Frugal-retirement-living.com

[BunsGettingFirm]

Has anyone seen this site? Best Ways to Retire Early. I did a search on this site and couldn't find any mention, so I'm posting. It's not the best organized site with a lot of buried links that are accessible only if you dig through the stories which are interesting. The site overall doesn't strike me as a sales pitch. Yes, the site has ads, but the stories themselves are in line with the ER mantra found around here with the exception of this theme:

The question, How much money to retire, does not take into account how old you are

This will not surprise you but as you get older you gradually become less and less able to do the things you enjoy. We are not trying to be funny...we are asking you to stop and think about what is important to you.

If you want to play golf 7 days a week I suggest the sooner you retire the more you will enjoy the golf.

I know at 64 I could not do some of the things I did 10 years ago living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean. We could still go back to the boat life now and live very well and live cheaply. We would not be doing as much island hopping as we once did.

What's more important to you, working longer acquiring more wealth or retiring and enjoying the remaining time you have?

Our goal is to get you to stop and think about what you can do now vs what you might be able to later. We propose that the answer to how much money to retire...it is a lot less than you think.

Here are some of the articles that I found are interesting:

Here is another article that reinforces the theme that is not heard as often on this board: How to Retire Young?...First you stop working.

How the idea of early retirement first entered the authors' minds while they were on vacation: Frugal Retirement Living we can show you how...frugal retirement makes sense today

A list of things that the author would never want to do again and a list of thing that he hoped to do once he retired: Best Ways to Retire Early

The site map Site Map

 

[walkinwood]

Interesting reading. Thanks for posting.
I loved this line. So true - at least for the married among us.
"At this time I should warn you that the number one requirement IMHO to enjoy frugal retirement living, is to get along well with your husband or wife."

 

[flyfishnevada]

That site is what motivated me to take my pension and NOT take another full time job. When I was dreading another 6-8 years of work I did a lot of searching and found that site. It was the seed really. I love his stories, especially the stuff about living on a sail boat. Really shows how you can retire with very little and have a full, rich life.

By the way, thanks! I have that site bookmarked, but this reminded me to go back and reread all of it.

 

[NW-Bound]

The following quote actually highlights a peril of retiring early vs. late.

By retiring early when you are still young enough to be active, you will be spending more money than if you retire later. One has less money, but has the propensity to spend more. Sounds dangerous to me...

I am gonna keep my part-time work a bit longer, despite getting taunted here... Another year, and another year...

Hey, I like the work, and it's not that bad...

This will not surprise you but as you get older you gradually become less and less able to do the things you enjoy. We are not trying to be funny...we are asking you to stop and think about what is important to you.

If you want to play golf 7 days a week I suggest the sooner you retire the more you will enjoy the golf.

I know at 64 I could not do some of the things I did 10 years ago living aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean. We could still go back to the boat life now and live very well and live cheaply. We would not be doing as much island hopping as we once did.

 

[Moemg]

Interesting site but it is so loaded with adds you can hardly read it .

 

[haha]

Interesting reading. Thanks for posting.
I loved this line. So true - at least for the married among us.
"At this time I should warn you that the number one requirement IMHO to enjoy frugal retirement living, is to get along well with your husband or wife."

LOL! As a formerly happily married man whose marriage did not survive ER I can attest to that!

I think mid-fifties or 60 would likely be different, but when you retire in your mid to late forties, people still might have dreams and hopes they were not fully aware of. Growth is good, but it can mean growing apart.

Ha

 

[jacob]

The following quote actually highlights a peril of retiring early vs. late.

By retiring early when you are still young enough to be active, you will be spending more money than if you retire later. One has less money, but has the propensity to spend more. Sounds dangerous to me...

But then again, what's the alternative; staying employed so that one will miss out on all the expensive fun and eventually strategically become excluded from it due to old age?

The danger of retiring late is that "what-if" scenarios can drive one crazy.

As far as I understand, the OP-website spent time first on a boat and then moved into an RV. Both are fairly inexpensive ways of living.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

The following quote actually highlights a peril of retiring early vs. late.

By retiring early when you are still young enough to be active, you will be spending more money than if you retire later. One has less money, but has the propensity to spend more. Sounds dangerous to me...

I am gonna keep my part-time work a bit longer, despite getting taunted here... Another year, and another year...

Hey, I like the work, and it's not that bad...

I hear you. I am not opposed to working if I can do it from a surf shop or dance studio while within close enough proximity to my Latin girlfriend for a quick nooner, but to freeze my butt off here in the Northeast for another 10 years while living like a monk? I don't think that is a worthwhile trade off between living like a king in retirement vs. living like a mere prince.

I heard the same story from another guy at my salsa dance studio 6 months ago, and for the life of me, I couldn't fathom what the hell he was waxing philosophical about how he was going to move to Peru/Honduras/Costa Rica or some other Latin American country to be with his girlfriend, how he didn't need that much money to enjoy life, and about how life is about the song, the moment, and the dance and that was why he was in the studio taking dance lessons. I thought to myself that here is a guy with a CPA who could be making a lot of money if he just put his mind to it, but now I think I can at least see the appeal in the life this soon-to-be-ex CPA was describing after I had a glimpse of the life myself.

I'm going to pull the trigger when I feel the time, the money, the challenges left at work, the BS bucket, and the access to or the lack therefore of ladies here in the Northeast have all tipped the balance to pulling the trigger.

 

[Alan]

But then again, what's the alternative; staying employed so that one will miss out on all the expensive fun and eventually strategically become excluded from it due to old age?

The danger of retiring late is that "what-if" scenarios can drive one crazy.

As far as I understand, the OP-website spent time first on a boat and then moved into an RV. Both are fairly inexpensive ways of living.

I am seeing another example of leaving it too late right now. My tennis partner and good friend has been putting off retiring "one more year" for the 6 years I've known him. He is 64 and his wife is 61 and retired on a good pension from the State a year ago. My friend was "definitely" going to retire next year and start spending more time with their kids and grandkids in Alabama. (we live in Texas).

His wife has just been diagnosed with cancer of the liver this last week, and they are still looking for the primary site. Their lives have been turned upside down right when they should have been kicking back and relaxing.

 

[jacob]

I call this the bus-scenario, as in, getting hit by a bus. There are many who first go for a 4% SWR, then decide that's too risky and work for another N years to get to 3%... then this is not safe enough either, so they go for 2%. At some point, the risk of getting hit by a bus is higher than the financial risk.

From my perspective, the worst thing than could happen financially is having to go back to work along with millions of others. As FIRE or FIRE-wannabes we have much more liquid assets than the median person. We can take huge hits and still only be back at the median.

Of course if someone keeps working one more year because they like it then that's a perfectly reasonable argument.

 

[flyfishnevada]

The danger of retiring late is that "what-if" scenarios can drive one crazy.

Like what if I die?

 

[Bestwifeever]

I am seeing another example of leaving it too late right now. My tennis partner and good friend has been putting off retiring "one more year" for the 6 years I've known him. He is 64 and his wife is 61 and retired on a good pension from the State a year ago. My friend was "definitely" going to retire next year and start spending more time with their kids and grandkids in Alabama. (we live in Texas).

His wife has just been diagnosed with cancer of the liver this last week, and they are still looking for the primary site. Their lives have been turned upside down right when they should have been kicking back and relaxing.

Sorry to hear this, Alan.

We all seem to project our life spans as going into our 90s for purposes of how long we want our $$ to last, but then the flip side of that is the 61 year old with a bleak diagnosis.

 

[NW-Bound]

I hear you. I am not opposed to working if I can do it from a surf shop or dance studio while within close enough proximity to my Latin girlfriend for a quick nooner, but to freeze my butt off here in the Northeast for another 10 years while living like a monk?
I'm going to pull the trigger when I feel the time, the money, the challenges left at work, the BS bucket, and the access to or the lack therefore of ladies here in the Northeast have all tipped the balance to pulling the trigger.

I don't know you that well, but from your past posts, don't think you've been living like a monk.

Anyway, each person's tipping point is different. My situation is different than many, because I have separated from the megacorp umbilical cord nearly 15 years ago, and my part-time work is without the stress that most workers have.

I am seeing another example of leaving it too late right now. My tennis partner and good friend has been putting off retiring "one more year" for the 6 years I've known him. He is 64 and his wife is 61 and retired on a good pension from the State a year ago. My friend was "definitely" going to retire next year and start spending more time with their kids and grandkids in Alabama. (we live in Texas).

His wife has just been diagnosed with cancer of the liver this last week, and they are still looking for the primary site. Their lives have been turned upside down right when they should have been kicking back and relaxing.

That is really sad. Still the question for one to ask himself is if he were diagnosed to die soon, would he have any regrets? In my case, I don't think I will have any. I mean that my bucket list is empty. I add only one to the list at a time, then try to cross that off asap. Wanted RV. Got that. Want to go to Alaska. That's next. What comes after that? I dunno yet.

I call this the bus-scenario, as in, getting hit by a bus. There are many who first go for a 4% SWR, then decide that's too risky and work for another N years to get to 3%... then this is not safe enough either, so they go for 2%. At some point, the risk of getting hit by a bus is higher than the financial risk.

From my perspective, the worst thing than could happen financially is having to go back to work along with millions of others. As FIRE or FIRE-wannabes we have much more liquid assets than the median person. We can take huge hits and still only be back at the median.

Of course if someone keeps working one more year because they like it then that's a perfectly reasonable argument.

Yes, at some point, one must say that he has enough to be safe. But that requires a bit more planning and controllability on the expense side. Though I am fairly frugal, I am also a bit sloppy and have not really figured out how much I will need or spend. By working part-time, I buy myself some time to try to figure that out. What if there are more things I will like to do and they cost more money than I thought?

And in between leisure activities or travel, I like to take breaks and do some work. Yes, it is true! Shouldn't fun also be rationed? Would something fun lose its allure if you do that everyday? And work, if it involves creativity, can be just as fun as a hobby, the difference being one can get paid for the former. And it allows some time to rest to think about what one can do next for recreation. Right now, I already know I want to drive my RV up to Alaska, but that has to wait until next summer. I need to do a bit of research to know where to go, what to see when I get there. That research in itself is a fun thing to do, and takes some time too. Spending too much time in pursuit of a leisure and it can feel like work to me.

 

[chinaco]

I believe this phenomenon is why people you see certain reports that show people spend less as they age (excluding medical)... they reduce discretionary spending.

That quote is exactly how I look at the issue! Scrape and save all one's life and die with a fortune... only to have (excuse the term... describes the financial behavior not the person) some numskull (be it child, relative... whomever) just piss it away!

What's more important to you, working longer acquiring more wealth or retiring and enjoying the remaining time you have?

BTW... the "Piss It Away" comment (and likelihood of that occurring) is almost enough to entice parents to put the estate in a Trust with Rules...

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

OK, NW-bound, you got me, most monk can't salsa, merengue, and bachata the way I do. Call me the dancing monk then. LOL. Seriously though, there is a big difference between chasing and hanging out with the ladies, getting their phone numbers, and closing the deals which are not easy to close. Frankly, there are offers, but some I just don't want to close.

 

[Alan]

ER is not for everyone for sure, but I suggest that FI is. My brother in Australia still loves his career job (he is 53) and he gets a generous vacation alowance along with it to pursue his out of work activities.

I know a few folks who are ESR'ed and also they enjoy their jobs. They could stop at any time but see no reason to.

 

[robls]

From the Frugal Living in Retirement website, they have an article titled,
Can I Retire Early?...Read this and ask yourself again.
And a response from a mathematics website,
Retiring early means a longer life - an urban myth?
Wonder how many other facts are mis-represented?

 

[RonBoyd]

And a response from a mathematics website,
Retiring early means a longer life - an urban myth?

I couldn't make the Link work. Is this the Website/Article?

Retiring early means a longer life – an urban myth? :: squareCircleZ

(Not to dilute your point, though, because it seems well-placed.)

 

[flyfishnevada]

ER is not for everyone for sure, but I suggest that FI is. My brother in Australia still loves his career job (he is 53) and he gets a generous vacation alowance along with it to pursue his out of work activities.

I know a few folks who are ESR'ed and also they enjoy their jobs. They could stop at any time but see no reason to.

Of course, some people thrive in careers they love and continue to engage in those after "retirement". Those that don't love their job are probably doing themselves a grave (no pun intended) disservice to continue working to make a little more money and feel a little safer.

From the Frugal Living in Retirement website, they have an article titled,
Can I Retire Early?...Read this and ask yourself again.
And a response from a mathematics website,
Retiring early means a longer life - an urban myth?
Wonder how many other facts are mis-represented?

I don't know that length of life is as important as quality of life, which is hard to measure, and there can be no doubt that the earlier you retire the more quality years you will spend in retirement, no matter what age you die, than if you were to retire later in life.

 

[robls]

I couldn't make the Link work. Is this the Website/Article?

Retiring early means a longer life – an urban myth? :: squareCircleZ

(Not to dilute your point, though, because it seems well-placed.)

The link works fine on my end.

 

[RonBoyd]

The link works fine on my end.

And so it does... this morning. Hmmmm.

 

[Moscyn]

ER is not for everyone for sure, but I suggest that FI is.

Well said and definitely agree with this. Those who like their jobs should feel free to continue and decide when to stop. I know some people who like to work past the retirement age. For me, I like ER as I realise that even at the "young" age of 50, I thought I could do certain things I planned to do when I retire but found out recently that I could not.

Also, thanks for introducing the link to Frugal Retirement Living - interesting articles.

 

[Nords]

Gary Pierce posted a comment today with my "frugality vs deprivation" post on The Military Guide blog. I'd forgotten this thread so I rediscovered his site all over again.

I like his explanation of how a nearly-computer-illiterate ER can get taken by the promises of website hosting and "easy setup". Looks like he made several false starts, eventually paid a service about $300 to get going, and has since managed to ramp up to ~$1000/month in ad revenue. (Ironically Firefox/Adblock ensured that I hardly saw any of 'em.) It also looks like that extra income helped carry their ER through the 2008-09 recession. By then they'd been ER'd for 15 years and they weren't interested in going back to work.

With every blog post I put up, Wordpress keeps suggesting related posts from other blogs. I've stumbled across military and early-retirement corners of the Internet that I never knew existed...

 

[Skye]

I think I would rather regret leaving too early, than leaving too late.

 

[Danmar]

ER is not for everyone for sure, but I suggest that FI is. My brother in Australia still loves his career job (he is 53) and he gets a generous vacation alowance along with it to pursue his out of work activities.

I know a few folks who are ESR'ed and also they enjoy their jobs. They could stop at any time but see no reason to.

I agree with this. ER depends on how much money you have (FI) plus how much you enjoy or don't enjoy your job along with the desire to do other things. Work is not a four letter word for everyone. Furthermore, once retired, LBYM seems less than optimal to me. I guess determining means is always a challenge, ie making sure you don't run out of money. Different story during the accumulation phase for sure.