The Guide to Financial Freedom

[Scuba]

I dunno, seems like a lot of work and deprivation in order to have a good retirement. Of course I agree with pay yourself first, and LBYM, but the caveat was to earn more. It was a lot easier to just make sure the career you liked made a lot more money than you would spend and find one that had a pension. Then invest the extra in what you know and of course get company matches and leave retirement funds to grow. My biggest issue was not knowing what career to choose, so coming from a strictly blue collar family, and the first to attend college, with a math bent I chose engineering. I should have chosen finance but knew nothing about it at age 18. I’ve never not had a mortgage my whole working career, and the only advice I ever got was buy the most house you can afford, but make sure it is in the right place. You typically make money on a house based on percentages. The cliche of the 3 important things for buying a house is true. Buy in the location that everyone wants, especially if you can before they know it. The least I ever made on a house was the cheapest house I ever bought. The most was the one that forced me to be the most frugal because I could barely afford it. But a 100% profit on a $300k house is twice that of a $150k house, which doesn’t even remotely get eaten up in the short time I’ve owned the house. Taking inflation in to account, I still have a much smaller mortgage than I did starting my career, but live in a home many times nicer than that first one, and never used any money but that initial investment in the first home. (I will say I always was a significant DIYer so rarely ever paid anyone to do anything I couldn’t to improve the homes for resale. That line item I agree with a lot. )

Those made way more difference than brown bagging and not doing things I would enjoy because they cost money as the main criteria. And I’ve saved a lot of money using credit card programs for many years. I’d never pay $4500 each for business class to Europe but wise use of CCs gets me them for basically free. Sorry to be the counter thought here.

BTW, I love that SNL skit. I had never seen it before!

I agree with your points. I think LBYM and pay yourself first are good principles, in moderation. Balance this by choosing a career that will support the lifestyle you desire. I never did a lot of DIY around the house, but I did work really hard at a corporate job that enabled me to pay others to do these things for me. If I had spent more time on learning DIY home repairs, I wouldn’t have had the energy to become a C-level executive. And prudent use of debt has allowed me to grow my net worth significantly more than I would have by paying off my 3.375% fixed rate mortgage. As another poster said, YMMV. There isn’t just one path to financial freedom.

 

[DrRoy]

Good list. I would add minimize investing fees in every way possible.

 

[JoeWras]

When Megacorp raised the price of vending machine coffee from $0.15 to $0.25, I decided it was time to save money and started bringing my coffee in to work in a Thermos.

It all adds up. The coffee was better too.

 

[DektolMan]

+1

Be fortunate enough to find a mate that feels the same way about saving and retirement. If one is pulling the cart with the brakes set, it doesn't go far. A great body is fine, but a great mind is much better!!!

 

[SomedaySoon]

I am getting a vision of a "Brown Bagging" poll in our future...…..

 

[O2Bfree]

Start this young: take good care of your teeth! Cavities lead to crowns, which often lead to the need for implants, which are darned expensive, especially if you've lost bone and need grafts first. Of course, you don't have to get implants, or you could get them in another country, but the whole thing is best avoided.

 

[scrabbler1]

Start this young: take good care of your teeth! Cavities lead to crowns, which often lead to the need for implants, which are darned expensive, especially if you've lost bone and need grafts first. Of course, you don't have to get implants, or you could get them in another country, but the whole thing is best avoided.

Amen to that. I didn't take good care of my teeth for a few years in my 20s, and I needed a lot of work later in my 20s, leading to 2 costly crowns in my 40s. Other than the crowns, my good dental insurance coverage paid for most of the wok. The crowns they paid only half.

I haven't needed much dental work in the last 10 years since I ERed, which is good because I no longer have any dental insurance coverage. So, make sure you take care of your teeth in your working years when you still have insurance coverage.

 

[cooch96]

You subscribe to *AARP*?

They should probably be subscribing to you...

+1. I heartily concur with Amethyst.

 

[cooch96]

My “Eureka” moment was shortly after introducing myself to this forum and everyone jumped on me for having a friend of the family as my FA. I think the deciding post was when someone asked why I would ever give someone else that much power over my life, my family, and our future. I dumped him, read several of the books on the FIRE reading list, and in four years my NW went from 350k to nearly double comma.

 

[Lukeee]

Set a goal on paper where you can physically see and track progress. For it it was a spreadsheet created 14 years ago with quarterly/annual goals. It helped nudge me in the right direction when we contemplated 1 vs. 2 cars. Upgrading to a bigger house... etc.

