38-year-old millionaire shares 5 secrets to retiring early

[HipGnosis]

38-year-old millionaire shares 5 secrets to retiring early
http://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/millionaire-5-secrets-to-retire-early/

[londonstache]

The 'killer app' to me is the following:

3. He became more valuable to his employer

To retire early, Chris knew that he needed to earn more money. He was already making a $75,000 salary at age 27, but he focused on growing his skills and investing in himself, which led to multiple promotions.
“I started to become more valuable because when you become more valuable you can earn more money,” he said.
Chris told me that he joined Toastmasters to improve his communication and leadership skills, read dozens of self-help books and found good mentors.

Although he had some truly face-punch worthy hobbies (Flying at $1k/month?) I'm sure that this is the biggest difference maker.

[stashgrower]

Agree with 3.

He gave up the flying: "Chris eventually gave up his $1,000 a month airplane hobby by following this path."

[ixtap]

Agree with 3.

He gave up the flying: "Chris eventually gave up his $1,000 a month airplane hobby by following this path."

Interesting. I find it easier to cut the big stuff because it feels like a no brainer.

[MoneyRx]

How high did he get his salary? It must have increased dramatically over that time period - certainly $1000/month flying hobby, $5 daily latte, and I'm assuming other spendy habits, don't let you get far on $75k/yr, however, after ditching those, it is almost impossible to get to $1 million saved on $75k/yr in 10 years even with how the market has performed in the past 10 years (like 85%+ pre-tax savings rate/not paying any taxes hard).

[londonstache]

How high did he get his salary? It must have increased dramatically over that time period - certainly $1000/month flying hobby, $5 daily latte, and I'm assuming other spendy habits, don't let you get far on $75k/yr, however, after ditching those, it is almost impossible to get to $1 million saved on $75k/yr in 10 years even with how the market has performed in the past 10 years (like 85%+ pre-tax savings rate/not paying any taxes hard).

Yes, he references multiple promotions. I'd guess that there must be a point where he was chucking close to 6 figures at RE in a year.

[StockBeard]

I appreciate that the author of the article defuses some of the potential criticism that this kind of article usually triggers due to lack of details. It shows that they know their audience better than typical sites that talk about these FIRE examples (e.g. business insider, yahoo finance,, etc...)

Examples, emphasis mine:

he saved up 25 times his annual expenses (not salary)

Chris contributed 8% of his salary to his 401(k) and the company put in 4%. (He had other investments as well.)

[GlassStash]

The comments (though few) are pretty depressing:

"'Retire early', in a day when so many can't even dream of just plain ol'
retiring. I applaud the folks that get it done so early, but fear for them down the line. Do they REALLY have enough money to cover their expenses for the next 40 years? (assuming he lives until 78, he could live well past that). Why not work another 10 or 15 years, still retire quite early, but have a bigger stash? $1 million isn't that much these days, sadly, and costs are only going up, especially when it comes to health care."

"I agree. If I read it correctly, he is going to sell 3% of his holdings each year. That's risky because the bull market will not last forever. And a repeat of the 2007-2009 bear market will hurt his balance. It would be better if he were able to live off the dividends and not sell any shares."

Why not work 10-15 more years?! Such a willful ignorance or disregard of math and research is far too common.

[SimpleSpartan]

The comments (though few) are pretty depressing:


"I agree. If I read it correctly, he is going to sell 3% of his holdings each year. That's risky because the bull market will not last forever. And a repeat of the 2007-2009 bear market will hurt his balance. It would be better if he were able to live off the dividends and not sell any shares."

Why not work 10-15 more years?! Such a willful ignorance or disregard of math and research is far too common.

because maths is hard

[clarkfan1979]

Under #1 it says "he gave up his $1000/month airplane hobby" I am assuming that they are talking about travel via airplane

Under #2 it says "he gave up expensive cell phone service and cable because he prefers to spend his money on travel" I though he gave up the travel?

Did he simply switch from airplane travel to car travel?

A salary of 75K approximately 11 years ago at the age of 27 is very good. That is probably the cornerstone.

MMM did it just before 31. This guy did it at 35. Probably slightly less efficient, but way more efficient than 65.

[zolotiyeruki]

Under #1 it says "he gave up his $1000/month airplane hobby" I am assuming that they are talking about travel via airplane

Under #2 it says "he gave up expensive cell phone service and cable because he prefers to spend his money on travel" I though he gave up the travel?

Did he simply switch from airplane travel to car travel?

I'm guessing that he was working towards a pilot's license, or has one and was renting a plane for several hours/month (plus fuel).  Plane rental doesn't get much cheaper than $100/hour.