Quit the world at 34 and now "broken" and refuse to go back

[HI Bill]

I guess in my opinion they are not FIRE'd, just free lance workers. To me that is not being "retired" but still being in the work force. They just aren't working for megacorp anymore. The story then is not all that interesting to me. It's not a "look at me I'm FIRE'd and traveling the world story". BS, they are traveling a lot but still working and hustling a great deal. So no RE.

+1.

 

[ncbill]

I'm too lazy to back 10 pages, but if I remember right, the OP said they were paying a lot for health insurance like everybody else. When one of our adult kids was low income, working part-time and going to school, they paid almost nothing, even in deductibles, for an ACA plan. So I'm curious to hear from the OP what kind of health insurance plan he has. I don't understand the small passive income, not seeming to work on the side hustles lately (maybe I got that part wrong since it was a long post) and still paying a lot for health insurance. Just curious what they are doing since affordable health insurance has been a thorny issue for us without DH's employer group insurance. Even with the ACA we have to watch our taxable income very close each year because of the cliff. One dollar too much and we lose $25K in subsidies.

Sure, I assumed they're using an ACA policy and are "over the cliff" given their rentals & part-time work.

But as I noted there are cheaper options for expats.

 

[ivinsfan]

Sure, I assumed they're using an ACA policy and are "over the cliff" given their rentals & part-time work.

But as I noted there are cheaper options for expats.

ACA only works in the domestic US..unless they carry both?

 

[brydanger]

How much do you compensate your friend-manager?

We pay what I believe to be going rate (8% plus lease-up and other fees).…. I would never look to pay an expert less because they also happen to be friend.
We also have a unit we rent short term… that’s a much higher rate due to the work involved. Typically 20% plus cleaning fees.

Do we make less money because of the fees, yes.
But when I said it was the best decision we ever made - thats because it also means we have zero stress involved.
When they go vacant they get filled and we find out after. When a repair needs to be made they hire someone to fix it and we find out after.

Based on numbers before and after management, we also either sucked at the role or were just too easy on tenants… we found that when we knew all the tenants it was harder to demand rent be paid on time, to raise rents at market rate, etc. I wouldn’t say the management pays for itself in those ways… but when you add in lack of stress, it does for us (or at least we wouldn’t do it any other way).

As a numbers kind of person, among other questions, I'm still curious what kind of health insurance plan the OP has and what the premiums and out of pocket max are. Health insurance costs and the often huge deductibles in the U.S. are one of the big obstacles many U.S. posters here have to plan for in order to retire early. We manage our taxable income to have ACA subsidies these days but still have something along the lines of a $14K out of pocket max exposure each year with our Bronze plan. I'm curious how the "It’s still not a huge amount of passive income" reconciles with retiring early and having health care expenses covered.

I guess I should say (after expenses like heath care, rental management, etc) its not a huge amount of passive income.
But I also live on a boat that floats off idyllic Caribbean Islands. All we really need is grocery money (and rum of course), and if the plan goes right and our tenants keep paying down the mortgages while we're away, it won't matter whether we want to stay here, move back to the states or explore some other unknown location... because that number will keep growing rapidly. Thank you US for creating a system that values the homeowner/real estate investor over any other!

Re Insurance:
I think we pay $350/mo each right now. Basically disaster only coverage (unfortunately)…

There was one month when we were in Mexico where we had the free “low income” state health plan, but neither of us felt good about that path so we opted out.

We are beginning to hear now from other travelers that we can probably save a good deal of money with an “outside the US only” plan, or simply by getting insurance through one of our LLCs… but haven’t yet looked into it.

Certainly, if anyone has a link to a thread here that might help that research we’d love to save some money there!

We are all swimming upstream after all. FIRE is not the norm as our friends, former co-workers and family members at times make clear. Surely we need not all swim in the same way.

Us Too. We didn’t even know it was an acronym until a new set of friends started using it a few months ago on the boat. Certainly didn't have anyone else in our lives driven by this type of crazy idea.

Luckily we did have one set of friends who invested in real estate and pointed us to ‘rich dad poor dad’… without that we’d still be working away miserably, or id be dead.

I do think it would be helpful to more clearly acknowledge the risk associated with your approach when encouraging others to take a similar leap. IMO your initial post focused more on the freedom and excitement that comes from throwing caution to the wind and following your dreams.

