I'll throw in another data point about millennials: My niece graduated from an Ivy League university, then went to grad school, but dropped out to hang out with her significant other who is employee number X where X is less than 10 of a well-known Silicon Valley firm. She is essentially retired with no portfolio.

 

[Chuckanut]

Perhaps the link should be HumbleDollar.com.

Thanks. It is HumbleDollar.com

I've correct my post.

 

[Trueace]

So I read the Forbes article and the previous one by the same journalist on "JP" and looked at the blog. People are not reading these articles with an understanding of what's going on. Here are the facts:

JP invested in index funds that past few years and got the returns of the index funds just like we all did. Nothing special here.

JP has a husband who works. Her previous job at JPMorgan paid well. She still receives deferred compensation from JPMorgan. I don't know the income of her spouse, but let's just say that since she is not living off her portfolio she can afford to be 100% equities if she wants to.

So there is not much to see here. There is nothing wrong with making a lot of money and then investing it in index funds.

I'll throw in another data point about millennials: My niece graduated from an Ivy League university, then went to grad school, but dropped out to hang out with her significant other who is employee number X where X is less than 10 of a well-known Silicon Valley firm. She is essentially retired with no portfolio.

The main point is, $2.25mm at 28 is a lot more than your typical banker is able to save / index fund invest so young. So maybe she was a trader or early promotions I suppose but am not sure? It doesn't not leave much time to compound and coming out of school yes you can make a ton of money in NYC but this is still very atypical when you take into account she was still spending ~24k a year then NYC taxes which take a massive chunk. Normally you don't start earning a lot (meaning earning to save the amount she was based on SP500 returns from say 2009-2015) until at the point which she was retiring so that's why I was curious for the play by play or if anyone had any thoughts. If there was some gifting etc because she said she started investing at age 19 then it would make more sense. Hopefully she'll post the details like other blogs though MMM etc. Congrats to her though.

 

[exnavynuke]

She said in one of the articles posted before that she was saving/investing something around $190k/year. Anyone making enough to save that much per year, with the recent market performance, shouldn't have had a hard time growing a significant nest egg.

Now, since 99% of households in the US only earn about 1/4 of what she could afford to save, I don't think her situation has broad appeal or applicability. There are people who could do the same, and there are the Paris Hilton's of the world who can generate such a nest egg by asking daddy for it, but that doesn't mean there's a big secret to be learned from their situations/actions that could help most people. Sure, I like the "LBYM" tilt to the article, but the fact that she's got such a nest egg AND residual income AND her husband is STILL working all tend to imply that their actual lifestyle/spending is NOT what she represents in these publicity pieces for her blog.

 

[teej1985]

Her blog has totally disappeared at this point, the viral news pieces are all that is left.