Enough Is Enough: You Can Always Make More Money, But You Cannot Make More Time

sandsoftimeThe sands of time. Unfortunately, time is not on our side. Once you’re born, the clock is ticking away and life is slowly coming to a close.

That realization isn’t meant to depress you. Rather, I write it to empower you.

My Background

I’ve attained phenomenal success over the last four years, and I couldn’t be more proud of myself. I went from being worth less than a baby to managing a six-figure portfolio spitting out thousands of dollars per year in passive dividend income. And this didn’t come about by way of magic.

No, I worked incredibly hard to cut expenses wherever I could – and I’ve been open about all of the changes I undertook to put myself in the best position possible to create a wide spread between income and expenses, and then invest the capital from this spread into attractively priced, high-quality businesses paying and raising dividends.

A wonderful story. And I’m so incredibly grateful for it.

There’s More To Life Than Money

However, there’s more to life than just growing wealth. There’s life itself. There’s the time side of the ledger.

They say time is money, but I say time is life.

My relentless pursuit of financial independence has been Terminator-like over the last few years, and it’s been really incredible. And it’s the success I’ve achieved thus far that allows me to slow down a bit and enjoy the time I have today. I could have continued on with my Terminator role, but like Arnold Schwarzenegger loses muscles with age, I lose a little slice of life with every day that passes by. Once time is gone, it’s gone forever. And I try to never lose sight of that fact.

So I decided recently to quit my 50-hour per week full-time-and-then-some job at a luxury car dealership where I made my living as a service advisor, and I’m now going to focus on family, writing, inspiring, and investing, which are really my inner passions. I’m going to take the plunge and see where writing full-time takes me. It’s a whole new adventure, and in the end that’s what life is: an adventure. How fun you make that adventure is ultimately up to you.

And while this may just be a temporary interlude for me, I’m anxious to enjoy the moment.

Money Can Always Be Made, But Time Cannot

See, I can always go back to work at a traditional 9-5, if necessary. I can always make more money later in life if blogging doesn’t pan out. But the time I have now as a 32 year-old man will never be mine again. Every second that ticks away is a second I’ll never have again. And this is a fundamental truth that you should always remember: You can always make more money in life, but you’ll never be able to make more time.

So if you’re not pursuing your passion now, ask yourself why. And by pursuing your passion, I mean pursuing either something that makes you happy right now, or pursuing the freedom necessary to indulge your passions once you’re financially free. Not all passions pay money, and passion shouldn’t be about money anyhow. It should be about being happy and making the most of your time on this planet. But I would argue that most traditional jobs aren’t geared to make you happy; they’re geared to generate the maximum possible results out of you, which would usually be profits for the company you work for. Therefore, use that job to generate the most income possible (while simultaneously minimizing expenses and creating that spread I wrote about earlier) so that you can pursue what ultimately will make you happy.

So if you’re not already completely free and/or happy is it because your monthly nut has grown out of control and you need the money the high-stress, high-pay job you currently spend most of your time at provides? If that’s the case, how can you change that? Do you need the house you live in? Notice I didn’t say want, I said need. Do you actually need as much space as you currently have? What about the car you drive? Do you actually need it? The weekly restaurant visits? The nights out on the town? The clothes you wear?

I’m not saying you need to change your life. But I asked myself these very questions four years ago. And I realized the answer was quite easy: No, I didn’t actually need any of it. I liked living in a luxury apartment building in a gated community. I enjoyed driving a newer model car. And meals at restaurants taste good! But all of these niceties were just holding me back from what really made me happy. I thought they were filling some type of emptiness inside of me where I would exchange my time for money and then the money for the “good life”, but I was actually creating unhappiness from the beginning by exchanging my time for money in an environment I never wanted to be at in the first place, and thus created an artificial “need” for a nice car, prepared food, and an apartment with plush carpeting and crown molding. Damn you, crown molding!

Who Wants To Grow Up And Be Unhappy?

But all of this was just crap in my life that was holding me back from what I knew really made me happy: time to pursue my passions in life. See, to afford all that stuff I had to spend more than 50 hours of my free time at a car dealership putting up with all of the office politics and usual crap. Nobody raises their hand in 4th grade and says, “I want to grow up to work 50 hours per week at a car dealership!”

Equally so, however, nobody raises their hand at a young age and says, “I want to live frugally so I can become financially independent at a young age!” But maybe we should be saying these things when we’re young. Instead, we’re all looking forward to the giant house, the nice car, the fancy food, and the cool clothes. But all these things do is keep you apart from what ultimately leads to more happiness: the time needed to spend with the people you love, the passions you enjoy, the experiences you’ll always remember, and the simple enjoyment in being alive. Being present is highly underrated.

What’s Enough?

So what’s your “enough”? Have you thought about the number that’s truly enough for you? Or is it just working until you’re 65 and hoping you’ve saved enough to finally start living? What if you could live now? Have you ever thought about that?

I’ll share first! My number is pretty low. I plan on becoming financially independent at 40 years old, where my passive dividend income exceeds my expenses. And I plan on spending somewhere around $1,500 per month in early retirement. That means I’ll need to generate $1,500/month in passive income. So, technically speaking, that is my number: $1,500. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? Well, it’s actually not. However, doing a little reverse math, we can see that in order to generate that type of passive income I’d need to have ~$500,000 invested in a portfolio yielding an overall 3.5%. Am I on track? Well, I started this 12-year journey four years ago, and I have eight years left to reach financial independence by age 40. So I’m about 1/3 of the way there. And great news: I’m currently on pace to exceed my goal of $5,200 in dividend income this year on a portfolio valued at just over $160,000. So I’d say I’m pretty close to on track, although I’m likely going to slow my own progress down with my transition to full-time writing. We’ll see how this changes things!

So, remember, your number might be lower than you’d think. The lower you can get your expenses, the less passive income you’ll need to sustain your lifestyle. Therefore, a smaller portfolio would be necessary to generate that lesser passive income. And even if you pull the trigger a little early and things don’t work out as planned, you can always go back to work and earn money. Time, however, can never be earned. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. Furthermore, once you own all of your time for yourself it’s unlikely that you’ll never earn another dollar again through some type of exchange, especially if you’re retiring very early in life.

And I encourage you to take advantage of your enough once you actually achieve it. Don’t fall for the “one more year” syndrome where you actually achieve the passive income number that will allow you to live the life you always wanted, but yet continue to press on for even more money. The time you’ll be missing in the interim, once passed, can never be recreated.

So it’s your turn. What’s your enough? Is my number crazy low or crazy high? Will you fall for the “one more year” syndrome?

Thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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104 Comments

  1. Hey DM,

    Spot on! The most important thing in our life is time, as is something we can’t get back, once it’s spent, it’s gone!

    As you know I’m following a similar journey to yours, a bit less frugal I might say. I notice I am not as frugal as I could be precisely because of not wanting to waste time. I tuned down my expenses to absolute lowest I could while having as minimal possible impact on my happiness as possible. Otherwise, I just see myself counting the time to pass by until I finally have my dividend goal achieved, and that is a way of wasting time instead of enjyoing the present.

    I really like your number, in fact I was aiming for 1000 GBP/month which is roughly 1600$ so we have quite similar goals. I’m hoping dividend growth and dividend re-investment allows me to reach that income before I put 500k myself. Let’s see!

    Best Wishes,
    Dividend Venture

  2. Great article as always Mantra. You have a great story and a way with words. I am thinking you should look into possibly making a podcast. There are a couple out there but are not very compelling. Better yet you could possibly make a documentary about your story and philosophy. The past few years there have been many big hit shoestring budget docs that have resonated with many especially in the healthy eating category. That where you come in with self help finance doc which there literally is none right now.

    Ya I know I am dreaming a bit big here but thats what I do. I imagine a doc featuring maybe 5-6 bloggers as yourself as subjects on a quest for financial freedom. I come from a film background so let me know if you are interested and I can point you in the right direction. Could be done on a shoe string budget!

    As far as whats my passive income number. I dont really have one. I have always been a good saver. I just want more. What happens when you reach your so called number? your life doesnt stop as you just keep trying to increase your passive income. This is more of a lifestyle than a number for me.

    Great article as always and sorry for my dream ramble! Good Day and Grind On!

  3. Jason:
    I’ll have to be honest. I don’t know that $18K/year is always going to cut it for you. Certainly, there are people that live on less and your ability to be frugal is obvious. There is also the dividend growth aspect of it all, which should help you keep up with inflation. The growth won’t likely improve your lifestyle much, but should at least maintain it.

    I can’t help but wonder though if you will always be happy being perpetually frugal. I’m not advocating the need to live the high life by any means. Things happen though and needs change, especially as we age. As someone who has seen 6 decades go by, I can attest to that.

    I understand your general sense of well being at your age. I definitely understand your desire to live life on your terms and to spend your limited lifetime on what you view as being important. I’ve been there many times and I still am. And yup, I’m stuck in the “one more year” zone, unfortunately.

    It’s a difficult conclusion to reach. When is enough….enough? Heck if I know. I know that I’m pretty close and I may already be there. Trying to find a financial balance is tricky. I am rambling, but basically I just want to point out that in 15 or 20 years, you could quite possibly decide that $18K/year (plus div growth) is going to be problematic even with frugality engaged.

    Personally, I would be terrified if I was facing that level of income in retirement. Then again, I have made choices that make for a more expensive (though hardly extravagant) lifestyle. If in your shoes, I don’t know what I would do. Somewhere in the back of my mind, for a frugal person such as yourself, I view $30K/year as a more realistic goal. Capturing time is important, but time comes at the expense of the other things in life that tend to crop up. I would just hate to see you underestimate your need for a little more income as time goes on.

    So there you have my POV. Take it for what it’s worth. Whatever you do, I wish you well.

  4. DM,

    Have you read the book “How Much Is Enough?: Money and the good life by Robert Skidelsky? If not I think you would like enjoy it. The first parts of the book are best and deal with the history of how we arrived where we are: meaning material abundance and people still working crazy hours. I believe you would enjoy the philosophical tone that he brings to the discussion.

    I think you will enjoy taking time off to pursue other interests. The time I’ve taken off has allowed me to try my hand rehabbing a real estate project and time to develop other interests to see where I want the next decade of my life to go; forty is right around the corner. :-/ I’m looking forward to see what your time off produces.

    Here is to new beginnings in familiar places…

    The Stoic

  5. well, in our suburban even at this moment you can invest about 174k in a decent house and get about 1k monthly (after all expenses) in a rent income. Well, if you have a good credit history you don’t even need this 174k but only a down payment. I calculated that if I rent out my current house, which has a mortgage, I still will be able to generate about 700 per month after all expenses. so you might think about investing into a real estate as well. maybe like 50×50.

  6. Jason, does the $1500 per month in dividend income take into account the money you make from writing/blogging? I imagine that writing is easy since you love it, and if you could live off of it then you wouldn’t think of it as wasting your life away. Right? So, maybe you already reached FI.

    I have 48 weeks until my pension maxes out when I reach 58. I wanted to retire by age 50 when I was young, and it would have been nice to have been free the last 7 years. My job is pretty good actually, but I’ve had enough and look forward to owning my days. Mrs. X and I plan on doing charity work when I retire (she already does some since she quit working when our first daughter was born 28 years ago – lucky her). Funny how much faster the last 4 weeks have gone by since May 1st and I started my last year.

    I have been pondering the question of how much my wife and I need to live on for quite a while now. If we cut back to the bone, we could probably get by on about $2K per month. That is as long as we both stay healthy. Medical bills can kill a budget.

  7. DM,

    Interesting article and critical topic. What is enough? There is the financial perspective and the lifestyle perspective. I certainly think ‘enough’ is something that most people just don’t figure out. It goes hand in hand with ‘why’. I think if everyone took some time to self reflect early in life on ‘why’ and ‘enough’ they would have the chance to make a better set of choices. Not always the case though, I knew from a very early age (12-13) that I wanted to purchase assets or accumulate ‘enough’ assets/cash so that I didn’t have to work anymore…..before I even started working. However, that didn’t stop me from making bunch of bad decisions and ultimately delaying that achievement of ‘enough’. Now I am very much back on that pathway. Great wife, great life and a few years of hard work have us heading in the right direction.

    I was faced with a tough decision over the last week. I recently received a promotion at work and the formalities of that promotion were about to be completed. Before the promotion there was a period of uncertainty around my employment and I utilised that to test the market and see what else was out there. I enjoyed my job and was doing well at it and I would have been paid $150,000 a year to do it (makes ‘enough’ a lot quicker to achieve). The tough decision….Mr.Market reacted with an offer. Fly in/fly out work, working 18 days in the field and returning home for 10 days off. Gas field commissioning work (great for future me if needed) in remote regional areas. Very different to what I currently do, very different pattern of work. In 28 days in my old job I would work 180 hours (45+/wk), in this one I will work 180 hrs in 28 days. So I wouldn’t be working anymore, just different. My wife and I discussed being away from home/her and we agreed that if I was going to do it then this is the time (before kids). The pay will be a bit different too, it is hourly rate rather than salary but works out to be around $300k per year, so that is a big perk. It is a 12 month contract with the expectation of 18 months work, which doesn’t bother me, I know with this experience behind I won’t have any issues whatsoever selling some more of my time in the future. So, I took that job, I start training on Monday.

    The other change that is going to occur simultaneously is that we are going to move back to my wife’s parents place. They have converted a double garage into a small granny flat which will suit us perfectly. This will mean that our expenses should drop considerably. We will be able to save even harder offer the next 18 months and ‘enough’ will not be far off at all. It also means my wife can be close to her family and much closer to many of our friends, 3 hrs drive rather than a couple of flights. Plenty of wins with this change.

    What is ‘enough’ for us….3-5 acres of land and a sustainable/enviro friendly house. $30k per year in passive income. Roughly speaking we need about $1.1m to achieve both. Plenty of hard work left to go for us!

    I’m really looking forward to how this transition pans out for you too. I’m excited to see what the future brings for you.

    KM

  8. My enough number is still a moving target so in the meantime I’m just working to build up my passive income until we get closer. I think we’re still realistically another 3-5 years away and so much can change in that time. There was the big change of purchasing a house last year and we’re also planning on kids. I think the plan will be more along the lines of once we get close then I’ll quit my current job and take a bit of a sabbatical and then most likely go back to work but with a job that allows me a lot more freedom than my current job.

  9. A very interesting article… I think you will make more money at writing then what you hoping to make. I believe it will lead to other opportunities for you in the financial arena like speaking to groups of people in different parts of America.

  10. Dividend Venture,

    Thanks for stopping by.

    We all have different “enoughs”, and mine may seem very frugal to some; to others I may sound like a spendthrift. 🙂

    Although, it sounds like we’re generally on the same page. And, like you, I certainly hope my snowball does some of the heavy lifting for me now from here on out while I take a different road. Either way, I’m anxious to get back on the horse and buy some stock in June to keep the ball rolling!

    Best wishes.

  11. Asset Grinder,

    I’d certainly love to do some type of documentary that could reach a large audience to show the merits of the journey, as well as the daily nuts and bolts of everything. I’ve received a lot of feedback over the last year or so encouraging me to write a book, so I think that may be the next step for me. I actually have the idea to write a trilogy of books, focusing on three different phases of the journey: The climb, the peak, and then the view. We’ll see how much time I have for all that, however. I’d love to write even more than I do now, but to be honest I’m busier than I ever thought I would be – even without the conventional full-time job. It’s crazy, but good. I’m living a dream right now! 🙂

    And I might look into doing another podcast. I did one last year with another blogger, and I generally enjoyed it. However, it was so time consuming, and with the full-time dealership job, writing, and everything else, I didn’t have time for it anymore.

    As far as what happens when you reach your number, this all depends. It really depends on what your lifestyle is at the time, and what you want your lifestyle to look like. For instance, if I were to have never quit my dealership job and continued that until FI, I would then promptly quit once I hit FI. I think this question is highly individualistic, though. For instance, you may want to travel, but the full-time job makes this impossible. Thus, reaching your number would allow you to quit the time drain and start traveling. It just depends on what makes you happy.

    Cheers!

  12. Steve,

    Well, nothing wrong with needing $30k/year. It really all depends on your lifestyle and what you’re comfortable with. The good thing is that you have a number. So, assuming a 3.5% yield you’d need $857,000 invested to pay for your expenses. You could obviously raise the yield up a bit depending on your risk profile. At that point you’ll either realize that it’s worth it to accumulate that type of portfolio to afford your lifestyle, or you’ll be more interested in cutting expenses to reach FI that much sooner. All depends on your goals. For me, it’s easier just to cut expenses because most of the things I enjoy in life don’t really require much money.

    So $18k/year should be more than enough for me, but assuming 6% dividend growth across the portfolio going forward, I should be able to outpace inflation handily. In addition, don’t forget about SS. That will kick in at 62 years old if I decide to start taking payments right away. Also, as I mentioned in the article I think it’ll be unlikely that I’ll never earn another dollar again for the rest of my life once I claim my freedom via passive income. Hopefully, I’m still able to write, and that will generate income – even if I’m not aiming specifically for it.

    Again, all depends on your comfort level. I’m one of those people that is more interested in living an extremely frugal lifestyle than I am working for 50 hours per week for the next 20-30 years. It’s really a lifestyle call, and where you want to sacrifice. There’s no free lunch in life. So either you sacrifice on the expense side and live a slightly spartan lifestyle, or you sacrifice on the income side and work more than you may really want to. I chose the former, but that doesn’t make my decision any more right than someone who chooses the latter. 🙂

    Best regards!

  13. The Stoic,

    I haven’t read that book yet. But I’ll see if I can get a copy!

    And I’m so glad your time off has led you to where you’re at now. You’ve gained some very valuable DIY skills that will remain with you for the rest of your life. And the experience of it all itself is really incredible, right? How can you put a price on that?

    New beginnings, indeed! 🙂

    Take care.

  14. Happy,

    I personally invest in real estate through REITs, although I will admit this likely comes at the expense of giving up some return when compared to physical property. However, I’m just not interested at all in being a landlord. It’s just not for me. But I do wish you luck if it’s a road you decide to travel down. I understand it can be lucrative if done correctly. 🙂

    Cheers.

  15. KeithX,

    Well, the $1,500/month does not include income I make from writing. And I’m making a bit more than that right now via the blog and freelance writing. However, I don’t view being able to cover my expenses via writing as financially independent. And that’s because I’m still technically exchanging work for money, even though the “work” really isn’t work for me. However, if I were to stop writing tomorrow forever for whatever reason I wouldn’t collect income anymore. So, by definition I’m not financially independent. Rather, the path I’m taking now to focus on writing full-time is simply a more enjoyable, if slower path to FI. I won’t really consider myself FI until the income comes in irrespective of any work or activities I perform.

    And I’m excited for you! Less than a year until you max out your pension. That’s a very nice spot to be in! 🙂

    Medical bills can indeed be a killer, but I suspect ACA helps our case here. I haven’t really researched it much, but assuming you had to get by on less I would assume there would be some subsidies in place to help the process. I’m not recommending it, but that may be something to keep in the back pocket.

    Cheers!

  16. Jason:
    Of course you are correct. Unless you happen to be a trust baby, it’s always the trade-off to one side or the other (time or money). I also want to emphasize that my first comment was not in any way a criticism.

    It seems my gut reaction was to view $18K/year as insufficient. I guess that to some extent, I was worrying on your behalf…. weird as that might sound. In hindsight, I realize that our financial “needs” are a bit different. On top of that, you now have me thinking that maybe, just maybe, we do have enough for me to call it a career sometime soon. My wife worries about our finances in retirement, but I suspect that if we are reasonable in our spending it should all work out. It’s probably time to do some serious number crunching. Enough with the rough estimates.

    The more I think about your article, the more I think that I might have some of my priorities out of order. To be honest, I admire the fact that you know what’s important to you and that you figured it out so early in life. I definitely wish I had hopped aboard the frugality-plus-investing train when I was in my thirties. Had I done so, I would definitely be writing this as a retired person. Typing in a leisurely fashion and that sort of thing :-).

    Thanks for your articles and for getting me thinking about “things”.

  17. Our spending has been pretty steady over the last few years at about 80 – 85 k/year.
    Both the Mrs and I have been maxing our retirement contributions for the last 2 decades.
    I am not strictly a dividend investor, although I do have some dividend paying stock.

    I would like generate enough investment income to cover our current spending. I would like to do this in 12 years by the time I turn 56. In the meantime, I hope to experience as much of the world as possible while working full time. I want me and my loved ones to stay healthy and happy. I want to stay motivated to educate myself so I stay relevant.

    If things change (work or health) I can dial back my lifestyle, but until then I am enjoying life.

    I enjoy reading the blog and wish you continued success.

    Roger H

  18. KM,

    Wow. That’s some great stuff there! Congrats to you. $300k/year is a dream income for about 99% or so of the population. That should make reaching your $1.1 million goal relatively easy, especially with the lowered expenses. You guys are well on your way!!

    BTW, if you know of any positions open…let me know! 🙂

    Congrats again. Enjoy this time of extreme savings. Freedom is just around the corner for you guys.

    Best regards.

  19. JC,

    I can understand how it’s a moving target. And my $1,500 may change in the future if inflation hits certain areas of my budget hard – especially healthcare. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t think it’s going to be tremendously different as I don’t plan on building a family. Having children can certainly inflate your “enough” a bit.

    And your plan to quit doing what you do when you get close to FI sounds great. I understand your job keeps you away from your family quite a bit, so that would be nice to slow down and maybe cruise to the finish line a bit once it’s in sight. 🙂

    Cheers.

  20. IP,

    Thanks for the support!

    I certainly hope you’re right there. I would absolutely love to be able to inspire even larger audiences and really make a difference. I think many people dream of such things – impacting their community in a positive way. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m optimistic. 🙂

    Best wishes.

  21. Steve,

    Oh, I never took your comment as criticism. So I apologize if I seemed defensive.

    Again, it’s really all about lifestyle – or priorities, as you so eloquently put it. That’s really what this article is about: Lining your priorities up in such a fashion to where you can buy time now vs. working it all away.

    And I’m glad this article and the comments got you to start thinking about where you guys are at. And I don’t view early retirement as an all-or-nothing scenario where once you quit working you can never, ever, ever work for money again. It’s just silly to think like that – like it’s a train you’re jumping off of. So if you give it a shot and for whatever reason it doesn’t work out because you want to spend more money or the budgeting doesn’t go as planned, then you can always exchange your time for money in some fashion. Even part-time work would be something to think about to get a better work/life balance.

    I’m really here to talk about happiness, and how to maximize that. We all have different motivations, and different things trigger happiness. However, I think we can all agree that most of these “things” require time. And so the heart of the matter is thus how to maximize our time, and some of my strategies are simply aimed at that.

    Best regards!

  22. Roger H,

    Sounds like some great goals there. Happiness, good health, and continued education. I think most people are very happy with that. And that’s really what I’m after as well.

    And I’m glad you’re enjoying life. That’s the name of the game! 🙂

    Appreciate the support.

    Take care!

  23. Nicely put.
    If you get a chance, a nice book on this topic is “Your Money or Your Life” by Joe Dominguez.
    You ask What is Enough?
    Each of us has a different number of what we want, but what we need is a different matter.
    Of course, even this varies depending on where we live.
    Like you, I took my initial number based on my expected dividend yield and
    Hit that in my early 40s, but I kept , and keep, going well beyond what I need.

  24. You’re absolutely right that there’s more to life than just money.

    You made me chuckle with the “Terminator-like” analogy. That’s a nice way to describe the determination that we have.

    Yes, time, like death, is the great equalizer. Warren Buffet is feeling time just like we are. That knowledge puts us far ahead of a lot of people in this world.

    I’d much rather have time than things that most people want. Three years ago, when my wife and I realized what we actually needed, we knew we could reach FI in a short time. Making that leap of understanding is what will enable us to call it quits in about 10 weeks.

    I wish you the best with your new writing endeavors!

  25. Graham,

    Actually, YMOYL was the first book I read on personal finance/financial independence. And I fell in love. It’s on my ‘Getting Started’ page as one of my favorite books. It conceptualizes the move from consumerism to frugality/freedom so well.

    I would always recommend that book to anyone who’s interested in reaching financial independence at a young age. 🙂

    Take care.

  26. My “enough” number is just a little higher than yours.

    My monthly budget includes savings categories that can be cut back (like travel and transportation) without having to go back to work if things change for me. I really do plan never to work for money again. Though I wouldn’t refuse something that sounded good, very little has sounded good to me throughout my life.

    I do have real estate (my own house), but I have mixed feelings about that. It’s nice to have my own place where I can fix problems right away (rather than waiting for a landlord) and where the neighbors are a bit farther away than just the other side of thin walls or floor/ceiling. But then I do have to be responsible for maintenance, this does tie me to one home base, and I have no control over how fast the property taxes increase–just like when I was renting I had no control over how fast the rent increased, and property changes hands, so even if you start out with a good landlord, that can change.

    I did fall for the one-more-year syndrome! I had three years until I qualified for my pension, and my savings would have covered three years of living at an inexpensive lifestyle. But I took a 30-hour-per-week job which would let me qualify for my pension in only one year, plus it pays enough to cover that one year’s worth of living expenses, so I can keep my savings to have a back-up in case inflation takes over or I suddenly want something expensive.

    But after that year is over (1/31/15), I’m done.

  27. Spoonman,

    10 weeks is just around the corner, my friend. I wish you guys the best of luck with the transition. Very exciting times!!

    And I’m with you on wanting time over things. Simply being present is highly underrated.

    Appreciate the ongoing support very much. Not sure if this trial is going to work, but I’m going to enjoy it no matter what. 🙂

    Best wishes.

  28. Great. Will have to read through the entire site.
    We share the love of that book!
    A huge part of my success in reaching FI.
    He was an entertaining guy to listen to, as I bought his lecture series on tape about 10 years ago.
    Have a great weekend.

  29. Debbie M,

    Nothing wrong with going another year if it’s so profitable it wouldn’t make sense to skip it. And it sounds like you made a good call since you’ll qualify for the pension. But just make sure to stick to your guns after that and get out. 🙂

    And I know exactly where you’re coming from on the housing dilemma. I’m actually now in an area where the buy vs. rent debate probably tilts toward ownership – which is different from what I experienced in Southwest Florida. Houses are routinely priced in the $50k-$60k range in this area. But, it really comes down to a lifestyle at that point. Do you want to be tied down to one location? Do you want to fix things when they break? Do you want to be responsible for cutting the grass, shoveling the snow, and raking the leaves? Cleaning gutters? Replacing the roof? So I know where you’re coming from there, especially as a lifelong renter.

    Enjoy freedom in less than a year! It’ll go fast – which is why I’m writing all this. 🙂

    Cheers!

  30. Excellent article!

    Yes, I have thought about my number. I’d like to have $1,500 per month passive income with a paid off home! However, my thoughts on the matter changed a bit recently. My mom just had a surgery that cost $230,000 and I now realize medical costs need to be factored in there too. Right now I get 100% free (no copays, no deductibles, no premiums, free prescriptions, free checkups, free glasses, free everything) in the military. I didn’t realize just how crazy medical procedures can be. It’s a game changer I need to think about some more…

    Have a wonderful weekend, I’m proud of you!

  31. CI,

    Thanks so much, bud. I really appreciate that! And I’m proud of your progress as well. 🙂

    Sorry to hear about the medical expenses there. That’s rough! How much did your mom actually end up having to pay for the surgery? What % was covered by her health insurance, if any? Of course, you’re free to keep this information private if you’d rather. I don’t mean to intrude; I’m just always interested in health costs as it’s obviously quite important to plan for such things!

    Appreciate you stopping by.

    Take care!

  32. My mom retired as a public school teacher in Michigan and now has a really awesome health insurance plan so she tells me. The insurance covered most of it from what I gather, but she had to pay at least 10 grand out of pocket. I didn’t want to dig too deep into at the time because she was still recovering. It’s a conversation for another day.

    Catch you later!

  33. Jason
    Enjoy your blog. Question have you ever looked at AVY Avery dennison. I just bought 23 shares 2 weeks ago and in at 3% dividend at 74.00
    Thnks

  34. Good question about the “one more year” syndrome. I already passed the point where my dividend income covers my expenses. I quit my full-time job and have been doing some part-time contract work, which pays more than enough to cover my living expenses and allows me to work from home. I don’t know how much longer I’ll keep saying “one more year”, as without the commute, office politics, full-time hours, and the need to work, I don’t mind working so much any more.

  35. DM – Interesting post. I love your statement that “Once time is gone, it’s gone forever.” This is absolutely true and why I always try to find that balance in life. While in this rat race, we all sometimes forget to live. This post is a great reminder to all that life in not infinite while your ability to make money is. I pledge to cherish what is limited as we continue through our journey and hope everyone has the opportunity to do the same. Best wishes. AFFL

  36. Hi DM,

    I set my goal at 1 000 000 before the age of 30. Currently I’m 25 so it is a steep goal. But I figured out it is better to set a high goal and fail then set a low goal and find out it was to easy to reach. Luckily I will enjoy the ride since I love my job.

    It is good to see that you can now focus on the things you like, and the best of all there is a chance you will reach FI while doing it. It remembers me a bit of Warren Buffett his saying tapdancing to work.

    Cheers,
    Geblin

  37. Hi,

    Its a difficult balance to achieve sometimes and knowing exactly when to pull the trigger and give up normal work is quite difficult, and then theres the balls that just appear out of left field. In our own case my money pot was to last until the pension started at age 60 for the Mrs. and 65 for me, we still have many years to go yet and giving up normal work at 41 and spending the last 11 years travelling and motorbikes etc has been great….But out of left field came a severe blow to our finances, UK government changed the pension ages, then changed it again, then changed it yet again!!

    We are now looking at age 68 each before the pensions start, this was quite a blow leaving our pot 5 years short in the way I used to manage the money, anyway long story short, I’ve since switched to dividend income to make us independent of government (You can never trust them 🙂 ) and then last year because of regulatory changes regarding REITS in UK they have been re-rated by Mr.Market and that 5 year hole got filled in just a few months, regardless though I’m carrying on with dividend to keep us independent of government.

    Cheers,

    Dave…

  38. Jason, first of all, thanks for the excellent blog and greetings from Finland! 🙂 Been reading for a few weeks now and completely hooked on this stuff already! (Doing ok so far myself, PF ~95k, ~60k in cash, but struggling with constant layoffs at my 8am-5pm) Can’t wait to hear how everything works out for you up there in Michigan.

    Regarding this another great article, I was wondering – what kind of part does moving abroad, to a low-cost country play in your goal to reach FI? Somebody mentioned Bulgaria a while ago. With $1500/month you could live almost like a king in Bulgaria or some other low-cost country, or reach FI with much less than $1500, right? Have you considered writing about this topic? I’m sorry if you already have 🙂

    Keep up the fantastic work.

  39. You are a great philosopher and I am delighted. I wonder what will

    happen if most people start to follow your path?

    Maybe one day we will

    all be replaced by robots, why not? The world may become a serpent

    biting its tail? (A car wih google robot enters a garage and an IBM robot

    asks ito the robot car what needs to be revised )

    You’re right on the line. Even I think Pablo Picasso or Salvador Dali

    said :: I want to live like a poor, but with a lot of money in the

    bank..

    Good to you

  40. Jason,
    My fiancé owns a single family dwelling that we have put on sale recently so she can buy half of my ownership in another house… The one I live in. We want to raise a family there and we want to be mortgage free by 2020 and be FI by my 45th birthday… I’m, like you, currently 32.

    Winter has destroyed her lawn… Almost all the neighbours have beautiful green lawn so… The house looked bad and she had decided to replace it with new lawn… Things got complicated with contractors so I decided to do it by myself like I usually do (we’re always better served by ourself).

    I took a vacation day, ordered 8 cubic meters of top soil plus 75 mowing rollers and spent a sunny afternoon there. It took me 6 hours of hard work but you know what? I enjoyed it. I like working with my hands. I actually love it. I love the proud feeling I get when something is done…

    But, I had very good grades at school and my parents kinda forced me through university… With a university degree in hand working with my hands was not a posibility in my field.

    So I work most of the time with my brain in an office with close deadlines, a lot of stress and huge traffic to get downtown (more than 2 hours every morning and at least 1.5 hours at night). I make a good paycheck. My goal is to reach 100k and I’m almost at it.

    Yesterday, 3 people on the street saw me work and offered me to pay me to do the same thing on their land… Funny… I did not accept since I already have a full time job, 15-20 hours per week of traffic jam and transportation and two houses to take care of… But…

    I’m tired to work in an office. I don’t feel I accomplish something “real”. And, people working in an office are often very “political”… It’s all about what people are going to think if you do this or that and who you know, who loves you and who hates you, who would like to take your job and who would like to take the job you want… And if you get a job that people think they deserved more then they start talking behind your back… I hate offices lol I’m sometimes under the impression that I’m still at kindergarden or in a girl tv show!

    But I make almost 100k… So I always have to ask myself the following. I don’t like my job but 100k can bring me to my FI goal a lot faster than lets say 50k. I don’t enjoy my job a lot though. Maybe I’d enjoy another job more but for how long? Would it be worth it to earn less but to enjoy my job more? How long would it take me to achieve the same goals with half of my current income but still the same amount of free time per week?

    I worked in a lot of different fields and job in the past 10 years and they all had one thing in common… Repetition! My problem (is it a problem) is that I’m a very creative and curious person. Repetition destroys my brain cells… I get tired very fast when I have to do the same thing again and again.

    So I guess that I should work toward FI because I don’t see any jobs I could do for another 25 years… I liked to repair my girlfriend’s lawn. It was fun and I made a great job. But would I love doing that everyday? Probably not. And I would probably make 20k per year maximum and I’d have to find another job during winter like plowing the snow… I hate that lol

    So.. Yeah for me my “enough treshold” has already been met. I hate working… Well, not working but doing the same thing day after day after day. Hell is in repetition! Taylor and Ford have changed the face of the world… But, not for the best from my own point of view. But I can’t afford to be out of the rat race yet… I made too many “mistakes” because I didn’t have a clear plan.