Fair enough.
Certainly no intent to leave risk out of the conversation… I guess I assume we all on a forum such as this know what those risks are and im not having to introduce them.
We, personally choose to focus more on the risk of “what if one of us dies tomorrow” than “what if we run out of money”, but no question both are risks on the table.

Now 7 years in - while Im not looking to go tomorrow (quite the contrary),
I can honestly say that I can go with my head held high and having ZERO regrets having lived life on our own terms and having spent 24/7 with my partner for all those years. Absolutely zero regrets.

If you asked me that before I would have been riddled with regret for spending so much time, energy and soul my entire life striving for nothing other than the dollar. To me, that’s was the biggest risk I can/could imagine.

I guess in my opinion they are not FIRE'd, just free lance workers. To me that is not being "retired" but still being in the work force. They just aren't working for megacorp anymore. The story then is not all that interesting to me. It's not a "look at me I'm FIRE'd and traveling the world story". BS, they are traveling a lot but still working and hustling a great deal. So no RE.

You guys are hilarious! Truly!
But luckily I didn’t come here looking for your sign-off of what I should call our status, or whether we’re somehow worthy of the term FIRE in your eyes.

In case I have yet written it enough times, or it was buried somewhere in the thread... I wrote here to try and help someone who needs it that feels trapped and might need a more creative way out (like we did)... and I am SO VERY hopeful that when those people do accidentally write in to the forum not knowing that it wasn't really built for anything other than one particular path to FIRE, that they get a better reception than we did!

but in terms of acrontms:
Maybe you missed the fact that we have a management company running our rentals and hiring out work for repairs? Yes, we took a couple months to do a couple bootstrapped projects right after two years of travel (which I earlier called “dire straits”) to move our rentals from not profiting to passive income every month… I guess to be fair I could have done some fancy "age-math" to move those months to “pre-retirement” and call it 35 years worked if you prefer…but whatever.

Maybe you also missed the fact that we haven’t taken a dime from a side project this year. Wait, since early July of last year, and that i’m doing things love for FREE.

Maybe you missed the fact that i’m CHOOSING to spend time doing designs, answering questions and sending paying clients back TO OTHERS in between snorkeling and sundowners.
Most would call that charity. I call that helping neighbors and trying to make sure I have some of friend free (sooner rather than later) to play with so we don’t find ourselves bored while they all have to stay at work for the next couple decades.

I seem to recall some other poster telling me earlier in the thread I'm should be giving back (i wholeheartedly agree but hadn't mentioned it yet), but apparently those soup kitchen hours she was referring to (paid or not) mean you’re not really FIRE worthy?

Honestly, that’s cool. Keep the acronym.
I don’t think it’s any different than when our friends tried to figure out what to call us when they realized DINK no longer applied because we didn't technically have incomes anymore.

Call it whatever you like actually…
We no longer work for anyone else, we no longer have to take projects for money (but I reserve the right to take one because it sounds like fun and fulfills a passion I haven't used enough in my life), and I sometime choose to spend my free time helping neighbors back home achieve a better state of FI and helping our friends reach happiness and/or RE sooner.

If you have a better acronym for that, by all means please send it along...
until then I think we’ll continue to use the labels FREE and HAPPY!

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Re Insurance:
I think we pay $350/mo each right now. Basically disaster only coverage (unfortunately)…

Is that an ACA plan?

 

[ivinsfan]

OP, it certainly sounds like you need a good accountant as well. Are your taxes on autopilot like your rental property. Do you have an Oregon address..I know Mn is particularly aggressive about trying to collect on income that's earned in state. It seem if you would need have complete faith in the professionals you hire. Even on autopilot you have to know what is going on.

 

[brydanger]

OP, it certainly sounds like you need a good accountant as well. Are your taxes on autopilot like your rental property. Do you have an Oregon address..I know Mn is particularly aggressive about trying to collect on income that's earned in state. It seem if you would need have complete faith in the professionals you hire. Even on autopilot you have to know what is going on.

Hey! You're back!!
You took almost am entire day off AND waited for a reply from me!

And an actual question?? Im looking... Re-reading... I know it's in there somewhere... Oh, no...its not.
And I had such faith you came back to the thread to actually add something constructive.


