My wife and I were able to FIRE in our early 30's thanks to you all!!

[ponchoape]

Hi everyone!

3.5 years ago I registered an account here and made this post:
27 and dreaming of retirement in 5 years. Am I crazy?

I would like to post an update here that since that original post, my wife and I worked hard and were able to save up $1M!!

We calculated that we're comfortable living on a 3-4% withdrawal rate of $1M and FIRE'd in March! With our new-found freedom, our first adventure was to drive down to Costa Rica from California. After a bunch of research and planning, we sold most of our things in California, ended the lease on our rented home, and packed up our truck and drove down here!

Now we're here - currently renting a house next to the beach in Costa Rica, simply enjoying life!

Just wanted to say hello, send positive vibes to all and thank everyone on this forum for their help and inspiration!

If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer anything!

 

[Jackietime]

Congratulations!!!

 

[folivier]

Fantastic and if things don't work out like you planned you're still young enough to re-enter the w*rk market again.
Enjoy what you've earned!

 

[Terryjm51]

Just curious are you living by 4% rule
If that's the case your living under 40k a year in Mexico ?
What is yearly spend in that country


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[soupcxan]

Good for you, though $1M for two people + kids seems a bit tight to me, even in Costa Rica. What is your budget?

 

[travelover]

Congratulations. What will you do all day?

 

[ponchoape]

Thank you all!!

Just curious are you living by 4% rule
If that's the case your living under 40k a year in Mexico ?
What is yearly spend in that country

We're aiming for somewhere between 3-4%. Best case scenario is 3%, which is what we're optimistically trying for.

We took 34 days to travel through Mexico, and the total costs for both of us traveling was $3,181.60 ($93.58 per day - which is the equivalent of $34,155 per year)

Good for you, though $1M for two people + kids seems a bit tight to me, even in Costa Rica. What is your budget?

Yearly budget is 3-4% of our portfolio, which right now is $30,000 - $40,000 per year. No kids yet, but we're ready for it and are optimistic we can stay within budget when the time comes. We'll likely end up trimming the travel budget. Time will tell!

Congratulations. What will you do all day?

Thanks! Hrmm, so far today we woke up, did some morning reading/internet browsing, had a nice phone call with my parents and wished my mom happy birthday, we made a nice big breakfast, took a dip in the backyard pool, practiced spanish on my phone while relaxing in the hammock, went surfing at the beach for a couple hours, and now making a nice lunch and checking this forum post!

Look forward to reading more of my audiobook this afternoon, will probably do some stretches on the yoga mat later, maybe watching some downloaded tv episodes later, and might go for a run on the beach before sun-down. Lots to do! Staying fit and eating healthy are the top priorities.

 

[OrcasIslandBound]

Excellent! I have been wondering if people are too conservative in this forum, so it's nice to see people like yourselves maximizing the enjoyment of life and worrying a little less about being sooo of conservative. I'm going to try to learn from you.

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[TimSF]

Good for you guys. How's Costa Rica as a place to settle down for awhile?

 

[Ready]

Congratulations! That sounds quite romantic and adventurous! Please keep us informed of your thoughts on living in Costa Rica. I was just there a few months ago and I understand it's very affordable to live there and has quite a large expat community. I've heard great things from Americans who moved there.

 

[donheff]

Congrats. I would skip the kids on that budget.

 

[Greathusky74]

Congratulations! Stay healthy, wealthy and wise!

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Congratulations to you both! I retired in April at 59 and am loving it. But my 30 year old self is envying you


-BB

 

[Donzo]

To be so young and free - priceless! I'm so jealous!! At 30 I was hunkered down in mega pharma with 19 years more of w*rk ahead

Congrats you lucky kids!

 

[steady saver]

So, so happy for you!!

I'd really enjoy your moments. Things might change if you have children but you are young and can roll with the punches. As someone else said, at your age you may find something you really enjoy doing at some point and decide to earn some money with it. It might come in handy with children. We were pretty frugal but kids can be pricey. Mine are turning 20 and 22 and it hasn't ended yet since both are still in college.

I do applaud you for focusing on eating healthy foods and taking care of yourselves. Too many of us wait until a health issue causes us to be more proactive. That's both expensive and not so fun.

 

[FUEGO]

As I was reading this post, I was thinking about this couple that did the same thing and drove down to Costa Rica from Cali. They are blogging about it at Freedom With Bruno. Then I checked your profile and realized it's you.

We're about to wrap up our own 7 week trip in Mexico (we flew down).

Have fun in your adventures! I'm enjoying the blog updates. I was a little curious about your decision to drive all the way down and then have to check your car into long term storage. Was that a surprise requirement? I'm generally enjoying the car free life here in Mexico (even with 3 young kids!) and it often seems a car is more of a hassle than a benefit in the cities in Mexico.

I read through that original post you wrote 3 years ago and see that I commented back then. I was still working, but our portfolio gains pushed us into ER territory a couple years ago.

 

[ponchoape]

Good for you guys. How's Costa Rica as a place to settle down for awhile?

Costa Rica is good, and I would recommend it to anyone as a vacation. Different climates around the country. If we desired to settle down here, I would definitely want to become fluent in spanish to better connect with locals and grow some roots (right now we're getting kinda close to basic conversational spanish, but we've got a long ways to go).

Congratulations! That sounds quite romantic and adventurous! Please keep us informed of your thoughts on living in Costa Rica. I was just there a few months ago and I understand it's very affordable to live there and has quite a large expat community. I've heard great things from Americans who moved there.

I like Costa Rica a lot. No military, high standard of education, decent public health care, and excellent private health care. The climate in the highland valley around San Jose is ideal, but we wanted to be close to the beach, so it's more hot and humid where we are. I do believe there are large expat communities in the San Jose area.