 

[bevette]

12. Marry a very rich woman/guy and skip steps 1-11.

I actually remember hearing Dr. Phil give this advice on his TV show once. As crass as it sounds, it’s actually a legitimate path to FI, albeit one I wouldn’t pursue myself.

 

[Oz investor]

I actually remember hearing Dr. Phil give this advice on his TV show once. As crass as it sounds, it’s actually a legitimate path to FI, albeit one I wouldn’t pursue myself.

it takes out all the sense of achievement , and would such a pairing work

( selecting a partner by the size of their financial assets )

 

[rayinpenn]

I actually remember hearing Dr. Phil give this advice on his TV show once. As crass as it sounds, it’s actually a legitimate path to FI, albeit one I wouldn’t pursue myself.

Legitimate? Well I don’t know. Had my wife adopted this approach we would never had been married. I will be the first to say having a pile certainly can make life easier. However having money was not in my “search criteria’ for choosing a spouse. I guess I did a good job 25 years ago because For my last three operations (Neck, 2 knees) the Mrs was my personal servant and stood next to me and help my into the shower. She said with me she felt I had good prospects.

 

[cooch96]

I actually remember hearing Dr. Phil give this advice on his TV show once. As crass as it sounds, it’s actually a legitimate path to FI, albeit one I wouldn’t pursue myself.

DM always told little sister, “it’s just as easy to love a rich man as it is to love a poor man. Find a rich man to love.” Little sister never listened.

I did pursue this line of thought and would quip, “I’m looking for a hot doctor that likes to cook and clean.” I actually found and dated a few such creatures, but there wasn’t much chemistry. And two of them were actually pet veterinarians, while I’m terribly allergic to cats. i ended up with a sweet and kind woman who, after 10 years, still laughs at all my jokes. And it took 8 long and patient years, but she’s learned to pay her bills and not spend $100/week at Starbucks.

So I think “gold-digging” is excellent, practical advice. Just don’t use wealth as the driving factor in selecting a mate.

 

[brucethebroker]

Learn the ins and outs of IRS tax code. Sounds boring, but it can bring in huge savings. Why give extra $ to your "rich uncle (Sam)" when you legally do not have to. 30-40 years of even tiny savings really add up.

 

[Walt34]

I actually remember hearing Dr. Phil give this advice on his TV show once. As crass as it sounds, it’s actually a legitimate path to FI, albeit one I wouldn’t pursue myself.

When dating this was one concern that I did have. While I was by no means wealthy, I did have a steady job that was virtually immune from layoffs and had a decent pension. There were some women who were clearly looking for a meal ticket and I was anxious to avoid those.

 

[Amethyst]

I recall being pursued by at least three different, very young men, just out of the service, who had managed to marry, sire two kids, acquire a townhouse, and get divorced, all in their 4 years in the military. One wonders when they had time to do their military jobs. Anyway, it was a common scenario and young women like me were catnip to them. They needed help paying the mortgage!

They couldn't understand why I wasn't interested.

When dating this was one concern that I did have. While I was by no means wealthy, I did have a steady job that was virtually immune from layoffs and had a decent pension. There were some women who were clearly looking for a meal ticket and I was anxious to avoid those.

 

[6miths]

Start this young: take good care of your teeth! Cavities lead to crowns, which often lead to the need for implants, which are darned expensive, especially if you've lost bone and need grafts first. Of course, you don't have to get implants, or you could get them in another country, but the whole thing is best avoided.

Good advice. The younger generation has benefited greatly from fluoride. I had infinitely more cavities than my 4 kids combined!

 

[Souschef]

I was blessed to marry a lady who in her early days, had a "clicker" to add up her grocery purchases. She was on a tight budget, and never forgot that lesson.
. She had been warned by her sons not to tell anyone what her assets were, which was good advice.
Early in our relationship she was told by her friends I was "too good to be true".
Well, when our relationship deepened I felt it was time to let her know I had a few bucks.
Fast forward 11 years, now retired for 9 years, with a nest egg North of $2 Mil.
Life is good!

 

[ERD50]

...

Beyond that, I'll add 2 suggestions. Notwithstanding credit card rebates, pay for restaurant meals and gifts with cash or debit card. ...

Why the heck would I ignore credit card rebates? That's money, which is kinda important to "Financial Freedom".

My Costco card provides 3% cash rebate at restaurants. Recently, I had acquired a $100 bill, and many places don't accept anything bigger than a $20, but a restaurant will. Then I thought, why the heck should I use the bill there, and lose out on $3 of CC rewards? So the next time I was at the bank, I just had it changed for 20's and 5's.

-ERD50