Anyway...
If I try REAL hard to imagine a question, I would imagine that you asked if I have a good accountant.
Yes, we do.

Im just guessing, but would imagine you'd also follow that up with, "Do you even pay all your taxes?"
Yes, yes we do.

And maybe somewhere in there was a "Do you trust and have compete faith in the professionals you hired to manage your properties and do your taxes?
Um, yes... why else would we have hired them?
One of the best lessons we learned from 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' - find the best professionals you can, pay them well and trust what they tell you
(or something like that, I'm paraphrasing)

And Im also guessing there was also a cloaked "Do you even bother to pay attention to what's happening with your properties and the income/future income you're counting on?"
Why yes, YES we do!

From there it's a little bit fuzzy... but IF you're somehow trying to use "auto-pilot" as a negative, please elaborate so I can better address your concerns.
Based on posts from others and basically my entire understanding of FIRE and/or passive income, I rather thought "autopilot" was the whole point - to amass enough savings (or in this case passive income paying properties) that you could sit back, put them on autopilot and let them do the rest.

 

[simple girl]

Now 7 years in - while Im not looking to go tomorrow (quite the contrary),
I can honestly say that I can go with my head held high and having ZERO regrets having lived life on our own terms and having spent 24/7 with my partner for all those years. Absolutely zero regrets.

If you asked me that before I would have been riddled with regret for spending so much time, energy and soul my entire life striving for nothing other than the dollar. To me, that’s was the biggest risk I can/could imagine.

Fair enough.

Hubby has enjoyed his job and wanted to keep working. If he had hated it I would have pressed him even harder to retire earlier. I did try, but he wanted to keep working. He wanted more security for us. He also has enjoyed work and until this year he really didn't have a strong urge to give it up.

He worries about what would happen to one of us if the other passed unexpectedly at an early age. It gives us both much comfort to know we have stashed enough away to allow the other partner to continue to be FIRED and focus upon healing without having significant financial worries on top of it.

When something happens to one of us we won't have any regrets about how we have lived our lives. We've really learned how to appreciate each day, and each other, no matter what we are doing.

That said, your story combined with my good friend recently passing and today learning my sister-in-law is soon expected to pass...both in their 50's...well...any doubts we had about retiring early are now completely erased.

Full steam ahead.

 

[brydanger]

Fair enough.

Hubby has enjoyed his job and wanted to keep working. If he had hated it I would have pressed him even harder to retire earlier. I did try, but he wanted to keep working. He wanted more security for us. He also has enjoyed work and until this year he really didn't have a strong urge to give it up.

He worries about what would happen to one of us if the other passed unexpectedly at an early age. It gives us both much comfort to know we have stashed enough away to allow the other partner to continue to be FIRED and focus upon healing without having significant financial worries on top of it.

When something happens to one of us we won't have any regrets about how we have lived our lives. We've really learned how to appreciate each day, and each other, no matter what we are doing.

That said, your story combined with my good friend recently passing and today learning my sister-in-law is soon expected to pass...both in their 50's...well...any doubts we had about retiring early are now completely erased.

Full steam ahead.

Wise on all fronts, especially when you enjoy what you do... why run away and add risk unless you're unhappy where you're currently at?

We had some of the same fears back while we were still working, especially as we started buying real estate because and the mortgages/debt started to become a very large number it also became clear that one income couldn't cover it alone.
We chose then to take out a large life insurance policy on each other... You never hope that day happens, but totally agree with you that financial woes shouldn't be added to the grieving.
Now, thankfully things have gotten to the point in the spectrum where they pay us rather than the other way around, so that's no longer a fear.

Im SO sorry to hear about both your friend and sister-in-law. Life is simply and truly too short.

Im glad you guys are living it happily, and stoked to hear you're already moving in the direction to make it even better!!

 

[simple girl]

Wise on all fronts, especially when you enjoy what you do... why run away and add risk unless you're unhappy where you're currently at?

We had some of the same fears back while we were still working, especially as we started buying real estate because and the mortgages/debt started to become a very large number it also became clear that one income couldn't cover it alone.
We chose then to take out a large life insurance policy on each other... You never hope that day happens, but totally agree with you that financial woes shouldn't be added to the grieving.
Now, thankfully things have gotten to the point in the spectrum where they pay us rather than the other way around, so that's no longer a fear.

