A 31-year-old who left her 9-5 with $1 million...

[jim555]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/31-old-left-her-9-194720334.html

Sounds like a MMMer.  Hostility in the comments section is amusing.

[prognastat]

It's pretty much the common responses that people who think they are in to finance, but are unwilling to really take a deeper look at things such as their spending/saving and societal norms when related to finances.

Good for her for doing it though. I love the person insinuating she must have won the lottery to get 1 Million despite working in the IT field.

[Livingthedream55]

I like her definition of retirement:

To Shen, "retirement" doesn't limit you to lounging on a beach. It simply means "you don't need to work anymore because the passive income from your portfolio pays for your living expenses so you can actually choose to work or not to work at that point," she told Torabi.

So much complainants in the comments section!! They've almost all launched into a chorus of "can't work, wouldn't work for me" - sad!

[Eric]

That's probably the laziest piece of "journalism" I've ever seen.  It appears the author simply listened to the podcast, transcribed part of it, and called it an article.  It doesn't look like they ever even contacted Kristy.  LOL  I mean, what else would you expect from Yahoo!, but still.

Comments were more encouraging than I thought they would be though.  Usually it's 99% people with no clue.  This has at least 10% of the people who seem to have at least some grasp on retiring early.

[prognastat]

This comment just made me shake my head:

"Ever hear of something called inflation? Hope you enjoy eating cat food."

I would assume someone reading Yahoo Finance would at least know something about investing. They obviously think they just have this money sitting in the bank or under their mattress.

[TheAnonOne]

This comment just made me shake my head:

"Ever hear of something called inflation? Hope you enjoy eating cat food."

I would assume someone reading Yahoo Finance would at least know something about investing. They obviously think they just have this money sitting in the bank or under their mattress.

Jesus Christ, I saw that one too. I gave myself a fucking black eye with how hard the facepalm was.

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[prognastat]

This comment just made me shake my head:

"Ever hear of something called inflation? Hope you enjoy eating cat food."

I would assume someone reading Yahoo Finance would at least know something about investing. They obviously think they just have this money sitting in the bank or under their mattress.

Jesus Christ, I saw that one too. I gave myself a fucking black eye with how hard the facepalm was.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

I think it's the smugness of their great insight and knowledge they believe to have. When all they are proving is their lack of those things.

[mjs111]

This comment just made me shake my head:

"Ever hear of something called inflation? Hope you enjoy eating cat food."

I would assume someone reading Yahoo Finance would at least know something about investing. They obviously think they just have this money sitting in the bank or under their mattress.

Yes, lots of snarky comments intended to make the posters sound smart when it actually makes them look uneducated.

[goateeman]

I think there is a lot of jealousy in the comments.  Gasp, it can't possibly be true that someone could save that money and retire that young!

I do wonder how she managed to save $1 million at age 31.  Pretty incredible. It took me a lot longer to save that much. I'll have to listen to the podcast.

[NESailor]

This comment just made me shake my head:

"Ever hear of something called inflation? Hope you enjoy eating cat food."

I would assume someone reading Yahoo Finance would at least know something about investing. They obviously think they just have this money sitting in the bank or under their mattress.

Yes, lots of snarky comments intended to make the posters sound smart when it actually makes them look uneducated.

People think I AM smug when I make wholesale statements like "Most people are financially illiterate".  Well...that's because they are.  Then they look at me like I'm some sort of a magician for not being broke all the time.  W T F.

[prognastat]

It reminds me of the quote:

"A little knowledge/learning is a dangerous thing"

People know a little bit and suddenly they think they are an expert. Meanwhile experts are constantly questioning themselves. The sad result is that many people listen to a confident person that doesn't know about how ignorant he truly is on a subject.

[goateeman]

People think I AM smug when I make wholesale statements like "Most people are financially illiterate".  Well...that's because they are.  Then they look at me like I'm some sort of a magician for not being broke all the time.  W T F.

I find a lot of yahoo comments (and many other places) contain a lot of trolls and hate.  MMM is one of the few places where trolls are kept to a minimum and people are actually pretty civil.

