Keep going, as many readers do, and you can save closer to 75% of what you make – especially for those with above-average incomes.īut then what do I do with all the money? That should do it – about half of your expenses, gone in one paragraph. Learn to appreciate the life-boosting joy of using your own body to get things done. Give your kids the opportunity to achieve greatness without being pampered. Don’t borrow money for cars, and don’t buy stupid ones. Move to another city if you enjoy adventure. Start by getting rid of your Debt Emergency if you have one. Here’s how to cut your life costs in half. Is that all too fluffy and philosophical? OK, fine. And the earlier you can accept it, the sooner you will be rich. This is not a fringe activity anymore – millions of people are fixing their lives these days. Far from being a social outcast, this new perspective will make you a hero among your friends. No matter what the herd or the TV set tells you, this is the truth. Happiness comes from many sources, but none of these sources involve car or purse upgrades. The bottom line is this: by focusing on happiness itself, you can lead a much better life than those who focus on convenience, luxury, and following the lead of the financially illiterate herd that is the TV-ad-absorbing Middle Class of the United States (and other rich countries) today. Our son was born shortly afterwards, and he’s about to have his eleventh birthday party. So remember my freaky magician story up in the first paragraph? There was not really any magic – my wife and I just saved about 66% of our pay without really noticing it, and in under ten years we woke up and realized we didn’t have to work for a living any more. If you can save 75%, your working career is only 7 years. If you already have some assets now, you’re even closer than that. The ONLY way.Īnd the effects are surprising: if you can save 50% of your take-home pay starting at age 20, you’ll be wealthy enough to retire by age 37. What happens when you can save more of your income? As it turns out, spending much less money than you bring in is the way to get rich. Sound like a fantasy? Not t o readers of this blog. Money Mustache’s advice? Almost all of that is nonsense: Your current middle-class life is an Exploding Volcano of Wastefulness, and by learning to see the truth in this statement, you will easily be able to cut your expenses in half – leaving you saving half of your income. And pray that nothing goes wrong in the 40 years of career work that it will take to get yourself enough savings to enjoy a brief retirement. The standard line is that life is hard and expensive, so you should keep your nose to the grindstone, clip coupons, save hard for your kids’ college educations, then tuck any tiny slice of your salary that remains into a 401(k) plan. If you get through every link, you’ll be well-equipped to fix most of your life – just like that.įor almost nine years, I’ve been preaching a different brand of financial advice from what you see in the newspapers and magazines. You can right-click any of those links and open them in a new tab for later. We’ll start with a rant, which links to a bunch of other stuff. Money Mustache writes some useful stuff and many people are building happy, wealthy lives for themselves using his advice”, they are saying, “but I am a busy person. Most people arrive with the same question: I’m writing this post to use as kind of a permanent “Hello!”, since at any given moment in time, about half of the readers of this blog are pretty new, and casting around wondering where to start on a giant site like this with over 500 published articles. It was only after quitting the rat race that we looked around and realized why we had become financially independent while most people, even with higher incomes, end up stuck needing to work until age 65 or later. We did this on two normal salaries with no lottery winnings or Silicon Valley buyout windfalls, by living what we thought was a wonderful and fulfilling existence. I’m the freaky financial magician who retired along with a lovely wife at age 30 in order to start a family, as well as start living a great life.
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