Im SO sorry to hear about both your friend and sister-in-law. Life is simply and truly too short.

Im glad you guys are living it happily, and stoked to hear you're already moving in the direction to make it even better!!

Thank you for your kind words.

I agree with you wholeheartedly on all points!

 

[ivinsfan]

Hey! You're back!!
You took almost am entire day off AND waited for a reply from me!

And an actual question?? Im looking... Re-reading... I know it's in there somewhere... Oh, no...its not.
And I had such faith you came back to the thread to actually add something constructive.


Anyway...
If I try REAL hard to imagine a question, I would imagine that you asked if I have a good accountant.
Yes, we do.

Im just guessing, but would imagine you'd also follow that up with, "Do you even pay all your taxes?"
Yes, yes we do.

And maybe somewhere in there was a "Do you trust and have compete faith in the professionals you hired to manage your properties and do your taxes?
Um, yes... why else would we have hired them?
One of the best lessons we learned from 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' - find the best professionals you can, pay them well and trust what they tell you
(or something like that, I'm paraphrasing)

And Im also guessing there was also a cloaked "Do you even bother to pay attention to what's happening with your properties and the income/future income you're counting on?"
Why yes, YES we do!

From there it's a little bit fuzzy... but IF you're somehow trying to use "auto-pilot" as a negative, please elaborate so I can better address your concerns.
Based on posts from others and basically my entire understanding of FIRE and/or passive income, I rather thought "autopilot" was the whole point - to amass enough savings (or in this case passive income paying properties) that you could sit back, put them on autopilot and let them do the rest.

...
Dude take that chip off your shoulder..of course you pay taxes.Everyone does, autopilot means you set things up so you don't need to sweat the details, . I was curious about how the actual mechanics of your life work...if you find yourself tending to a lot of details or can relax completely and not sweat it. Since you can read my mind, I figured you'd get my point.. People wanting to follow your path might be curious about how to find professional help they have faith in. Did you have them all in place before you left the US. I have faith in my accountant too,but still read and study the things he does for me.

I don't care for your writing style much either...sorry I don't use more question marks Glad I gave you someone to unload on, Thanks for counting my posts and cherry picking all of them..... I don't have a ton of faith in you either..feel free to find another poster to mock. See ya..well not if I see you first.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Brydanger - We paid for health insurance for one of our young adult kids when they had a contract job without health insurance and didn't qualify for ACA subsidies. The premiums were around $350 a month. So I'm guessing since you stated your premiums are a similar amount, your plan is not subsidized and like the plan we paid for, and would also have around a $6K per person annual out of pocket max, or $13K+ for two?

If you qualified for a free low income health plan in Mexico, why you would not get subsidies with an ACA plan in the U.S.? Otherwise it seems like your small passive income, net of rental expenses since those are a deductible business expense, would be $65,850 or more? That doesn't seem like such a small passive annual income since it is more than the U.S. household median of $59K.

Just curious how you covering your health insurance aspect and potential exposure to the high deductibles and out of pocket maximums that come with catastrophic only health insurance.

 

[marko]

To each his own, but I'd think the OP would want to be out enjoying the fruits of his/her RE success rather than spending time composing 74 very lengthy (but well written) posts over the past 6 days preaching to the choir.

 

[brydanger]

Brydanger - We paid for health insurance for one of our young adult kids when they had a contract job without health insurance and didn't qualify for ACA subsidies. The premiums were around $350 a month. So I'm guessing since you stated your premiums are a similar amount, your plan is not subsidized and like the plan we paid for, and would also have around a $6K per person annual out of pocket max, or $13K+ for two?

If you qualified for a free low income health plan in Mexico, why you would not get subsidies with an ACA plan in the U.S.? Otherwise it seems like your small passive income, net of rental expenses since those are a deductible business expense, would be $65,850 or more? That doesn't seem like such a small passive annual income since it is more than the U.S. household median of $59K.

Just curious how you covering your health insurance aspect and potential exposure to the high deductibles and out of pocket maximums that come with catastrophic only health insurance.

All good questions that I clearly am not studied up on enough to answer well.
As embarrassed as I am to admit it... I had to google ACA last night to know what was being asked.