Compared to California, housing is cheap, but everything else is around the same cost (if not more expensive). Anything imported into Costa Rica suffers high tariffs, so you need to try and buy local goods or your bank account will suffer the consequences.

As I was reading this post, I was thinking about this couple that did the same thing and drove down to Costa Rica from Cali. They are blogging about it at Freedom With Bruno. Then I checked your profile and realized it's you.

We're about to wrap up our own 7 week trip in Mexico (we flew down).

Have fun in your adventures! I'm enjoying the blog updates. I was a little curious about your decision to drive all the way down and then have to check your car into long term storage. Was that a surprise requirement? I'm generally enjoying the car free life here in Mexico (even with 3 young kids!) and it often seems a car is more of a hassle than a benefit in the cities in Mexico.

I read through that original post you wrote 3 years ago and see that I commented back then. I was still working, but our portfolio gains pushed us into ER territory a couple years ago.

Justin! Yes, that is our blog! Glad you're enjoying!

Hope you enjoyed your time in Mexico! You're an inspiration traveling with three kids. I've enjoyed your posts. Nice work!

It's a small world - thanks for your friendly and helpful advice three years ago! By the way, we're probably going to be heading towards Asheville, NC early next year sometime. I'll drop you a note when we're close and see if we cross paths.

Having to park our truck in Costa Rica: yes, this was indeed a surprise that we only realized when we were doing research in Nicaragua before we entered Costa Rica. In the chaos of all the planning and preparation for our huge trip back in California, I guess I failed to recognize that Costa Rica only issues Temporary Vehicle Import Permits for a maximum of 90 days with no renewals allowed (and we're saying 6 months). The solution is to park the car in a government parking lot for a few months. Annoying, but we're easily surviving with our bicycles.

 

[dallas27]

I take great issue with your title. Specifically the "thank you you all" part. You did it, no one else. You own the success and the "problems" that come with it. I am jealous of your age and being ahead of me by ten years, but one way or the other, you earned it and no one here did any of the heavy lifting to get you there.

Congratulations.

 

[unclemick]

Excellent! I have been wondering if people are too conservative in this forum, so it's nice to see people like yourselves maximizing the enjoyment of life and worrying a little less about being sooo of conservative. I'm going to try to learn from you.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

12k per year expenses. My all time el cheapo best (him and her). Fish camp in the Louisiana swamp. Over twenty years ago - not sure I could come close now.

Time in the market and my pals,age 70 1/2, IRS, RMD, course of history, etc mean we now pay more in taxes than that all time best yearly expense. They're trying to hep us avoid the illusion of taking it with us.

heh heh heh - Good luck and remember expenses are the main thing you have the most control over. Mr Market can get fickle for several years at a time from time to time.

 

[catotx]

Any budget for health insurance?

 

[FUEGO]

Hope you enjoyed your time in Mexico! You're an inspiration traveling with three kids. I've enjoyed your posts. Nice work!

We're taking it veeeerrrryyyy slow with the kids. Today, for example, we did about what you did. Futzed around, read some books, I walked to the grocery store and the market. Played some video games. Basically the same stuff I do at home. Kids read some, watched netflix, played games on their tablet.

We're packing up tonight to head back to Mexico City for our flight to Cancun tomorrow so it'll be our longest travel day of the whole trip. Fortunately we have a few hours to burn in Mexico City so the kids can get out, stretch their legs, and eat ice cream and tacos.

It's a small world - thanks for your friendly and helpful advice three years ago! By the way, we're probably going to be heading towards Asheville, NC early next year sometime. I'll drop you a note when we're close and see if we cross paths.

Please do! We're in Raleigh a few hours east of Asheville in case you're doing a big road trip and headed down our way.

Having to park our truck in Costa Rica: yes, this was indeed a surprise that we only realized when we were doing research in Nicaragua before we entered Costa Rica. In the chaos of all the planning and preparation for our huge trip back in California, I guess I failed to recognize that Costa Rica only issues Temporary Vehicle Import Permits for a maximum of 90 days with no renewals allowed (and we're saying 6 months). The solution is to park the car in a government parking lot for a few months. Annoying, but we're easily surviving with our bicycles.

Okay, that makes sense. Sucks you can't use the vehicle except 90 days during a stay but at least you got it figured out for a relatively modest cost. At least you got to use the truck and bed set up for the camping along the way south.

 

[LitGal]

Congratulations to you both! I retired in April at 59 and am loving it. But my 30 year old self is envying you


-BB

+1 (Though, for me, 59 was three years ago.) It sounds like your hard work, motivation, and careful planning are paying off! Please send updates to the forum, not only for the enjoyment of us older folk, but also to inspire your peers that FIRE IS possible.

Best wishes!

 

[Beachgrl]

Wow that is amazing congratulations!! I'm relatively new to the forum and am still finding my way around but this is a great success story. All the best for you and your wife in your new life!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Nice to hear from you and glad the trip is going well!

If you come through Charleston on your Carolinas leg, please give us a shout out. We have an old school bus that has been around the world and we plan to take it to South America in a few years, so I'd happily trade some Southern hospitality for some of your Central America road stories!

Congrats on reaching your goals!

 

[ponchoape]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to provide another followup update on our travels (if anyone is interested). We're alive and well, and we successfully drove our 4Runner all the way up from Costa Rica, through Mexico and now we're back in the US. So far so good! Everyone we've met along the way has been extremely friendly and helpful, and we've had no problems with corrupt police officers or anything. Maybe we've just had good luck?

As we've been driving through the US, we're currently searching for where our next home should be. We think we might settle in Asheville, NC.

If anyone has any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer!