Author Topic: Millennial Mustaches Out There?  (Read 87815 times)

Aprés-ski

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #100 on: December 29, 2014, 12:46:43 PM »
Age 28, Sacramento CA.

How did you find MMM?
Marks Daily Apple had a weekend love link back in 2013. I sat down and devoured all of MMM's content in a weekend. Went to Burning Man shortly after the MMM discovery and decided that I didn't want to slave my life away to company (how cliché, I know). So here I am!

Were you always Mustachian?
I've always been debt adverse. I'm a relative newb to wealth building. Both grandparents amassed considerable wealth in real estate and have been able to live abroad 6 months a year.  I want to follow in their footsteps.

Savings / Debt Elimination Goals
1. Got my savings rate to 50%+ and no debt.
2. Saving to get my first multifamily property. I plan on living in a unit.
3. I'm in no rush to RE, but FI would allow me to live comfortably while traveling and volunteering my time with Doctors Without Borders and Mercy Ships.

So much of this Millennial vs. Boomer diatribe is silly.  Some Boomers lost their shirts with the recession, stayed in the workforce, and now the Millennials apply to 200 jobs only to get 1 phone call. Sucks for both sides.  We will all survive.

freeedom

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #101 on: December 29, 2014, 01:20:33 PM »
29. Software Engineer. Net worth of approximately 100k (80k investments, 20k house).

I found MMM about the time I had to start paying back my student loans. It went from 30k to 10k in about 1.5 years, with approximate 1/2 a year left.

I've always been pretty decent with money though, and recently increased my 401k contribution. 2014 I will contribute about 15k to roth/401k. 2015 I will contribute 20k. And 2016 onward the goal is to contribute the max (+ some in a taxable accounts).

I plan to FIRE at 45. The plan is to have 2 houses paid off... my current house (which will become my rental), and my future house. I also plan on continuing to work freelance software gigs, developing products or services, and earning income off my blog/writing after FIRE.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2014, 02:17:57 PM by freeedom »

Chuck

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #102 on: December 29, 2014, 01:50:55 PM »
Hi all,

Just curious to know how many young (twenties and under) Mustaches are out there. The Millennial generation gets a bad rap in the media for poor money management, which isn't unfounded...

I dunno about this.  I am blown away by how money-conscious our generation is.
Money conscious, yes, but also terribly ignorant when it comes to practical personal finance. Those two crashes that you mention are the justification my friends use for failing to invest.

26 here. Found this place almost two years ago. I've been much better off for it. I still need quite a few facepunches (Cpl. Cable and Capt. Car Loan, reporting in!) but I just hit 100k in net worth, and it feels amazing to have the security that provides today, and the hope it provides for tomorrow.

chaitea

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #103 on: December 29, 2014, 02:03:46 PM »
I'm 26. I started reading earlier this year (about half a year ago)

How did you find MMM?
I read about some sort of news article about a man retiring at 31 and then googled him and low and behold, I am here.

Were you always Mustachian?
Yes and no? I was the kid that was hoarding all my change and making deposits of $20 - $30 at at a time when I was little. My parents were hardcore frugal but my sister's and brother's spendy ways rubbed off on me. I will occasionally indulge in things that would horrify people here. I just bought a Marc Jacobs bag (used on Ebay) for $300. My goal when I hit 30 is to buy a very expensive luxury bag. 

Savings / Debt Elimination Goals
1. My savings rate right now is only 20%
2. I own a house with my boyfriend. We have 30% of it paid off (we only bought in May) for a very low interest rate. If the interest rate ever goes up, I might contemplate dumping more money into it but we're very happy with our 2.35% mortgage.
3. Pay back my mom (slowly). Right now I still owe her $26000 but she's more than set and constantly fretting if I have enough. So I give her about $500/month back. She just retired last month so I'll see if she wants me to speed it up some. I could probably comfortably amp it up to $600 - $700 while still maintaining some savings.

YoungAndWise

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #104 on: December 29, 2014, 02:37:22 PM »
Age: 19. From Texas, living in Finland ATM

How did you find MMM?
From Early Retirement Extreme (ERE) forums.

Were you always Mustachian?
I don't know...I was 15 years old when I found out about ERE/MMM.

Savings/Debt Elimination Goals
Eliminate my student debt loans by the time I graduate college during the Spring Semester '16? It is only $4,000 so I could work as full-time student and part-time next semester for minimum wage and have enough saved, so I am fine.

arebelspy

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #105 on: December 29, 2014, 05:25:50 PM »
I am 29.  Wife is 28.

Liberal arts majors (me Philosophy, her English), because we did the follow your passion thing.

Worth about 1MM now, planning to FIRE this year and have a kid and travel the world full time

How did you get such a high net worth so early in your post-college career?

High savings rate, investing it. (Specifically investing it in real estate.)

Have you written a guide or something? I've been thinking about doing this myself, but it looks risky as hell to mortgage real estate around here.

I have some posts scattered around the forums. I'd recommend you start with the book recommendations thread in the real estate section of the forums. :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

Lia-Aimee

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #106 on: December 30, 2014, 02:24:07 PM »
Age: 26 - Canadian.

How did you find MMM?
A link to the "Wall of Shame" post from the Boggleheads forum.

Were you always Mustachian?
Somewhat. ER doesn't interest me, but FI does just for peace of mind.  I grew up in a middle-class family with a mum from a wealthy background who was constantly complaining about being poor when I was a child.  When I became old enough to understand income levels and COL, I realized we could have been very affluent hadn't she been so spendy, and the desire to hoard money became ingrained in me. 

Savings/Debt Elimination Goals
0 Debt
Instead of a savings goal, I have a spending goal: $12,000 for 2015.  Currently that lets me bank 80% of my net income.

mrsggrowsveg

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #107 on: December 30, 2014, 02:53:48 PM »
Me:  26 DH:  32 1 child 2 year.  Both of us work full time.

How did you find out about MMM?
About two years ago, we decided to buy a farm.  We really wanted to live the dream of farming full-time, living off the land and selling to restaurants and farmer's markets.  We realized with our mortgage and student loan debt situations there was no way we could afford this lifestyle.  I found MMM from some google searches and have since paid off my student loans and began to build savings.

Were you always Mustachian?
No.  My parents both grew up poor and then went a little crazy with lifestyle creep.  They both worked all of the time and spent far more than they made.  I was somewhat following in their spending footsteps.

And what are your savings/debt elimination goals?
This year I would like to up our retirement contributions even more.  We also would like to pay down some of our mortgage and invest in farm infrastructure.  We still hope to pursue full-time farming.  We need to lower our mortgage, increase our savings and build up our farm before that will be possible.

BriArrange

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #108 on: December 30, 2014, 03:05:41 PM »
Im 22, husband's 23.

I grew up in a single parent home most of my life, and learned how to save, spend very little, and work hard. My husband grew up on a farming and began to farm on his own for income when he was 14.

So, we always considered ourselves as frugal. But, it wasn't until I find MMM this summer that we realized that we could be/should be do so much more to make our lives easier.

We definitely weren't mustachians. But, as we learn more and more everyday....we are slowly getting there. :) 


omni

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #109 on: December 30, 2014, 06:12:11 PM »
29, found this place 2 years ago when I was budgeting and working how much I need to live off passive income permanently. Not always frugal and still not as frugal as I can be, but good enough to FIRE in around 3 years.

kiblebuka

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #110 on: December 31, 2014, 08:40:56 AM »
26, girl, US, programmer. I consider myself a weird millennial because I fit the age range, but the generation gap between myself and my mom gave me some older styles of thinking.

How did you find out about MMM?
Either reddit or Something Awful links.

Were you always Mustachian?
Hahahaha, hell no. My foresight is as bad as my actual vision and my hindsight is 20/15. Even tho my mom was "stingy" with spending money on some things, she'd splurge on others, especially stuff for me. So I'd spend the money I'd get for birthdays or teeth lost right away on junk. Whatever windfalls I got from relatives who kicked the bucket went to my college payments. I didn't have my own bank account until 2007. I never saved money when getting paid by Bank of Mom.

What are your savings/debt elimination goals?
-The only debt I have is my car so I'd like that paid off early
-Save $1k to open a Roth IRA
-And then save another $3k or whatever to start investing in those other fund things

As I said, 20/600 (or 20/800 I forget) foresight, so I can't see anything relating to moving or buying a house or other "adult" things.

gillstone

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #111 on: December 31, 2014, 08:57:08 AM »
I'm 33, married and have 2 kids. 

How did you find out about MMM?
Back in the summer of 2012 I was looking around for some info on PEX and came across this article: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/23/how-to-become-a-kickass-plumber-with-pex/.  I scrolled through some other posts and found that it all made sense and that then turned into me reading everything in the course of a couple months. 

Were you always Mustachian?
My wife was more than I was.  We were OK, but had room to improve.  By 2012 we had only a mortgage and some low-interest student loan debt (2.25%).  We saved money and had retirement accounts.  We were fairly frugal.  MMM is what helped make the final push though.  I started biking to work, even in winter.  We installed LED lighting and a clothesline and now I'm improving the insulation in my attic.  We dropped our 08 Hyundai Sonata with leather seats for a 09 Honda Fit with awesome gas mileage.

What are your savings/debt elimination goals?
Big goal is that in 10 years we could stop working if we felt like it.  That would mean a paid off mortgage and roughly 650k in the bank.  We may never "retire", but being financially independent is a huge goal for us now.  10 years may be on the outside edge, but I'm confident we could do it in under 15. 

ash7962

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #112 on: December 31, 2014, 10:11:43 AM »
25F here living in Chicago.  Hope to cross into the 100k NW territory sometime in 2015.

How did you find out about mmm?
Found MMM in May or June, etiher through an article about MMM or /r/personalfinance.  I know the link took me to MMM's spend 1k on vacation post.  I'm not even sure why that lead me to read more, but I read a few more and was hooked.  Spent the next few weeks reading the entire blog.

Were you always mustachian?
Kiiinda... I saved money while I was growing up, but then would spend it on gaming computers (all cash).  Growing up I knew I didn't want to be totally dependent on someone else for my life, so I made it a goal to make good money.  I never went into debt, but I was somehow spending my entire sizable paycheck (minus the 401k contribution to meet company match).  Once I found MMM everything just clicked and I immediately started implementing changes.  I watched almost 1k fall off my budget within a few months, and I'm still working on reducing my expenses further.

What are you savings/debt elimination goals?
I want to either fully FIRE, or become a SAHM when I have kids while still bringing money into the household.  I want to at least have some decent passive income when I quit, or be able to fully support myself.  My SO also has a great job, so if I do become a SAHM my goals will still be to reduce all our expenses so that he can retire whenever he wants (he has already told me he wants to work longer than me). 

Decalin

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #113 on: January 01, 2015, 03:21:56 PM »
27F in TN, married to a lovely wife and planning on moving to Bakersfield, CA when our lease is up.

How did you find out about mmm?
A cooking blog, if you can believe it. http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/ mentioned it in a post and then I ended up reading every post over the span of a few days.

Were you always mustachian?
Hell no, and I regret it now. Currently surviving on 20k a year with help from my mother due to car loans, student loans, and too high rent due to a roommate flaking out 4 months into a lease.

What are you savings/debt elimination goals?
I would like to open a traditional gaming store, but MMM's idea of diverse income and becoming independent sounds like a good before/concurrant goal. My true goal is being able to live a reasonable life without debt or worrying about money. We're already pretty frugal, so it's mainly increasing income and being able to save it without emergencies blowing it out of the water.

catpartm3nt

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #114 on: January 02, 2015, 01:02:36 PM »
I'm 26. Actually found out about this website through my mom, but having grown up with pretty frugal and responsible parents I already embodied several main aspects of mustachianism. I have never cared about expensive things, jewelry, cars, brand names, status symbols, etc.

My SO and I got more serious about saving in 2014 and are well on our way to our first $100K. No debt. The goal this year is to get higher-paying jobs and ramp up the savings rate (I'd say our savings rate right now is roughly 40%, I'd like to get it up to 60%). Personally, this year I need to work on "trimming the fat" in our already fairly low discretionary spending (mostly groceries and eating out) and better educating myself on finance and investing, so I can make smarter financial decisions.

The big goal is FI by 35.

JLee

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #115 on: January 02, 2015, 04:19:15 PM »
i felt/feel the EXACT same way. People with crappy job prospects were moving out and starting families...they had to have had just mountains of debt. It never made sense to me. I guess they felt like that was what they had to do immediately after college, like it is in the post-college handbook or something....screw all that.

In all fairness, it may just be because the 'practice' of starting a family is so damn fun. ;-)
hahaha...i concede this very valid point

Yes, and is awkward to do while living with your in laws.

Awkward is a state of mind. You can totally do it if you just stop caring. :-)

Hahahaha.. I may have a reputation with my last roommates for "not caring"...

Oh well. Worth it. :P

boarder42

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #116 on: January 02, 2015, 04:25:47 PM »
28  found this site last year around this time.  Always had been a good saver.  Grew up in what i would consider a frugal household.  I was always searching for a retirement calculator that equated what i saved to how long i had to work and i finally stumbled upon the "shockingly simple" post.  Quickly read all the blogs etc.  Learned i didnt need 100k to live on b/c i dont live on that now. 

Goals 1.5-2MM hoping to hit that by 36-38.  Then retire and live the good life.  Should hit a quarter million in savings once my company Stock for 2014 hits its account.  have ~350k networth.

stlbrah

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #117 on: January 02, 2015, 07:53:51 PM »
I am recently 27 w/ about a 100k NW, but I am getting to the point to where I can really feel it adding up quickly.

I used to feel guilty spending money on designer clothes but never fully understood why I felt that way. I would feel rather guilty after buying a luxury item and did not understand why. I came across this on a link on marketwatch.com, and it gave some clarity of why I always felt that way. Savings rate is about 70%. I will not sacrifice travel, and I still spend some excess money here and there, but I make sure it is 100% worth it and either brings significant happiness, a good ROI, or assists with goals.

I don't care about FIRE, as much as I care about freedom. Work itself doesn't feel like sacrificing freedom at all, however bills do.

kbeth07

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #118 on: January 06, 2015, 05:25:32 PM »
Age: 19. From Texas, living in Finland ATM

How did you find MMM?
From Early Retirement Extreme (ERE) forums.

Were you always Mustachian?
I don't know...I was 15 years old when I found out about ERE/MMM.

Savings/Debt Elimination Goals
Eliminate my student debt loans by the time I graduate college during the Spring Semester '16? It is only $4,000 so I could work as full-time student and part-time next semester for minimum wage and have enough saved, so I am fine.
I'm also 19, turning 20 next month. I felt like I was one of the youngest ones here - and it's a bit hard to relate to people's accomplishments of early retirement and $500k net worth when you're just proud of finding the cheapest phone plan and taking your own coffee to school! (Although I still enjoy reading all of these posts.) I don't remember when I discovered MMM, it was about 2-3 years ago, but I only just started taking it seriously and getting rid of the stupid habits of shopping, buying fancy coffees, and eating takeout once a week that came once I started having money of my own. I've been doing community college for my first two years, so no student loans yet, but that is also my main focus when I transfer to university in the fall - reducing and eliminating student loan debt.

Vertical Mode

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #119 on: February 12, 2015, 10:00:56 PM »
Hi all,

Just curious to know how many young (twenties and under) Mustaches are out there. The Millennial generation gets a bad rap in the media for poor money management, which isn't unfounded, but makes it seem as if there's no frugal people in our demographic.

How did you find out about MMM, were you always Mustachian, and what are your savings/debt elimination goals?

To start it off, I'm a 23 y.o. finance professional in the Midwest. I found out about MMM from my boyfriend (26) who found it through another friend (27). Looking back, I had a very Mustachian childhoold (anti-debt parents, biking to the library every weekend, no TV in the house, used cars, etc.). My current savings goal is a house down payment.

I've been curious about this as well. Thanks for starting this thread!

Ironically, I found MMM while browsing Forbes at work on my lunch break - talk about different perspectives!

I haven't always been Mustachian in terms of living a frugal lifestyle, but it certainly resonated with many things I already had learned by my parents' example. When I became old enough to have meaningful conversations about such things, my dad shared his (apparently considerable) knowledge and thoughts on how the dots were connected in the financial universe. Because of this, I understood concepts like the time value of money and compounding, but MMM has helped me complete the picture and helped refine my focus.

My goal is to get to FIRE as quickly as possible, with the idea of giving myself as much flexibility as possible in the future. Once I have established a better sense of direction, I'll tailor my strategy toward specific goals.

OSUBearCub

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #120 on: February 13, 2015, 08:20:49 AM »
Disclaimer, I'm not done reading through all three pages.

Regarding the definition of the Millennial Generation, the genesis year ranges widely depending on the organization writing the definition.   Some consider years as early as 1977 as the start of the generation.  I was born in 1980 making me 34.  I share far more characteristics with Millennials than Gen Xers.  However, my characteristics have been altered slightly by a cultural kinship with my three older siblings.  Ie. I think like a Millennial but have fond memories of all the 80's pop culture.

So, if you're an "Early Millennial" like me, here are some suggested generational characteristics that might help you sort things out:

Millennial statistics (Source: Pew Research)

50 percent of Millennials consider themselves politically unaffiliated.
29 percent consider themselves religiously unaffiliated.
They have the highest average number of Facebook friends, with an average of 250 friends vs. Generations X's 200.
55 percent have posted a selfie or more to social media sites versus 20 percent of Generation X.
8 percent of Millennials claim to have sexted, whereas 30 percent claim to have received sexts.
They send a median of 50 texts a day.
As of 2012, only 19 percent of Millennials said that, generally, others can be trusted.
There are about 76 million Millennials in the United States (based on research using the years 1978-2000).
Millennials are the last generation born in the 20th century.
Twenty percent have at least one immigrant parent.

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/millennials-millennial-generation

NICE!

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #121 on: February 13, 2015, 08:53:53 AM »
I'm also 19, turning 20 next month. I felt like I was one of the youngest ones here - and it's a bit hard to relate to people's accomplishments of early retirement and $500k net worth when you're just proud of finding the cheapest phone plan and taking your own coffee to school! (Although I still enjoy reading all of these posts.) I don't remember when I discovered MMM, it was about 2-3 years ago, but I only just started taking it seriously and getting rid of the stupid habits of shopping, buying fancy coffees, and eating takeout once a week that came once I started having money of my own. I've been doing community college for my first two years, so no student loans yet, but that is also my main focus when I transfer to university in the fall - reducing and eliminating student loan debt.

You're pretty far ahead of the game. I wish I had my act together at 20! It only took me another ~5 years, but I'd love to have that extra oomph in my net worth right now.

WhoopWhoop

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #122 on: February 13, 2015, 09:27:42 AM »
How did you find out about MMM, were you always Mustachian, and what are your savings/debt elimination goals?
How did I find out about MMM? Through ERE. I found ERE through the Survival Podcast. I liked Jacob's theories about how consumers aren't very creative. They just go out and buy things that solve even their most minor of problems.

Were you always Mustachian? Frugal, yes. When unemployed, I lived in Chicago for about $11k a year. But, when I got my first job I thought putting 10% in my 401(k) was impressive and I was very tempted to spend the money I made on clothes. I also didn't know how to cook. Basically, I had the foundation to be a good Mustachian, but none of the tools.

What are your savings/debt elimination goals? Save as much money as possible so I don't have to work for other peoples' companies. I loathe the social rules surrounding office jobs. I understand the rules...but I hate them. Right now, I'm taking a 6 year "break" while I try to figure out how to earn money through my own business ventures. That way, I'll never have to have a normal job!

cashstasherat23

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #123 on: February 13, 2015, 11:26:32 AM »
How did you find out about MMM?
Honestly not sure about how I stumbled on this page...I think I was searching for ways to eliminate my credit card debt quickly after the $1.5K balance I was carrying suddenly started accruing interest. Starting reading and was instantly hooked!

 Were you always Mustachian?
I have not always been Mustachian. I grew up in a family that was doing quite well monetarily and definitely were big consumers, until my dad lost his job and continued to spend way outside their means via credit card. Actually, my mother has always been pretty frugal, ie shopping only at sales, couponing, etc, but I used to make fun of her until I moved out on my own, started having my own bills come in, and started being more frugal myself! Now I am the frugal one, and trying to get them to curtail their spending. I hate to see the wastefulness they have, and the hole they have dug themselves in to.

What are your savings/debt elimination goals?
Short Term Goal: My goal for 2015 is to reach $0 net worth! I am currently chipping away at my $25K in student loans, and the plan is to have them completely paid off by December 31st of this year.
Long Term Goal: ER of some sort...not sure what that will look like for me yet, but by my early 30s I would like to be free from a corporate 9-5 job, with the ability to start my own business, travel, or do whatever I see fit.

cashstasherat23

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #124 on: February 13, 2015, 11:29:50 AM »


Were you always Mustachian? Frugal, yes. When unemployed, I lived in Chicago for about $11k a year. But, when I got my first job I thought putting 10% in my 401(k) was impressive

This! Last year my father had to work extremely hard to convince me to put even 9% in...I was convinced that I couldn't live without it. This year I bumped it up to 11%, and am planning to bump it up more, but working towards paying off student loans so want a bit more cash coming in each month. Although it's still just a start, it does make me feel good when I talk to coworkers and they say they are proud for contributing 4 or 5%!

HopefulMustache

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #125 on: February 13, 2015, 06:09:09 PM »
I'm 30, so probably on the older side of the Millennial curve.

How did I find MMM:
I found out about MMM through a random link somewhere... it may have been Forbes. How I found the Forbes link, I don't recall... as best I can remember I was looking at an article about tax rates or similar and the article about him was the next one down, so I just saw it by happenstance, liked the sound of things and clicked on through. This was only last fall.

Was I always Mustachian:
I was always on the frugal side, but no, I wouldn't say I was always Mustachian, in that I never had a firm grasp on the notion that early retirement would be possible through smart investing and smart living. But I was perhaps always ready to be a Mustachian, in that those were all things I wanted to do individually, I just never knew how to put them all together.

My savings/debt elimination goals:
Well, I have a car to pay off and do plan on acquiring a mortgage probably before it's paid off, so I anticipate having some debt for a while (I had a glorious month or two where I was debt free after I recently paid off my student loans though, and before the car). I'd like to think I'll be ready to FIRE around the time I own my theoretical paid-off house, but who knows, I was just laid off and that's a lot of projecting to do (likely 25+ years). But I plan to continue to reduce expenses and invest wisely, and watch the net worth tick up as quickly as I can, and far quicker than it had before I knew it could buy my freedom.

xenon5

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #126 on: February 13, 2015, 07:22:39 PM »
23 here, graduated mid 2013.  My net worth is just breaking 0 this month.  I don't think I fully understood what a dollar was worth at age 17 so I ended up with 60k of student debt, even though I could have done way less.  Oh well, I know better now.

I started realizing it was a lot of money in college in the back of my mind, but I decided to just put off thinking much about the loans until graduation.  Sometimes I would randomly play with compound interest calculators to see how easy it was to generate a networth of $10 million + by 65 with my expected income and decent savings.  but instead of thinking "Hmm, how do I bring the retirement date closer?" I thought "Is $10 million really enough to retire the way I want to?  I dunno, I'll figure it out when I'm actually making money"

Then after graduating I set up the logins for my student loan accounts.  FUUUCK.  Well now how do I get rid of this debt as soon as possible?

So with enough searching I eventually ended up at the MMM blog only weeks after graduation!  I moved home to my dad's place and I've been here since saving a vast majority of my income.

Now I'm hoping to be checked out by 30-35, but I still haven't decided on a number.  I only know that $500k is when I can start entertaining the idea, but it depends on how my career goes and how much I can really save when I start living on my own.  I don't even know whether marriage or children are things I want in life or when, so I'm leaving my options open and saving as much as possible in the meantime.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2015, 07:29:02 PM by xenon5 »

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #127 on: February 14, 2015, 01:09:11 AM »
Sometimes I would randomly play with compound interest calculators to see how easy it was to generate a networth of $10 million + by 65 with my expected income and decent savings.  but instead of thinking "Hmm, how do I bring the retirement date closer?" I thought "Is $10 million really enough to retire the way I want to?  I dunno, I'll figure it out when I'm actually making money"

10 MILLION DOLLARS?!??!

Wow. In the early days I was thinking $2-3 million to generate around $100k. That was insane, but $10m is just...wow. I'm glad you snapped out of that, or else you would've worked for far too long or never even met your goal.

Are there a lot of people who are trying to accumulate that much?

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #128 on: February 14, 2015, 02:25:57 AM »
I'm 28, Australian.

How did I find MMM? I found this site when it was mentioned on financial blog that I had stumbled upon when browsing around online randomly.

Was I always a Mustachian? Well I've always been careful with my spending but I've certainly made some major life decision that have had a negative financial result. DH and I have 13 years of university study between us and our incomes don't really reflect this. I don't regret my education and believe I am a better person for it, but certainly we could have a great deal more money right now if we'd spent less time studying.

My savings/debt elimination goals? We have no debt except for Australian student loans. I see no reason to pay these back faster than required by the government. As for savings goals, we are saving 50% right now but some of that will be spent on travel. We are also looking to purchase a home but do already have the deposit put aside. My goal at the moment is to work out how to invest our surplus savings better for the future.

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #129 on: February 14, 2015, 07:07:11 AM »
26 year old here.  One of the few single millennials in this thread.  If you read the financial articles about millennials out there, you would think that the people in this thread don't exist.  Glad to see that there are other like minded millennials here.  I always cringe when one my friends finances a ~$50k car which comes out to somewhere between 70-120% of their annual gross pay. 

How did I find MMM?  I found this website while reading some other article on IRA's and HSA's. 

Was I always a Mustachian?  Unfortunately no.  During my college years, I financed a new ~$25k car at 8% interest while at the same time fully funding my ~$70k college education with student loans.  I only regret buying that car and not putting all of my income towards paying for my education.  Thankfully, that was the worst of my financial errors and I changed my view on finances immediately after graduating in 2010. 

My savings/debt elimination goals?  My goals are to maintain a 50% savings rate while increasing my net worth by $100k each year.  I plan to be FI by 35.  Not sure about the RE part, but would drastically reduce the hours I'm working. 
   

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #130 on: February 14, 2015, 07:22:38 AM »
I'm 23, American (North east, for now!), married, with two doggies and no babies (people keep asking when...).  Still working on a BS in Molecular & Cell Biology and hope to continue on to a PhD to research the molecular neurobiology of narcolepsy.

Found MMM through Get Rich Slowly forums, possibly?  I don't really remember, I went on a huge personal finances reading binge this past winter break because I looked at my total student loan balance and realized it was going to be above 50k by the time I graduate (May 2016).

I've always been frugal.  I hate paying full price for things and got all of my friends hooked on Goodwill/thrift store shopping before it was cool ;)  I've never financed anything but my education.  DH, not so much -- has a car loan from pre-me and a mortgage (okay that one's technically my fault, I picked and he paid before we got married). 

Goals:
-Pay off consumer debt (0% credit cards & 2.9% car loan)
-Start maxing IRAs ASAP (might get screwed over here on grad school stipend -- possibly not "earned income" :( )
-Pay off undergrad/MS student loans before finishing PhD (and thus avoid paying lots and lots of interest!)
-FI by the time I'm facing tenure up or out decision or before (1 year left on undergrad + 2 years MS + 5 years PhD + 3 years post doc + 5 years tenure track prof = 16 years = age 39)

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #131 on: February 14, 2015, 12:23:52 PM »
-Start maxing IRAs ASAP (might get screwed over here on grad school stipend -- possibly not "earned income" :( )
From what I've read, if you get paid with a W-2, you're golden. If you only get paid with a 1099, that's more often than not, not earned income. Which is complete bs, but that's just what it is.

caliq

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #132 on: February 14, 2015, 12:34:46 PM »
-Start maxing IRAs ASAP (might get screwed over here on grad school stipend -- possibly not "earned income" :( )
From what I've read, if you get paid with a W-2, you're golden. If you only get paid with a 1099, that's more often than not, not earned income. Which is complete bs, but that's just what it is.

Thanks!  I'm still a year out from any stipend, so I'm not sure how it exactly works.  I think it varies by school and the type of funding you get (fellowship=scholarship=unearned vs. institutional funding=paycheck=earned), and I know student workers in general have some funny rules.  For example, I'm a full-time student, but I'm also a part-time W2 employee at the university.  Since my primary relationship with the institution is an educational one, not an employment one, I don't pay FICA or SS tax.  As in, it's not even taken out of my paychecks and I don't pay a penalty or pay it to the IRS at the end of the year.  I'm still eligible to contribute to an IRA right now though; I just don't know if that will continue to be the case after 2016.  So at the very least I can shovel in as much as possible this year and even if I ignore it for the entirety of my MS/PhD, I'll have a great example of the power of compound interest :D


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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #133 on: February 14, 2015, 12:50:48 PM »
-Start maxing IRAs ASAP (might get screwed over here on grad school stipend -- possibly not "earned income" :( )
From what I've read, if you get paid with a W-2, you're golden. If you only get paid with a 1099, that's more often than not, not earned income. Which is complete bs, but that's just what it is.

Thanks!  I'm still a year out from any stipend, so I'm not sure how it exactly works.  I think it varies by school and the type of funding you get (fellowship=scholarship=unearned vs. institutional funding=paycheck=earned), and I know student workers in general have some funny rules.  For example, I'm a full-time student, but I'm also a part-time W2 employee at the university.  Since my primary relationship with the institution is an educational one, not an employment one, I don't pay FICA or SS tax.  As in, it's not even taken out of my paychecks and I don't pay a penalty or pay it to the IRS at the end of the year.  I'm still eligible to contribute to an IRA right now though; I just don't know if that will continue to be the case after 2016.  So at the very least I can shovel in as much as possible this year and even if I ignore it for the entirety of my MS/PhD, I'll have a great example of the power of compound interest :D
I don't want to derail this thread too much, but yea the FICA exemption is nice (I'm a student too, so I benefit from this one).
In case you can't contribute to an IRA while in grad school, you can still use your taxable account for investing. And depending on your husband's income, you may end up in the 15% or less tax bracket, meaning 0% long term capital gains bracket - meaning if you use a tax efficient fund like VTSMX/VTSAX, you will owe no federal tax on dividends (but most states that have income taxes do not have a favorable tax rate on long term capital gains, so you'll probably owe state taxes on this income).

caliq

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #134 on: February 14, 2015, 02:22:25 PM »
-Start maxing IRAs ASAP (might get screwed over here on grad school stipend -- possibly not "earned income" :( )
From what I've read, if you get paid with a W-2, you're golden. If you only get paid with a 1099, that's more often than not, not earned income. Which is complete bs, but that's just what it is.

Thanks!  I'm still a year out from any stipend, so I'm not sure how it exactly works.  I think it varies by school and the type of funding you get (fellowship=scholarship=unearned vs. institutional funding=paycheck=earned), and I know student workers in general have some funny rules.  For example, I'm a full-time student, but I'm also a part-time W2 employee at the university.  Since my primary relationship with the institution is an educational one, not an employment one, I don't pay FICA or SS tax.  As in, it's not even taken out of my paychecks and I don't pay a penalty or pay it to the IRS at the end of the year.  I'm still eligible to contribute to an IRA right now though; I just don't know if that will continue to be the case after 2016.  So at the very least I can shovel in as much as possible this year and even if I ignore it for the entirety of my MS/PhD, I'll have a great example of the power of compound interest :D
I don't want to derail this thread too much, but yea the FICA exemption is nice (I'm a student too, so I benefit from this one).
In case you can't contribute to an IRA while in grad school, you can still use your taxable account for investing. And depending on your husband's income, you may end up in the 15% or less tax bracket, meaning 0% long term capital gains bracket - meaning if you use a tax efficient fund like VTSMX/VTSAX, you will owe no federal tax on dividends (but most states that have income taxes do not have a favorable tax rate on long term capital gains, so you'll probably owe state taxes on this income).

Oh cool -- I had to dig out an IRS link to prove the FICA thing to someone else on here a week or two ago; I don't think I've ever talked to someone else who noticed it (including my coworkers at school, lol).  Taxable accounts will definitely be the fallback if I can't do an IRA -- DH is 100% VA disabled so we technically have zero income...I was super excited to throw everything possible into Roth IRA's for both of us, up to the max of my earned income or the yearly max, whichever was higher, because then we would effectively have 0% tax in, 0% tax out; the stipend thing is the only thing that might mess with that :(  And it's probably not smart to pick my PhD program on the compensation structure, unfortunately. 

Sorry for derailing!

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #135 on: February 14, 2015, 09:41:25 PM »
I'm 21, married, working and going to school full time.

Not sure how I came across MMM a couple months ago, but I'm so glad I did. I've since sold my car and been more aware of my spending.

I've always been good at saving money, but I still bought a lot of useless crap. I never learned about investing either so until MMM I had a lot of money not doing anything. I still feel overwhelmed with learning about investments so hope I don't mess it up.

As for future savings plans my husband and I are planning to retire early when we have kids. Or at least have the option to. We dont have any school debts and are focusing on overhauling our spending this year. As long as we don't get too spends I have confidence in our plan. I'm glad to see others my age on here!

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #136 on: February 15, 2015, 12:30:43 PM »
Just turned 29 5 days ago. Married. No kids yet. Wife is 32.

Found out about MMM about 3 or 4 years ago, when I was sitting in a cubicle hating my life and thinking there had to be a better way. Since then, wife and I built a residual income of a few thousand bucks per month with a direct sales biz, relocated, both quit our jobs. I recently started working again, as we wanted some extra cash flow when we start cranking out some kids.

Always been "thrifty," as in fixing/repurposing things when possible, and just not really liking to waste money, but I had some bad spending habits in college and afterward. Wife has always been "frugal" and preferred to make things on her own versus buying things, if it made sense to do so.

Currently debt free. Net worth is somewhere around $70k all in, but we sold our un-mustachian house about a year ago, and relocated (currently crashing with my folks for free until we know what we're doing with our lives). End goal is to retire as early as possible. We enjoy spending the majority of our time outdoors exploring, so that's very cheap and rewarding. We just need a roof over our head, heat, water, food, oh...and internet, and we're good. :-)

Side note, but I feel like we are seeing a pretty big shift in our generation from wanting to work for the next 50 years like our parents did/are doing to looking at jobs and income opportunities as temporary sacrifices for long term freedom. There are a lot of millenials out there with screwed up spending habits, but the smart ones are catching on quickly, as evidenced by this thread and the success of this forum in general. I went through all the steps of being a "successful" career man, only to realize that I get no personal satisfaction from any of it. I am inherently jealous of those of you who say you actually enjoy your job and don't mind passing the time working, as I've never experienced this phenomenon, and only met personally a couple people in my life who claim to have accomplished this. I definitely think that would make the time pass much easier on our way to our savings goals, but just knowing it's all temporary makes me rest easier. There's just something about trading my time freedom for dollar bills that rubs me the wrong way, so we're working to rectify that as soon as possible!

Anyway, cheers to all of you on the same path as us! Hopefully someday, as we raise our own kids, we'll be able to reshape the priorities and show that family and time freedom should come before chasing dollars building someone else's dream!

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #137 on: February 15, 2015, 01:37:45 PM »
I'm 21, so I'm really mad at College_Stash for being younger than me.


How did you find out about MMM?
I got into credit card hacking about 2 years ago, got interested in the stock market a few years before that, and got interested in an actual career in finance sometime last year. I probably stumbled across it from one of my old blogs.

Were you always Mustachian?
I've always been frugal, which contrasts with my parents.

What are your savings/debt elimination goals?
I don't have any debt currently. Savings goals are to just accumulate money in my Betterment account. I think I like having a job in computer science to much to do the early retirement thing, but it's always nice to have large sacks of money in case I find a need for it.

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #138 on: February 15, 2015, 01:43:14 PM »
Side note, but I feel like we are seeing a pretty big shift in our generation from wanting to work for the next 50 years like our parents did/are doing to looking at jobs and income opportunities as temporary sacrifices for long term freedom. There are a lot of millenials out there with screwed up spending habits, but the smart ones are catching on quickly, as evidenced by this thread and the success of this forum in general. I went through all the steps of being a "successful" career man, only to realize that I get no personal satisfaction from any of it. I am inherently jealous of those of you who say you actually enjoy your job and don't mind passing the time working, as I've never experienced this phenomenon, and only met personally a couple people in my life who claim to have accomplished this. I definitely think that would make the time pass much easier on our way to our savings goals, but just knowing it's all temporary makes me rest easier. There's just something about trading my time freedom for dollar bills that rubs me the wrong way, so we're working to rectify that as soon as possible!
I'm not so sure that's the case. Certainly millennials on this forum are catching on. But is that true of millennials in general? I don't have any hard data on this, but I sincerely doubt it. We can get one clue from the credit card debt of millennials: average cc debt of $23332 and balance per cc is $2682 http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/29/credit-score-generation-gap-debt-boomers-genx-millennials/