We've (clearly) never really thought/worried much about health care other than the fact we are required to have it. That was the only concern, as we always assume we'll just get local coverage somewhere when something pops up... now 7years later its a good reminder we should actually start caring/looking into it.

Back when we left it was a mess... we were well into Mexico when our employers' plans ran out and so we called/set things up from afar. Obviously that first year we had to pay for the minimum/disaster only plan.

The next year the "broker" (if thats what he would be called) suggested the ACA/free plan and we opted in but later opted out again. Some of my family and many people where I grew are on welfare despite not really needing to be and it left a bad taste in my mouth. We ran away from our jobs but still always felt like we should be "paying our own way" rather than someone else paying for us.
I guess that's why we also never put one of those "buy us a taco/beer" links up either... i'd rather someone fund their own happiness and leave me to fund my own.

Obviously since Mexico we've had some years where we would have qualified (for ACA) and some where we wouldn't... but we basically call the guy once a year and tell him to re-up whatever is most similar to the plan we had last (which seems to keep going up in price and changing to lesser quality insurers because in OR they keep going out of business every year).

Again... we're woefully undereducated in this area, but this is a good reminder that we're coming to an age where we should work under something other than the "ocean heals all" philosophy thats gotten us this far.

 

[MichaelB]

To each his own, but I'd think the OP would want to be out enjoying the fruits of his/her RE success rather than spending time composing 74 very lengthy (but well written) posts over the past 6 days preaching to the choir.

We’re grateful the OP joined the community to share their story. Members enjoy reading and exploring their foundations. While some may see that as challenging the narratives, it really is nothing more then looking at how they’re built to see how easily they can be replicated.

One element that distinguishes our community is our understanding of how to achieve financial independence that is sustainable and replicable.

 

[24601NoMore]

Maybe I just missed it in all the many posts on the thread, but I think it'd be helpful to many if OP were to share more details on the financial mechanics of how this all works - ie: what are his rough annual expenses? Passive income flow?

Unless I'm missing something obvious, it'd take quite a few rental properties (to the tune of millions of dollars in acquisition cost) to generate enough income to pay for the $500K+ boat, non-subsidized HC and other expenses. Given OP apparently went from living in a van and being near broke to that type of (presumably multi-million dollar) RE portfolio, there's probably some interesting and perhaps valuable lessons in how that was achieved that would be helpful to others. Especially as many have rightly pointed out that it is typically very difficult to make much of a "real" return on RE properties after management fees, property taxes, building upkeep, mortgage payments, etc. So, some details would be illuminating..

 

[brydanger]

To each his own, but I'd think the OP would want to be out enjoying the fruits of his/her RE success rather than spending time composing 74 very lengthy (but well written) posts over the past 6 days preaching to the choir.

Ha! Well said!! Though, seems the same holds true for you, no?
Funny enough, if those of us who already reached the "fruits of our labor" were only out enjoying them the forum would be empty.

Oddly, the only reason I had time to write the original post much less responding was that we've been held up in Carriacou watching the annual regatta and now without winds. We were literally sitting on the deck for a few days waiting for next wave of raceboats to come by and it was all too easy to check in (I haven't been spoiled with decent wifi in a loooong time).

And don't worry... I'm still spending half my day snorkeling/underwater, watching sunrise and sunset with DW and the dog, and without question living my best life!


Luckily (for all of us I'm sure) we're heading out for remote islands again soon... so this will have to just trail off as it probably should have 2 days ago.

But again, in case it still hasn't been understood...
The idea/intent was never to "preach to the choir"...
The entire premise was to show an example to those still working towards the fruit who might need a bit of inspiration and/or at least to see that there are more options than just the single path usually outlined.

 

[marko]

We’re grateful the OP joined the community to share their story. Members enjoy reading and exploring their foundations. While some may see that as challenging the narratives, it really is nothing more then looking at how they’re built to see how easily they can be replicated.

One element that distinguishes our community is our understanding of how to achieve financial independence that is sustainable and replicable.

Well put. Thanks

 

[simple girl]

We've (clearly) never really thought/worried much about health care other than the fact we are required to have it. That was the only concern, as we always assume we'll just get local coverage somewhere when something pops up... now 7years later its a good reminder we should actually start caring/looking into it.

....

Again... we're woefully undereducated in this area, but this is a good reminder that we're coming to an age where we should work under something other than the "ocean heals all" philosophy thats gotten us this far.

Yes indeed. In 2011 at the age of 43 I was suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer after an annual screening mammogram. I felt completely healthy and had absolutely NO CLUE what was brewing inside my body. I am so thankful for that mammogram. It literally saved my life, IMO. I underwent serious treatment (bilateral mastectomy, radiation, and chemo) which cost a pretty penny but saved my life. Very, very thankful we had good coverage and I was able to get the best treatment possible. I went from barely using insurance to maxing out the out of pocket several years in a row. However, my insurance company paid out WAY more than us! Unreal how much it costs for serious care.

You guys are right around the age at which I was diagnosed. It's definitely imperative for you to investigate your coverage better. Glad you are getting something helpful out of this thread!

 

[Aerides]

But again, in case it still hasn't been understood...
The idea/intent was never to "preach to the choir"...
The entire premise was to show an example to those still working towards the fruit who might need a bit of inspiration and/or at least to see that there are more options than just the single path usually outlined.

But that's where I don't think you understand - this is the choir you have joined here, we've seen that movie. ER.org has thousands of members, with many different lifestyles, and ways of achieving FI and RE if they want.

Many members either are doing or have done the off-grid RV/boat/island lifestyle. They might not be as prolific as you have been this past week but they are definitely here.

Whether going with Real Estate, or Gov't jobs, Military and Private sector pensions, Entrepreneurs and 401k/Mega Corp folks, etc. Or folks that mixed a little of everything over their careers, building their own way. Every story and introduction shows something a little different. Anyone who spends a little time here already knows that there are many paths, and many members on most of them. And many sources of inspiration.

 

[brydanger]

Maybe I just missed it in all the many posts on the thread, but I think it'd be helpful to many if OP were to share more details on the financial mechanics of how this all works - ie: what are his rough annual expenses? Passive income flow?

Unless I'm missing something obvious, it'd take quite a few rental properties (to the tune of millions of dollars in acquisition cost) to generate enough income to pay for the $500K+ boat, non-subsidized HC and other expenses. Given OP apparently went from living in a van and being near broke to that type of (presumably multi-million dollar) RE portfolio, there's probably some interesting and perhaps valuable lessons in how that was achieved that would be helpful to others. Especially as many have rightly pointed out that it is typically very difficult to make much of a "real" return on RE properties after management fees, property taxes, building upkeep, mortgage payments, etc. So, some details would be illuminating..

I'll do my best... but that's gonna take a bit more time to pull together to be of any help to anyone (and the DW/captain is already hinting that I should be prepping the boat for our departure)

In a nutshell, you're right about the need of a high value portfolio
Where you're incorrect about the premise of a high acquisition costs.

That's the beauty of real estate vs the market especially before the banking crisis, and when both still working salaried jobs... Cost of entry was zero to low (meaning zero for my first home and low for our first investment property... even though that cash for that investment came out of the refi of the first home).


Think of it this way (nutshell)... even in today's stricter banking rules:
- If I take that cash to the real estate market, I pay a downpayment of 50k and get a 200k investment
- If I want to invest $50k in the stock market I get a 50K investment (if anyone has a stock broker who will match your 50k with 150k of their own like my bank will on real estate let me know and ill change over right now).

Assuming the real estate market and the stock market kept even similar rates of increase (x%) over the last 10-15years, I'm gaining x% on a 200k investment every year while the stocks/bonds I could have purchased are only earning x% on 50k.

Add into that the write-offs, depreciation, the equity gained as someone else pays off those properties, etc and it can be a very good proposition indeed (especially if you found yourself investing in a real estate market that did as well as Portland has over the last 10-15years, certainly better than my 401k did in those years... thats for sure)

Now let's go back to the same investments... maybe 3 years later.
- My bank is actively writing me letters offering to LOWER my interest rate if I pull money out of the real estate investment, which means I get to keep paying roughly the same mortgage every month but suddenly have another check for 50k (or more).
Obviously there is rent, management and risk to factor in... which is why this isn't for everyone - but i'm now putting that 50k into another 200k investment that has me gaining x% a year on 400k in 3 years time.
- First, there's no way my original stock purchase is now 400k and making the same return in only 3years... Second, if I try to pull 50k out to "reinvest" I just moved money around and probably took a hit and paid fees to do it. There's no way my broker is going to call me and offer a better return and a check for 50k, and there's no way i'm going to double down to 400k.


That process repeated; along with plenty of hard work, projects and creativity after working hours to maximize the value of those investments is essentially how we gained our portfolio over the years.

I read that someone else on here called themselves a "work mercenary". I think I had the exact same mentality... but while I crushed it working all day for my employer, we then went home and spent as many hours as we had left crushing it for ourselves instead.

There's no attempt at all to sugar coat this at all... as I have written about earlier, even years into the process when we left to travel we were still not yet making money each month (and had the risk of an absurd amount of personal debt that would make most people ill).

Risk is indeed very high... but a few years later, when the passive income machine starts working for you; you look back and wish you had had the guts to make that number even higher. To me... any stock that I could have hoped for similar high returns from (I dunno, Tesla, Bitcoin, Homegrocer maybe back in the day) would have been an equally high risk, but lead me without the control to alter the course as things changed.

In our case, when we started all this there was nobody to look up to or to follow or even know there was a path. We had to pave our own way and hope for the best.

It seems to have turned out alright and that's what prompts me now to write here and in other places... hoping that if someone else is out there trying to figure out what to do with that first 50k check they've saved (hopefully after already maxing out a 401k employer match, mind you), that they at least know that there are multiple paths and each one of us gets to choose their own as it best fits them...

 

[brydanger]

But that's where I don't think you understand - this is the choir you have joined here, we've seen that movie. ER.org has thousands of members, with many different lifestyles, and ways of achieving FI and RE if they want.

On the contrary... that's exactly what I had been told and had understood to be true about this forum, which is why I joined and have been attempting to actively contribute to the community, both in this thread and beyond.


And in this thread i've been attempting to do exactly what you just said makes the community so helpful:

Every story and introduction shows something a little different. Anyone who spends a little time here already knows that there are many paths, and many members on most of them. And many sources of inspiration.

The only thing I haven't yet figured out (though several theories have been tossed around) is why, while many of those on the forum seem to appreciate yet another story/perspective/path... a small handful seem to be completely overrun with angst and offense that such words would possibly be spoken.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

The only thing I haven't yet figured out (though several theories have been tossed around) is why, while many of those on the forum seem to appreciate yet another story/perspective/path... a small handful seem to be completely overrun with angst and offense that such words would possibly be spoken.

Jealousy perhaps, not having the resources others have really upsets some people. Others maybe simply do not like the life but cannot resist commenting, instead of keeping quiet and just moving on. Others maybe are just bored, others may not know better. It is the internet after all, no consequences, one can say what one likes.

Personally I am in the if you have nothing to say, then don't.

 

[MichaelB]

The only thing I haven't yet figured out (though several theories have been tossed around) is why, while many of those on the forum seem to appreciate yet another story/perspective/path... a small handful seem to be completely overrun with angst and offense that such words would possibly be spoken.

There’s neither angst nor offense. Some members want to understand more, peel back the onion, see the details. This has been explained. If you don’t want to engage with them, don’t complain about it, just ignore and move on.

 

[Bestwifeever]

There’s neither angst nor offense. Some members want to understand more, peel back the onion, see the details. This has been explained. If you don’t want to engage with them, don’t complain about it, just ignore and move on.

Yes, this is one of the things I love about this forum, the many personalities who post here in many different styles. After awhile you often know who is posting without looking at their name.

I appreciate especially those who continue drilling until all the facts are out there and often there is more to consider than the initial presentation--then we see there is a working spouse, or family money, or a heavily monetized blog, or the infamous "side hustle" that earns more money than an initial career. Nothing wrong with any of those, and they are more interesting than most of our retirement stories of "We worked hard at a regular job until our family was raised and we had enough money" but they really change the game when a new poster seems to be urging young readers to follow the leader into his retirement waters. The choir (or lumpen slums of cyberspace as we've notably been called) is still interested, and asking to know more, even in a manner that the OP might find offensive but that we are used to, doesn't change that.

Plus, pretty photos--who doesn't love tropical paradises! OP should post some on the travel forum or the recent photo, maybe in January when Chicago is looking at 20 below....