It seems to be associated with the anonymity of internet these days, and a lot of immature people who have very poor social skills.

[zoltani]

It reminds me of the quote:

"A little knowledge/learning is a dangerous thing"

People know a little bit and suddenly they think they are an expert. Meanwhile experts are constantly questioning themselves. The sad result is that many people listen to a confident person that doesn't know about how ignorant he truly is on a subject.

It's cognitive bias - the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

[Slee_stack]

$1M at 31 is impressive, but there could be a bit of luck involved in it too.

The number doesn't necessarily matter as we can only control what we can control.  Any $$$ value and retiring is what's laudable.  Not overbuying or choosing an overpriced education and/or loans, and choosing an in-demand career path goes a long awy.

Even MMMers can make serious coin on their primary residence by just happening to buy and sell at the right time.  (Not me though, my first primary residence was a bust...at least it was 'cheap')

[prognastat]

It reminds me of the quote:

"A little knowledge/learning is a dangerous thing"

People know a little bit and suddenly they think they are an expert. Meanwhile experts are constantly questioning themselves. The sad result is that many people listen to a confident person that doesn't know about how ignorant he truly is on a subject.

It's cognitive bias - the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

Yeah there are some very interesting cognitive biases people are completely unaware of while being influenced by.

[zoltani]

It reminds me of the quote:

"A little knowledge/learning is a dangerous thing"

People know a little bit and suddenly they think they are an expert. Meanwhile experts are constantly questioning themselves. The sad result is that many people listen to a confident person that doesn't know about how ignorant he truly is on a subject.

It's cognitive bias - the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

Yeah there are some very interesting cognitive biases people are completely unaware of while being influenced by.

That's the most fascinating part of cognitive bias, easy to recognize in others, near impossible to recognize in yourself.

Declinism has to be the most pervasive cognitive bias at the moment.   

[prognastat]

It reminds me of the quote:

"A little knowledge/learning is a dangerous thing"

People know a little bit and suddenly they think they are an expert. Meanwhile experts are constantly questioning themselves. The sad result is that many people listen to a confident person that doesn't know about how ignorant he truly is on a subject.

It's cognitive bias - the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

Yeah there are some very interesting cognitive biases people are completely unaware of while being influenced by.

That's the most fascinating part of cognitive bias, easy to recognize in others, near impossible to recognize in yourself.

Declinism has to be the most pervasive cognitive bias at the moment.

For about as long as there has been culture the older generation has always though the younger generation was worse than those that came before yet we are constantly doing better.

[Tyson]

I just think "what was like actually like 30 years ago" and the answer always it 'worse than today'. 

[Rosy]

Impressive - she and her husband did well for themselves. The comments in that article show that most people reject the possibility outright, even though she outlined quite well how they achieved their goal.

Sure, free education and free health care in Canada do make a difference, but if you are young and healthy and come from any average background and have good grades, the same results can be achieved in the US as well - having a partner who is on board is priceless:)
However, student debt and/or poor health would throw a wrench in the works for anyone living in the US.

Regardless, perseverance and a bit of luck as well as talent do help. Having money skills and a saving mentality early on is paramount - they did have opportunities which are not a given for everyone, but then there is always a way, if you want it bad enough. However, if you do not have the skills, luck or connections it simply is a lot harder and will take longer.

[prognastat]

Impressive - she and her husband did well for themselves. The comments in that article show that most people reject the possibility outright, even though she outlined quite well how they achieved their goal.

Sure, free education and free health care in Canada do make a difference, but if you are young and healthy and come from any average background and have good grades, the same results can be achieved in the US as well - having a partner who is on board is priceless:)
However, student debt and/or poor health would throw a wrench in the works for anyone living in the US.

Regardless, perseverance and a bit of luck as well as talent do help. Having money skills and a saving mentality early on is paramount - they did have opportunities which are not a given for everyone, but then there is always a way, if you want it bad enough. However, if you do not have the skills, luck or connections it simply is a lot harder and will take longer.

It is achievable for all but the worst situations. Even people with not the greatest start have managed to make it work.

