Who are your Early Retirement Idols?

[BigBangWeary]

Other than MMM of course, who are the early retirement rock stars who look hope to emulate?

When I first started researching my journey I came across Billy & Akaisha Kaderli from Retireearlylifestyle.com who we really looked up to. They were early adopters who actually lived the life (didn't quite after a few years because they were 'bored') and have traveled extensively, which is something our family really values. What about you?

[JJNL]

I like them too - and I'm also a fan of Team GoCurryCracker. It is a bit disheartening that pretty much everybody who has done it is from the USA. Of course, that doesn't mean that one can't learn from them and admire them, but things really are different when you're living in a high-tax semi-welfare state in Europe. I'm still waiting for a European (preferably Dutch) early retirement rockstar to emulate :)

[boarder42]

i like gocurrycracker.  that retireearlylifestyle site is a pain to look at IMO.  also have lots of ads for them selling books they wrote.  not really my cup of tea.

[Thegoblinchief]

Brave New Life (blog no longer active but worth reading in its entirety) is probably the closest to my own philosophy and end FIRE goal (last post ends with them buying a small farm with an aim towards building a permaculture installation on it).

[S]

I like them too - and I'm also a fan of Team GoCurryCracker. It is a bit disheartening that pretty much everybody who has done it is from the USA. Of course, that doesn't mean that one can't learn from them and admire them, but things really are different when you're living in a high-tax semi-welfare state in Europe. I'm still waiting for a European (preferably Dutch) early retirement rockstar to emulate :)

Mrs EconoWiser (https://econowiser.wordpress.com/) is based out of Netherlands I believe. Haven't read any of her blogs, but thought I'd put it out there.

[JJNL]

Thanks, S - I've read her blogs. Only she's not there yet - just a bit further down the road than I am. I would dearly like to hear about a Dutch / European person who has actually made it to FIRE.

[andy85]

Jon Snow...freakin love his journal (although i just lurk in it, i've read the whole thing). I could easily see myself in his shoes one day and it makes me feel all the feels. So...shout out to mr. snow. Thank you for giving us a glimpse into your post-fire adventures.

[Jon_Snow]

Jon Snow...freakin love his journal (although i just lurk in it, i've read the whole thing). I could easily see myself in his shoes one day and it makes me feel all the feels. So...shout out to mr. snow. Thank you for giving us a glimpse into your post-fire adventures.

*blushes* (except you might not see said blush cuz of my impressive Baja-derived tan)

Andy...dude. Leave a comment in my Journal. It creeps me out when somebody lurks like that. ;)

[mandy_2002]

Paul and Vicki Terhorst.  Their life is my goal (retire before 35, slow travel the world, and go back to places you like as needed).  The book they wrote is definitely outdated on investment strategies, but the entire concept is fantastic.  They don't have plans to update it, but they do regularly update their blog with pictures of their current adventures. 

[BigBangWeary]

I agree  Retireearlylifestyle.com is a bit dated, but it was there long before many others. These days I obviously lurk around here, GoCurreyCracker, Andrew Hallam's site, ERE and a few others.

I agree there are a lot of US success stories. I suppose population helps there, along with the option to live cheaply while earning a high income. Try that in Canada these days ...

Obviously this is harder to do with kids, but there are a few out there that we can look to like Root of Good

 

[shelivesthedream]

The entire livingafi blog is fantastic. Great writing and a great story arc. And now he made it!

[arebelspy]

A lot of good ones mentioned.

I'll +1 MMM, BNL, GCC, ERE, RoG, and LivingaFI.

And add on three others: Nords, MadFientist and Lacking Ambition.

Though the latter no longer updates his blog, the whole thing is worth reading beginning to end (similar to BNL).  He was formerly my favorite FI blogger (Dr. Doom being my new one).

As far as emulate?  Clifp (no blog that I'm aware of) and Bumfuzzle.

[shelivesthedream]

Lacking Ambition.

Though the latter no longer updates his blog

Does anyone know what he's doing now? I loved his blog (it felt calm compared to many other FI blogs) and miss it now.

[arebelspy]

Lacking Ambition.

Though the latter no longer updates his blog

Does anyone know what he's doing now? I loved his blog (it felt calm compared to many other FI blogs) and miss it now.

Nope. He hasn't posted at ERE either, in almost two years, or even logged in in well over a year.  Hopefully he's out enjoying life, and will pop back up on the Internet some day. :)

[boarder42]

oh yeah MadFientist is probably my favorite after this one.  semi forgot b/c he went on hiatus for so long.

[kofasetic]

Love Darrow Kirkpatrick's Can I Retire Early blog is great. His advice, suggestion are all based on the done-this, done-that view point. Just practical and thought provoking. No fluff.
http://www.caniretireyet.com/

[FLA]

I had no early retirement idols because the only ones I knew, were people who took early retirement from their employer in their 50s. I had no real idea that people like those on here are part of a whole movement of those drastically changing many facets of their entire lifestyle to leave the work world behind. I stumbled upon here when a new need cropped up for me to become much more frugal, I had no idea I would learn so much. So all of you are my heroes and I look forward to reading the blogs of the people mentioned above. 

[andy85]

The livingafi dude cracks me up. I love his writing style.

I also think arebelspy is a badass for fire'ing so young with a relatively modest income...props.

