I wonder if he has snuck back in under another email address and is now masquerading under a new name. He seemed like a jerk, but the internet is full of them.
I strongly doubt it. His style was so unique, it shouldn't be difficult to recognize.* He was still reading until recently, per his stats, but they seem to be no longer available.
Boarder42 isn't what you and others think
@SnackDog. He is someone who cares passionately about helping others optimize their path to FIRE. The internet is NOT full of altruistic people willing to squarely face on the naysayers day after week after month. He did get frustrated, because so many people respond emotionally, without bothering to do the math to determine their optimal choice.
*Sidebar on this topic: if anyone misses the story of another badass, banned member who lived in his Chevy VOLT, there is a recent update that may or may not be from him in my journal. Don't slog through it, just flip to the last page or two if you're interested. Link in my siggy line.
42 was quick to destroy Australian threads that were started, when we have a totally different tax regime, but none of that counted. Every second post was from 42, and threads had to be abandoned. It is no wonder that every Australian who has commented here did not appreciate whatever positive parts there were in 42s diatribes.
@deborah, I typically love it when I see a reply from you on any given thread, because of your content, writing style and breadth of expertise. B42 does not have your even-handed approach or your writing chops, yet his committment to his areas of expertise is admirably (IMO) unwavering.
I tend not to follow the AUS real estate threads, because having visited the amazing Land Down Under, I know your real estate sales and lending structure is completely different. Even as a person with significant RE experience, your system gives me the heebie-jeebies. I do not know the specifics of what happened on the threads you mentioned, but your words contain the ring of truth. I will say that on the "DONT" [sic] thread*, B42 frequently states that his information applies to fixed rate, tax deductible, affordable mortgages, which don't seem to exist for primary mortgage loans in Canada, Great Britain (all of Europe??), Australia and New Zealand, to name a few biggies. But this is a US-based site, and the largest block of readers call 'Murcia home. When MMM says "dollars", it is understood that it is American Dollars he's speaking of, and this forum follows suit.
Which leads me to one of my Forum Pet Peeves: Unless one is on a clearly labeled nation-specific thread, it can be difficult to determine where a member is from. Even the delightfully frugal Linda_Norway isn't actually Norwegian.
Finally, deborah, I don't doubt for a moment that what you say is true, but it is clear from b42's disclaimers that he learned his lesson with regards to the fact that other markets are different. Interestingly, that doesn't negate his message, but it does make the math even trickier, which sucks for you guys. But then, you have exponentially better health care, so maybe it evens out?
*
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/dont-payoff-your-mortgage-club/msg2230570/?topicseen#new