[marty998]

Can I just go back to the cat food comment? Have they seen how expensive pet food can be???

Some cats eat better than humans.

[TheAnonOne]

Can I just go back to the cat food comment? Have they seen how expensive pet food can be???

Some cats eat better than humans.

Idk, at costco you can get a 50lb bag for 20 bucks! I like variety in my cat food though.

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[mustachepungoeshere]

Can I just go back to the cat food comment? Have they seen how expensive pet food can be???

Some cats eat better than humans.

[HBFI]

I saw this as well, though I was already familiar with their story.  Their blog, Millennial Revolution, is great.  I love their no-apologies tone of writing (not for everyone, but it makes me smile).  I actually just clicked on the Yahoo link to read the comments.  Grab some popcorn and sit back and read the vitriol that is the Yahoo comments section.  It is truly a synergistic place where ignorance, hate, bigotry, and jealously come together in a unique symphony of troll-ism.  I have to be in the right mood to read those comments though.  The magnitude of negativity and pure number of "can't do-ers" can be depressing.  I usually have to swing back to the MMM forums to keep it balanced.

[Tyson]

I saw this as well, though I was already familiar with their story.  Their blog, Millennial Revolution, is great.  I love their no-apologies tone of writing (not for everyone, but it makes me smile).  I actually just clicked on the Yahoo link to read the comments.  Grab some popcorn and sit back and read the vitriol that is the Yahoo comments section.  It is truly a synergistic place where ignorance, hate, bigotry, and jealously come together in a unique symphony of troll-ism.  I have to be in the right mood to read those comments though.  The magnitude of negativity and pure number of "can't do-ers" can be depressing.  I usually have to swing back to the MMM forums to keep it balanced.

Very true.  It makes me wonder how these people ever got on the internet in the first place....

[HBFI]

I saw this as well, though I was already familiar with their story.  Their blog, Millennial Revolution, is great.  I love their no-apologies tone of writing (not for everyone, but it makes me smile).  I actually just clicked on the Yahoo link to read the comments.  Grab some popcorn and sit back and read the vitriol that is the Yahoo comments section.  It is truly a synergistic place where ignorance, hate, bigotry, and jealously come together in a unique symphony of troll-ism.  I have to be in the right mood to read those comments though.  The magnitude of negativity and pure number of "can't do-ers" can be depressing.  I usually have to swing back to the MMM forums to keep it balanced.

Very true.  It makes me wonder how these people ever got on the internet in the first place....

Haha, a fair question indeed.

[Tyson]

I saw this as well, though I was already familiar with their story.  Their blog, Millennial Revolution, is great.  I love their no-apologies tone of writing (not for everyone, but it makes me smile).  I actually just clicked on the Yahoo link to read the comments.  Grab some popcorn and sit back and read the vitriol that is the Yahoo comments section.  It is truly a synergistic place where ignorance, hate, bigotry, and jealously come together in a unique symphony of troll-ism.  I have to be in the right mood to read those comments though.  The magnitude of negativity and pure number of "can't do-ers" can be depressing.  I usually have to swing back to the MMM forums to keep it balanced.

Very true.  It makes me wonder how these people ever got on the internet in the first place....

Haha, a fair question indeed.

Where would we be if we didn't have lots of people saying that something can't be done.  Even when you give them precise, detailed instructions on how to do it.  I imagine that these exact same people sat around 15 years ago and carped that the internet itself would "Never work" and was a "pipe dream". 

[HBFI]

I saw this as well, though I was already familiar with their story.  Their blog, Millennial Revolution, is great.  I love their no-apologies tone of writing (not for everyone, but it makes me smile).  I actually just clicked on the Yahoo link to read the comments.  Grab some popcorn and sit back and read the vitriol that is the Yahoo comments section.  It is truly a synergistic place where ignorance, hate, bigotry, and jealously come together in a unique symphony of troll-ism.  I have to be in the right mood to read those comments though.  The magnitude of negativity and pure number of "can't do-ers" can be depressing.  I usually have to swing back to the MMM forums to keep it balanced.

Very true.  It makes me wonder how these people ever got on the internet in the first place....