[Paul der Krake]

It's mostly about real estate, but I love NoNonsenseLandlord. He tells it how it is. To be read in a guttural, Ron Swanson-esque voice, for maximum effect.

[ash7962]

My two favorites (outside MMM) are Mad Fientist and Dr. Doom.  Its like MMM is the lifestyle, Mad Fientist does the nitty gritty math details, and Dr. Doom handles the emotional side of FIRE.  Though Dr. Doom also has good posts on strategy, and I really liked his drawdown series.

[debbie does duncan]

Amy Dacyczyn of the Tightwad Gazette  triology !
It was last century, time before interwebs.
I was in my 20 s and was amazed at her ideas.

[Jon_Snow]

I have to credit Tim Stobbs and his Canadian Dream blog for flicking on the ER lightbulb for me. I had been saving and investing heavily for years before I found his site...and when I did it didn't take me long to follow his early retirement math and realize I was actually bloody close to being able to pull the plug on my meat-grinder career. And here I am...blissfully FIRE'd for 15 months now.

Weird thing is, I actually got to FIRE before him...though he is getting closer now. Actually met him in person this past Summer on Vancouver Island...and chatted for around 10 minutes. :)

Thanks again Tim....

[Gone Fishing]

I would have totally gone Jacob Fisker style if I didn't have a wife to keep happy (she knows this!), so he gets my vote.

[Jeremy E.]

hmmm no one has said Jim Collins yet...
Anyways my favorites are
MMM of course,
Mad Fientist
Jim Collins from JLCollinsNH
Jacob Fisker from Early Retirement Extreme

[arebelspy]

I don't think of Jim Collins for early retirement. But he is my go-to for introducing other people to investing, as well as the concept of F U money, both integral parts of FIRE, so good call. :)

[BigBangWeary]

It's too bad that so many drop off the radar once they reach their goals. It makes sense (why do it if you aren't going to get out there and enjoy it), but there really seems to be some silence around the 'after ER' stuff.

Jon_Snow shout out to the fellow Canadian ER dreamers. I like Tim's site as well. Too bad our dollar is worth so little these days ...

[arebelspy]

Arebelspy once he gets his blog up

I was on the Radical Personal Finance podcast the other day, and he mentioned Instagram to me.

I thought it was just a photo sharing app, but apparently you can add a paragraph or two of text to the pictures, so that can be an easy way to "blog"?  So that might happen soon.  Right now though... ;)

[HairyUpperLip]

Is BNL no longer planning to update the blog?

I was kind of hoping he'd share farm developments. I really enjoyed that blog as well.

Otherwise also a fan of MMM, LivingasFI, Root of Good, 1500 Days, and Planting our pennies.

Don't read too many blogs outside of finance though.

[aceyou]

As a teacher, TheMillionaireEducator (Ed Mills) is one that I like.  He's not retiring as early as many of the famous blogs, but that's only because he didn't really start till his mid thirties.  You might like his blog if:

1.  You want concrete examples of how to easily use 403b's, 457's, and 401k's to choose how much Federal and State income tax you will pay each year.

2.  You want to see an example of how two fantastic parents raise a child. 

3.  You are a teacher...duh!

4.  You want an example of how a family transitions from living off their income to living off investments (They are getting to that point in their life now where they have crossed the FI threshold and are beginning to slowly transition to an RE world).  He does a great job IMO of telling about this transition on his blog. 

[StetsTerhune]

Lacking Ambition.

Though the latter no longer updates his blog

Does anyone know what he's doing now? I loved his blog (it felt calm compared to many other FI blogs) and miss it now.

Nope. He hasn't posted at ERE either, in almost two years, or even logged in in well over a year.  Hopefully he's out enjoying life, and will pop back up on the Internet some day. :)

One more vote for Lacking Ambition. His "A Year Alone In the Desert" is probably my all-time favorite thing on the internet. (http://lackingambition.com/?p=423). And it parallels my life reasonably well in a way. I went to southeast asia instead of the desert, but the story ended the same way -- I thought hard about just staying, living cheaply, earning a little bit of money, but decided to come back get a real job, and become financially independent.

And also: Mike, if you're reading this, we'd love to hear how you're doing!

[shelivesthedream]

Lacking Ambition.

Though the latter no longer updates his blog

Does anyone know what he's doing now? I loved his blog (it felt calm compared to many other FI blogs) and miss it now.

Nope. He hasn't posted at ERE either, in almost two years, or even logged in in well over a year.  Hopefully he's out enjoying life, and will pop back up on the Internet some day. :)

One more vote for Lacking Ambition. His "A Year Alone In the Desert" is probably my all-time favorite thing on the internet. (http://lackingambition.com/?p=423). And it parallels my life reasonably well in a way. I went to southeast asia instead of the desert, but the story ended the same way -- I thought hard about just staying, living cheaply, earning a little bit of money, but decided to come back get a real job, and become financially independent.

And also: Mike, if you're reading this, we'd love to hear how you're doing!

I read Thoreau's "Walden" and didn't love it. I read that desert post and suddenly knew what everyone was going on about with "Walden" - the feelings are the same. I sometimes wonder if I would do something similar (probably in the woods) if I were single. I don't know if I would be brave enough to take that first step.

[SenoritaStache]

+1 on livingafi, love his writing style and humor.