We're a niche community.

caliq

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #139 on: February 15, 2015, 01:52:06 PM »
Side note, but I feel like we are seeing a pretty big shift in our generation from wanting to work for the next 50 years like our parents did/are doing to looking at jobs and income opportunities as temporary sacrifices for long term freedom. There are a lot of millenials out there with screwed up spending habits, but the smart ones are catching on quickly, as evidenced by this thread and the success of this forum in general. I went through all the steps of being a "successful" career man, only to realize that I get no personal satisfaction from any of it. I am inherently jealous of those of you who say you actually enjoy your job and don't mind passing the time working, as I've never experienced this phenomenon, and only met personally a couple people in my life who claim to have accomplished this. I definitely think that would make the time pass much easier on our way to our savings goals, but just knowing it's all temporary makes me rest easier. There's just something about trading my time freedom for dollar bills that rubs me the wrong way, so we're working to rectify that as soon as possible!
I'm not so sure that's the case. Certainly millennials on this forum are catching on. But is that true of millennials in general? I don't have any hard data on this, but I sincerely doubt it. We can get one clue from the credit card debt of millennials: average cc debt of $23332 and balance per cc is $2682 http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/29/credit-score-generation-gap-debt-boomers-genx-millennials/

We're a niche community.

I clicked through to the actual Experian study that article cites, and the 'average debt' figures include personal loans, CCs, student loans, and auto loans.  So overall those numbers aren't as awful as if you were thinking that they were just credit card debts, especially for the Millennial group that likely has more portion of student loans.  The average CC balance for Millennials is about half of the average CC balance for Boomers, so maybe we can hope things are moving in the right direction.  Or maybe it'll all implode once everyone pays off their student loans xD

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #140 on: February 15, 2015, 02:00:36 PM »
Side note, but I feel like we are seeing a pretty big shift in our generation from wanting to work for the next 50 years like our parents did/are doing to looking at jobs and income opportunities as temporary sacrifices for long term freedom. There are a lot of millenials out there with screwed up spending habits, but the smart ones are catching on quickly, as evidenced by this thread and the success of this forum in general. I went through all the steps of being a "successful" career man, only to realize that I get no personal satisfaction from any of it. I am inherently jealous of those of you who say you actually enjoy your job and don't mind passing the time working, as I've never experienced this phenomenon, and only met personally a couple people in my life who claim to have accomplished this. I definitely think that would make the time pass much easier on our way to our savings goals, but just knowing it's all temporary makes me rest easier. There's just something about trading my time freedom for dollar bills that rubs me the wrong way, so we're working to rectify that as soon as possible!
I'm not so sure that's the case. Certainly millennials on this forum are catching on. But is that true of millennials in general? I don't have any hard data on this, but I sincerely doubt it. We can get one clue from the credit card debt of millennials: average cc debt of $23332 and balance per cc is $2682 http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/29/credit-score-generation-gap-debt-boomers-genx-millennials/

We're a niche community.

I clicked through to the actual Experian study that article cites, and the 'average debt' figures include personal loans, CCs, student loans, and auto loans.  So overall those numbers aren't as awful as if you were thinking that they were just credit card debts, especially for the Millennial group that likely has more portion of student loans.  The average CC balance for Millennials is about half of the average CC balance for Boomers, so maybe we can hope things are moving in the right direction.  Or maybe it'll all implode once everyone pays off their student loans xD
Haha oops I should've read closer.

We can hope....but considering how much money companies spend on advertising, I have serious doubts that consumerism is going to go away.

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #141 on: February 15, 2015, 04:02:38 PM »
Almost 26. About to graduate from nursing school, also about to get married. Always been frugal, been reading MMM about the past 6 months. Used to care way too much about what other people though though. Want to get out from under student debt as fast as possible after I graduate. Fiance didn't used to be particularly frugal (doesn't bleed money, but likes nice cars and shiny electronics). Recently looked at our life goals and realized FI and even FIRE is much more fitting with our priorities and values.

Gonna rock this saving game =)

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #142 on: February 15, 2015, 04:04:14 PM »
Side note, but I feel like we are seeing a pretty big shift in our generation from wanting to work for the next 50 years like our parents did/are doing to looking at jobs and income opportunities as temporary sacrifices for long term freedom. There are a lot of millenials out there with screwed up spending habits, but the smart ones are catching on quickly, as evidenced by this thread and the success of this forum in general. I went through all the steps of being a "successful" career man, only to realize that I get no personal satisfaction from any of it. I am inherently jealous of those of you who say you actually enjoy your job and don't mind passing the time working, as I've never experienced this phenomenon, and only met personally a couple people in my life who claim to have accomplished this. I definitely think that would make the time pass much easier on our way to our savings goals, but just knowing it's all temporary makes me rest easier. There's just something about trading my time freedom for dollar bills that rubs me the wrong way, so we're working to rectify that as soon as possible!
I'm not so sure that's the case. Certainly millennials on this forum are catching on. But is that true of millennials in general? I don't have any hard data on this, but I sincerely doubt it. We can get one clue from the credit card debt of millennials: average cc debt of $23332 and balance per cc is $2682 http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/29/credit-score-generation-gap-debt-boomers-genx-millennials/

We're a niche community.

I clicked through to the actual Experian study that article cites, and the 'average debt' figures include personal loans, CCs, student loans, and auto loans.  So overall those numbers aren't as awful as if you were thinking that they were just credit card debts, especially for the Millennial group that likely has more portion of student loans.  The average CC balance for Millennials is about half of the average CC balance for Boomers, so maybe we can hope things are moving in the right direction.  Or maybe it'll all implode once everyone pays off their student loans xD
Haha oops I should've read closer.

We can hope....but considering how much money companies spend on advertising, I have serious doubts that consumerism is going to go away.

True :(

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #143 on: February 15, 2015, 04:18:35 PM »
I'm 25, and found MMM via a post on reddit about a year ago. I come from a semi mustachian family... My parents split and one side is on to it, the other not so much.

I haven't always been frugal, in fact until I found the site and devoured all its content I was somehow spending all my income without having much to show for it. Thank god I saw the light when I did. I'm now speeding towards a positive net worth (a student loan at 0% being my only debt). Not sure about RE but I am very excited to be FI as soon as possible!