Haha, a fair question indeed.

Where would we be if we didn't have lots of people saying that something can't be done.  Even when you give them precise, detailed instructions on how to do it.  I imagine that these exact same people sat around 15 years ago and carped that the internet itself would "Never work" and was a "pipe dream".

Yeah unfortunately trying to engage in a logical and reason based dialogue in that arena is an exercise in futility.

And I'm not sure about this whole internet thing myself.  Seems kind of like a fad to me :)

[Tyson]

Us:  "Live below your means, invest the extra $$ in tax sheltered low cost index funds"

Them:  "Yeah, that might work for YOU but it will never work for ME!"

WTF?  It's so funny and so tragic at the same time.

[MrsPete]

Good for her! 

I do agree that some luck was involved to do this so quickly (good health, the financial and academic ability to earn a tough degree and then get a good job right away, and having married a person with similar benefits); but, at the same time, the couple clearly made the most of the opportunities available to them.

Personally, I'd have stayed on the job a few more years to build up a bigger buffer against inflation -- and to allow enough to raise children comfortably, though I have no idea whether that's part of their plan or not.  Yes, I know that might not be everyone's idea of the right way to handle things, but in their shoes I'd have stayed in that high paying job maybe 'til 35.  At age 31, she's young.  She will probably be alive another 60-70 years, and a lot can change in that time. 

I noted that the couple says that now they're retired, they're not tied to high-cost locations.  So many people who "can't save" aren't willing to make these choices. 

[PJ]

I found it interesting that a number of the comments referenced other similar stories. 

But not in terms of how that speaks to possibility!  Comments like "There's always a catch with these things - either they've got a bunch of rental properties (ARS!) or ..."

I wonder how many stories like this it will take for people to start to say "Oh, if person A and person B and family F and person G can all do it, maybe I can too?"

[Sisyphus]

I'm a big fan of FIRECracker and Wanderer, their blog is entertaining and educational.  Shunning home ownership isn't popular but I agree them 100%.  They "math the shit up" for most their points so it appeals to my analytical mind.

[Paul der Krake]

It reminds me of the quote:

"A little knowledge/learning is a dangerous thing"

People know a little bit and suddenly they think they are an expert. Meanwhile experts are constantly questioning themselves. The sad result is that many people listen to a confident person that doesn't know about how ignorant he truly is on a subject.

Well, I study these matters quite a bit and I can tell you with certainty that you're totally wrong on this.

[goateeman]

I'm a big fan of FIRECracker and Wanderer, their blog is entertaining and educational.  Shunning home ownership isn't popular but I agree them 100%.  They "math the shit up" for most their points so it appeals to my analytical mind.

I just read their blog, and this series of posts were enlightening:  http://www.millennial-revolution.com/invest/the-breakdown-part-1-god-we-were-spendy-back-then/

God gosh houses are so overpriced in Canada.  I'm sure if I was in their situation I would shun house ownership as well.  Surreal.

Thankfully I am in a LOCL area and homes are far more reasonable.  While being renters forever may work out for them, I definitely need a nice house to call my own and live in.

[accolay]

I first read about these guys over at jlcollins blog.

I think a lot of the comments to the story are because it sounds too good to be true...and they don't actually delve any deeper if only to confirm their suspicion. Some from jealousy and some Internet Retirement Police also, but there are some nice positive comments too. 

[Abe]

Their point about housing costs and rent has made me think... I've always wanted to own a house but now wonder if there's more financial security in not owning since it allows flexibility to move to lower-cost areas (even in the same city) as rents increase. This is similar to the situation in southern California, where we are moving to. If housing prices ever come back down to earth, one could buy then. Or just travel the world once the kids are in college.

[WhiteTrashCash]

I think with many of those commenters, you need to remember that there's a difference between intelligence and knowledge. Many people are smart enough to understand concepts like investing vs. savings, but they don't have the knowledge about it to know what to do. That was certainly the case in my life and it wasn't easy to learn what I needed, because -- at least in the USA -- we have entire industries based on ensuring that people don't know how to handle their money.

I'm not trying to absolve the commenters of their personal finance sins, but I think it's important to keep a little perspective sometimes. We forget how difficult it can be to educate yourself about money unless you know there are methods other than what you've grown up with and unless you know where to look.

[scottish]

Many people are smart enough to understand concepts like investing vs. savings, but they don't have the knowledge about it to know what to do. That was certainly the case in my life and it wasn't easy to learn what I needed, because -- at least in the USA -- we have entire industries based on ensuring that people don't know how to handle their money.

This.   When I started (end of the eighties) it was even worse.   Mutual funds or stock purchases were the only things available.   

Anyone remember Gordon Pape and the Wealthy Barber?   When I finished university I immediately setup a mutual fund account and funneled money into it every month.   I really got ripped off.   The funds had a front end load and a big MER and they eventually disappeared.

Portfolio theory was an obscure academic topic & there was no good guidance on how to build a portfolio of individual stocks.   My stock purchases still outperformed my mutual funds though.

There were only a handful of index funds and they were viewed as specialized products which were largely ignored.     Books such as 'A Random walk Down Wall Street'  were practically unknown.

It's much much easier to learn how to invest today.

[HBFI]

I think with many of those commenters, you need to remember that there's a difference between intelligence and knowledge. Many people are smart enough to understand concepts like investing vs. savings, but they don't have the knowledge about it to know what to do. That was certainly the case in my life and it wasn't easy to learn what I needed, because -- at least in the USA -- we have entire industries based on ensuring that people don't know how to handle their money.

I'm not trying to absolve the commenters of their personal finance sins, but I think it's important to keep a little perspective sometimes. We forget how difficult it can be to educate yourself about money unless you know there are methods other than what you've grown up with and unless you know where to look.

Agree with your statement 100%.  It took me many years to gain the knowledge set I have and I expect to continue that education through the rest of my life.  No one starts out knowing everything and there certainly is a lot of bad advice/info out there that feeds the statements you see in those Yahoo comments. 

However, the degree of negativity and defeatism of people posting there goes beyond lack of knowledge.  They outright attack with venom without even exploring the facts behind the story.  You can tell that none of them actually tried reading through Millennial Revolution where they provide a detailed walkthrough of how they accomplished what they did.  Is there a component of market timing luck?  Of course.  But the core strategy is sound.  Unfortunately most Yahoo commenters would rather just insult and throw mud.

[Paul der Krake]

It helps a lot if you view every internet commenter as your crazy uncle who goes on rants and embarrasses everyone at Thanksgiving.

There is a certain percentage of the general population that is batshit-crazy, which I personally pin around 5%. They are shunned by everyone else, so they redirect their craziness online where they feed off their peers' snark. Normal people know to avoid them, so before long all you get are crazy people.

[HBFI]

It helps a lot if you view every internet commenter as your crazy uncle who goes on rants and embarrasses everyone at Thanksgiving.

There is a certain percentage of the general population that is batshit-crazy, which I personally pin around 5%. They are shunned by everyone else, so they redirect their craziness online where they feed off their peers' snark. Normal people know to avoid them, so before long all you get are crazy people.

So true.  It can be kind of amusing to watch them get themselves all worked up as they try to one-up each other's insults and out-fabricate various statements of ignorance.  Maybe someday someone will create a Troll Olympics where the finest crazies from the internet will come to compete in a single forum, to the keyboard death.

[PizzaSteve]

Can I just go back to the cat food comment? Have they seen how expensive pet food can be???

Some cats eat better than humans.

My vote for under-rated post of the year.  Brilliant.

[jim555]

It helps a lot if you view every internet commenter as your crazy uncle who goes on rants and embarrasses everyone at Thanksgiving.

There is a certain percentage of the general population that is batshit-crazy, which I personally pin around 5%. They are shunned by everyone else, so they redirect their craziness online where they feed off their peers' snark. Normal people know to avoid them, so before long all you get are crazy people.

Only 5%, seems a lot higher to me.  Just look at the recent elections.

