My boss is a Mustachian.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

This doesn't exactly fit the topic, because I'm talking about my boss's badassity, rather than my own. But nowhere else to put it, really, and it's too good not to share.

A year ago I ditched the corporate overlords and began working for a small, 6-person (including me) consulting firm. The company was started by my boss a little over a decade ago and has grown slowly and steadily since then. I knew the owner in college - he was a visiting professor - and one of my former classmates has been with the company since she graduated (she is now a partner in the business). Everyone here brings a good attitude, a great sense of humor, and strong work ethics. Healthiest work environment I've ever been a part of.

Anyway, on to the fun part: After 1 year of work, I finally qualify for the 401k plan. They match 5% automatically, and 50 cents on the dollar for every contribution that I make, up to a total of 8% matching. No vesting schedule, all of the matching is mine on the day I receive it.

My boss came in to talk about the plan to make sure I understood how it worked. He had three recommendations:
1) Contribute at least 6% to make sure I get the full 8% company match.
2) Use the index funds.
3) Read mrmoneymustache.com.

Of course, that led to a long conversation when he found out that I was already a Mustachian. He has no plans for early retirement, because he loves the work, but he was encouraging when I told him I had every intention of retiring in my 40s. He knows I have outside interests that I want to pursue, and he has made it a point in the past to make sure I have time to pursue those interests outside of my work schedule. I found out that we have nearly identical asset allocations (he doesn't give advice regarding AA to his employees, but it came up naturally in the conversation), but unlike me, he has a sizable rental portfolio. He also let on that at least two of my other co-workers also follow MMM after he brought it up to them. Really not surprised after getting to know everybody over the past year. Everybody here has their head screwed on right.

[Eucalyptus]

Wow that's fantastic!


I've linked MMM articles to a few family and friends. A couple read those articles, though, not sure if others did, or if any of them still follow.


Sounds like an amazing workplace though :-)


I once had an amazing boss and workplace a few years ago for a while. Was also a small consulting firm, in Environmental Science. Unfortunately the business struggled to get many jobs after I left because of severe government cuts across the board in Australia; not their fault at all. Wonderful people, every one of them. We all still catch up at least a couple of times a year!


If I'd known about MMM back then, and told the group about it, no doubt they all would have been on board. Generally frugal people anyway, doing what they do because they all value the planet.

[hgjjgkj]

What type of consulting? IT, Management etc?

[Brother Esau]

That's cool that you can share MMM with your colleagues. I recently switched jobs and am very cautious about bringing it up at work. Biding my time....

[Bicycle_B]

How awesome, Mudstache!  Very happy for you.

And in case I never mentioned it before - very cool screen name.

[FireHiker]

That's fantastic! I have a colleague (used to be my boss about 5 years ago before I switched to a different part of the operation, although we are still in the same location and collaborate on occasion) who is also mustachian and recommended to his kids to read MMM. The subject came up after he paid off his house last year and has tapered his work to 4 days a week last year, planning 3 days a week this year. It was a pretty awesome conversation. :) I would describe my current boss as more boglehead. Pretty reasonable and down to earth in most things, more expensive cars (paid for in cash), could easily retire anytime but still enjoys the work, although planning an exit in a couple years. I am pretty fortunate in my office, although there are a couple people who have ended up in the co-workers who don't get it topic...

[eliza]

That's awesome.  A few of my coworkers are also LBYM-ers and I know one is a Mustachian, but not sure if he's on the forums or just follows the blog/lives the lifestyle. 

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Sounds like an amazing workplace though :-)

I once had an amazing boss and workplace a few years ago for a while. Was also a small consulting firm, in Environmental Science. Unfortunately the business struggled to get many jobs after I left because of severe government cuts across the board in Australia; not their fault at all. Wonderful people, every one of them. We all still catch up at least a couple of times a year!

It really is a great place to work. If I'm being honest, I've lost a step since I started working here. Partly because we just bought a house that has required some expensive retro-fitting to accommodate my son, who's in a wheelchair. Partly because there seems to be less urgency to get out of the workforce now that I actually enjoy my job and my co-workers. Anyway, we'll be maxing out all of the tax-advantaged accounts again, now that I have a 401k this year.

What type of consulting? IT, Management etc?

Economics - specifically, forest economics. We're basically just a bunch of nerdy foresters.

How awesome, Mudstache!  Very happy for you.

And in case I never mentioned it before - very cool screen name.

Thanks! I used to live in Mississippi, which made it more relevant.

I would describe my current boss as more boglehead. Pretty reasonable and down to earth in most things, more expensive cars (paid for in cash), could easily retire anytime but still enjoys the work, although planning an exit in a couple years.

My boss would probably be more of a Boglehead than a Mustachian, but we're alike in that both of us could live far more frugally than either of our spouses. Apparently he drove a decades-old Camry for years, until his wife finally pestered him into getting something new (for the "clients"). Against her wishes, he got another Camry, but he did get leather seats to appease her. My wife is not as spendy as his, but she does require a baseline level of luxury that is a bit higher than mine. She's still ridiculously frugal compared to most of our peers.

That's awesome.  A few of my coworkers are also LBYM-ers and I know one is a Mustachian, but not sure if he's on the forums or just follows the blog/lives the lifestyle. 

None of my co-workers are on the forum, as far as I'm aware, and none of them are at an MMM-level of badassity, but the thing that we all share is a firm commitment to spending below our means, and a desire to pursue life beyond the 8 to 5. And nobody gives me shit about driving a beat-up Prius with 200K miles on it, which is more than I can say about my previous co-workers :)

[marty998]

Super jealous, I would love to have workmates with the same mindset.

But alas, if any of them came on here I guess I'd be a little red faced at some most of the scribblings I've graffitied here over the years :)

[Thegoblinchief]

That’s awesome! I have a few local Mustachian friends but all met through the forum. My family is more mainstream frugal, and the rest of our friends are pretty spendy for the most part.

[mustachepungoeshere]

We actually had a big MMM chat in my office yesterday, on the back of all the media coverage it’s had in Australia recently.

One of my colleagues has an impulse-shopping problem, and was fascinated by the 30-day trick (keep a dated list with items you want to buy, and check in 30 days if you still want it).

Our boss said, “But what if it sells out?”

I love my boss. She’s great at what she does and is a savvy investor, but between spend less and earn more, she will always, always find a new way to make money rather than cut her lifestyle.

She probably spends more on drycleaning than I spend on clothes each year.

Still, we might have one convert.

[Lan Mandragoran]

Thats awesome!  Must have been a very funny interaction.  I'm very jealous.

My boss is awesome, intelligent, willing to listen usually, pretty laid back etc... however him and I could not have farther apart views on money . He owns a nice house, nice car, amazing electronics, gaming, speakers, smart house, scotch w/e you can think of.  It's something I could never really broach in a career safe way unfortunately because he thinks that anyone who retires is destined to be at home insanely bored and not know what to do with themselves.

[Lan Mandragoran]

We actually had a big MMM chat in my office yesterday, on the back of all the media coverage it’s had in Australia recently.

Hah there was media coverage for MMM in Australia recently? That seems random lol.