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #144 on: February 15, 2015, 06:27:31 PM »
Sometimes I would randomly play with compound interest calculators to see how easy it was to generate a networth of $10 million + by 65 with my expected income and decent savings.  but instead of thinking "Hmm, how do I bring the retirement date closer?" I thought "Is $10 million really enough to retire the way I want to?  I dunno, I'll figure it out when I'm actually making money"

10 MILLION DOLLARS?!??!

Wow. In the early days I was thinking $2-3 million to generate around $100k. That was insane, but $10m is just...wow. I'm glad you snapped out of that, or else you would've worked for far too long or never even met your goal.

Are there a lot of people who are trying to accumulate that much?

Well, when you see apartments that can be described as no better than decent going for $1 million+ in NYC, and you've socialized with or dated multiple people 10 years older with these $1 million+ apartments, it becomes the norm to think that way!  I wanted a cushy Manhattan lifestyle in the middle of the action, but now I know I can have a less cushy lifestyle only 30 or 40 minutes outside of the action for less than 1/10th the price and retire young (if that's what I want when the time comes, anyway).

Honestly I still find myself being jealous of young people who walk into huge windfalls.  Why can't I make hundreds of millions dollars in my 20's like miley cyrus??  She's probably not much smarter than me if at all, and it will take me many years to build up even a fraction of what she has. 

I know this is a counterproductive way to think and no human needs that much money anyway. I also know the answer is that in general, the young self made multi-millionaires are the people who tilted way heavier on the risk/reward scale than I'm comfortable with and it paid off for them.  But it still bugs me because it makes me feel like I could be doing something that pays off much better than my relatively well paying career. In short, I need to become more comfortable with the risk/reward allocation I've chosen so it stops bugging me.  Near 100% chance of retiring in my 30s is pretty damn good!
« Last Edit: February 15, 2015, 06:41:00 PM by xenon5 »

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #145 on: February 15, 2015, 06:46:44 PM »

Quote
Honestly I still find myself being jealous of young people who walk into huge windfalls.  Why can't I make hundreds of millions dollars in my 20's like miley cyrus??  She's probably not much smarter than me if at all, and it will take me many years to build up even a fraction of what she has. 

I know this is a counterproductive way to think and no human needs that much money anyway. I also know the answer is that in general, the young self made multi-millionaires are the people who tilted way heavier on the risk/reward scale than I'm comfortable with and it paid off for them.  But it still bugs me because it makes me feel like I could be doing something that pays off much better than my relatively well paying career. In short, I need to become more comfortable with the risk/reward allocation I've chosen so it stops bugging me.  Near 100% chance of retiring in my 30s is pretty damn good!

You also aren't a media circus, feeling constantly under scrutiny, and being driven to substance abuse. Fame is an ugly monster of a gift. I feel like a reached a turning point in my life where I realized that even if I gained sudden fame or a giant inheritance, I would proceed as if it didn't exist and be disappointed about its development, because it wrecks people. Their motivation, their psyche, their goals. Wrecked. I am SO happy to be "normal". That's the true gift, IMO.

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #146 on: February 15, 2015, 06:54:28 PM »
28 Ohio. Wife 28. 1 kid. 50k net worth

I found MMM about a year and a half ago just cruising the Internet.

I have always been fairly frugal as have my parents. I always had my needs taking care of but not a lot of extras. It has served me well in life so far. After reading MMM I must admit my frugality has been turnt up. 

My wife on the other hand is not frugal at all but I'm working on her. I think she is really beginning to see the progress we are making.

Goals are to hit $100k this year.

willow

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #147 on: February 15, 2015, 07:03:38 PM »
In the house.

I had a very anti-mustachian upbringing coupled with extreme working class conditions(sometimes working poor). I think the experience is what causes me to be so Mustachian now. I didn't want to make the same bad money mistakes as my family had and at the same time, I learned to be happy on just a little. When I started making "real money" I felt like I was rich.

nanu

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  • Location: Cambridge, MA
Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #148 on: February 15, 2015, 08:42:30 PM »
Didn't read through the entire thread... I'm 26 (closing on 27 very soon) with 22y/o girlfriend.
Net worth currently at $65K, with hers at about $30K or so. Currently seniors in college, graduating
in June and moving to NYC to start jobs that we have lined up.

Found MMM about two months ago (read through all posts in about two weeks, including exam week),
and been around here since. Grew up decently frugally I suppose, and certainly think my freedom is the
best thing money can buy, much better than just "more stuff"

marty998

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Re: Millennial Mustaches Out There?
« Reply #149 on: February 15, 2015, 09:18:26 PM »

Quote
Honestly I still find myself being jealous of young people who walk into huge windfalls.  Why can't I make hundreds of millions dollars in my 20's like miley cyrus??  She's probably not much smarter than me if at all, and it will take me many years to build up even a fraction of what she has. 

I know this is a counterproductive way to think and no human needs that much money anyway. I also know the answer is that in general, the young self made multi-millionaires are the people who tilted way heavier on the risk/reward scale than I'm comfortable with and it paid off for them.  But it still bugs me because it makes me feel like I could be doing something that pays off much better than my relatively well paying career. In short, I need to become more comfortable with the risk/reward allocation I've chosen so it stops bugging me.  Near 100% chance of retiring in my 30s is pretty damn good!

You also aren't a media circus, feeling constantly under scrutiny, and being driven to substance abuse. Fame is an ugly monster of a gift. I feel like a reached a turning point in my life where I realized that even if I gained sudden fame or a giant inheritance, I would proceed as if it didn't exist and be disappointed about its development, because it wrecks people. Their motivation, their psyche, their goals. Wrecked. I am SO happy to be "normal". That's the true gift, IMO.

If you gave me $10m to come in naked on a wrecking ball I would do it, take the cash and promptly go back to being "normal".

Miley has a choice, she can leave anytime. She chooses not to. I don't think she's "wrecked" or dumb/being taken advantage of/drug addled a la Macauley Culkin and other fallen child stars. I think she knows exactly what she's doing and is maximising the profit from her fame. The fact that an entire industry leeches off her is a negative consequence/cost of doing business, but underneath it all she appears to be doing what she wants to do in life.

We may think it's ridiculous, but at the end of the day, she's the FI multi-squillionaire.