[goateeman]

Many people are smart enough to understand concepts like investing vs. savings, but they don't have the knowledge about it to know what to do. That was certainly the case in my life and it wasn't easy to learn what I needed, because -- at least in the USA -- we have entire industries based on ensuring that people don't know how to handle their money.

This.   When I started (end of the eighties) it was even worse.   Mutual funds or stock purchases were the only things available.   

Anyone remember Gordon Pape and the Wealthy Barber?   When I finished university I immediately setup a mutual fund account and funneled money into it every month.   I really got ripped off.   The funds had a front end load and a big MER and they eventually disappeared.

Portfolio theory was an obscure academic topic & there was no good guidance on how to build a portfolio of individual stocks.   My stock purchases still outperformed my mutual funds though.

There were only a handful of index funds and they were viewed as specialized products which were largely ignored.     Books such as 'A Random walk Down Wall Street'  were practically unknown.

It's much much easier to learn how to invest today.

Agree, people have no idea how damn lucky they are today.  When I started investing the internet, AOL was still the main way to get online, LOL!!  There was so little information available, so few options available. Now the information is out there and people still don't bother to pursue it.  Man if I had started now, I'd be retired in half the time.

[joonifloofeefloo]

Sure, free education and free health care in Canada do make a difference...

...for those who receive those. (Many of us don't, so work a similar FIRE process to folks in the US.)

[goateeman]

Sure, free education and free health care in Canada do make a difference...

...for those who receive those. (Many of us don't, so work a similar FIRE process to folks in the US.)

That's true. I was thinking "where is their medical care budget" as I didn't see it in their blog.  Then I forgot...O Canada...free healthcare. :) 

I guess pros and cons of US vs Canada - cheap housing (possibly) but expensive health insurance.

[jim555]

I was looking at some old statements from the 1980s.  7.5% interest on short term money, so that was nice.  No ETFs, no internet, only physical paper chart books, no decimalization of stock prices, no way to get quotes or trade easily, no real low cost funds available.  The '70s had high fixed commission rates set by the NYSE.  I remember the Pink sheets, actual physical paper pink sheets.

I remember a device called PocketQuote which was like a big calculator.  It got the info from an FM radio broadcast.  Not cheap.

People have it so good today compared to before.

[joonifloofeefloo]

That's true. I was thinking "where is their medical care budget" as I didn't see it in their blog.  Then I forgot...O Canada...free healthcare. :)

Yeah, I didn't read their blog, so they may well be one of the lucky Canadians who happen to have free health care. The rest of us have had costs in the tens of thousands (and in some cases hundreds of thousands).

But, given how many folks are FIREing in the US, or in Canada despite exorbitant health care costs, I would wager this isn't the piece that's making or breaking the program in any case.

[Paul der Krake]

It helps a lot if you view every internet commenter as your crazy uncle who goes on rants and embarrasses everyone at Thanksgiving.

There is a certain percentage of the general population that is batshit-crazy, which I personally pin around 5%. They are shunned by everyone else, so they redirect their craziness online where they feed off their peers' snark. Normal people know to avoid them, so before long all you get are crazy people.

Only 5%, seems a lot higher to me.  Just look at the recent elections.

Crazy is a wiiiiiiide spectrum. Having poorly thought-out beliefs doesn't guarantee admission in the Batshit-Crazy kingdom. You also need a proven track record of antisocial behavior, failed interpersonal relationships, and paranoia/victim mentality.

[Shiernian]

I saw this as well, though I was already familiar with their story.  Their blog, Millennial Revolution, is great.  I love their no-apologies tone of writing (not for everyone, but it makes me smile).  I actually just clicked on the Yahoo link to read the comments.  Grab some popcorn and sit back and read the vitriol that is the Yahoo comments section.  It is truly a synergistic place where ignorance, hate, bigotry, and jealously come together in a unique symphony of troll-ism.  I have to be in the right mood to read those comments though.  The magnitude of negativity and pure number of "can't do-ers" can be depressing.  I usually have to swing back to the MMM forums to keep it balanced.

Very true.  It makes me wonder how these people ever got on the internet in the first place....

This is the funniest thing I've read in a while. So true! I laughed out loud!