    My goal is to reach 24k per year in passive income. I could maybe live by a bit less but I will have a house to maintain and I want two kids… So 24k for me and the same for my fiancé seems “reasonable”. People tell me it’s not but with the mortgage paid out, and equity in the house that should be worth at least 275-300k by 2020 if the market doesn’t crash, I think we can make it.

    And, like you, I won’t sit on my ass to become the most lazy guy in the world and try to make money on youtube out of “extremely lazy lifestyle”. I will just have a lot of different projects, writing wilk certainly be one and I’m sure some income will come out of ’em.

    Thanks Jason. Great post as usual!

  41. I bought that book on a whim when I was stuck in the Milwaukee airport (or some other midwestern airport…they all blend together after awhile).

    Surprisingly a good book and I suggest reading (I am not a heavy or avid reader). To Stoic’s point, it gets philosophical, but just make you ask yourself…what the hell am I doing all this for. In the “olden” days people would work their butt off, save and invest like crazy so they could buy an estate to “retire” to and live off investments at a reasonable age.

    If we all followed this mantra today, an “little estate” of our own could be had for a reasonable price out in the country and most people would be expected to be done with the rat race by early 40’s to early 50’s (which is still young to me and I am only 32). For those that got there sooner, more power to them!

  42. Pingback: Lanny’s May Investment Report | Dividend Diplomats
  43. CI,

    Ahh, gotcha. Thanks for getting back in touch with me on that. $10k is still a lot of money, so that’s definitely something that needs to be factored in. That’s currently what my deductible is for my HDHP.

    Have a great weekend!

    Take care.

  44. Larry,

    I’ve never actually looked at that company. It looks like they’re back to raising their dividend after cutting it during the crisis. Although, I don’t think you bought in at $74, unless I’m looking at the wrong company.

    I’ll take a look. 🙂

    Cheers.

  45. jd,

    Well, technically you did cash your chips in if you quit your full-time work and you’re now just doing what you enjoy. Once you hit the crossover point where passive income covers expenses you can do whatever you want. And if working part-time contract work is something you enjoy and you get paid for it, then there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m sure if you would have never invested and not developed the passive income you’d still be working your full-time job. Instead, you bought yourself freedom and flexibility, and you’re taking advantage of that. 🙂

    And I highly doubt that once I hit FI I’ll never “work” again. Rather, it’ll just likely be non-traditional work I enjoy – like blogging. Being free at 40 just opens the world up to you. I’ve never recommended never working again once hitting FI so you can golf every day, but instead I’d like to see people living life on their terms. And I’d say you’re doing that. 🙂

    Best regards.

  46. AFFJ,

    Yep, absolutely. It’s all about finding a balance. And it is sometimes difficult to find that balance when you’re working all the time. Now that I’ve found a much better personal balance, life is wonderful and I’m definitely having an easy time living with purpose. It’s a nice preview of what FI looks like.

    Keep fighting for that balance! 🙂

    Take care.

  47. Geblin,

    Wow, that’s a fantastic goal! And you’re right: I’d rather reach for the stars and land on the moon, rather than shoot for the mountains and easily make it.

    And I’m tap dancing to work every day right now. I just hope it lasts!

    Glad to hear you’re also tap dancing to work. The journey should be easy for you. Keep it up. 🙂

    Cheers.

  48. travelswithmymotorbike,

    You nailed it right there. Taking a challenge and using it to become better and smarter. That’s fantastic. So it sounds like while this pension change was unfortunate because you weren’t planning for it, you switched investment strategies which will now completely eliminate the stress of worrying about the government back home. Sounds like you’re on the right path to me. 🙂

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing that!

    Best wishes.

  49. Investing Finn,

    Thanks for stopping by all the way from Finland. And thanks for your readership. Much appreciated! 🙂

    As far as moving abroad, that is something I’ve contemplated. I wrote a post years ago about possibly moving to the Philippines because of the low cost, nice weather, warm people, lack of language barriers, and ease of visa access. However, the more time goes on the more I’d like to possibly mix it up with a few other countries like Thailand, Ecuador, and perhaps Mexico. This is something I think about often, and I’ve talked about it on occasion here. The only real problem with it might be the difficulty in being far away from family; family is why I moved back to Michigan. However, I might be in a totally different situation 8-10 years from now, which might make it easy to travel abroad. However, I still need to think about how I’d feel with a lack of regular routine. Adventure sounds great, but moving around constantly would probably wear on me as well. This is definitely a topic I’ll explore more as time goes on and my dividend income starts to get to the point where living abroad is realistic. I’d say ~$1,000/month in dividend income starts to open some options up. I understand you can live fairly decently on that much in Thailand, which is one of my dream destinations. Of course, if I do live abroad and pay for my expenses via dividend income, it’ll be well documented here. 🙂

    Cheers!

  50. Aspenhawk,

    A robotic future! I suspect that’s probably more realistic than people would like to think. From my time in the auto industry, I know for a fact that we’re getting closer to a world where all cars drive themselves. So people are becoming more redundant every day. Of course, this opens up a lot of time for other pursuits. Perhaps the pursuit of FI will become obsolete in the future if people aren’t working very much anymore?

    At any rate, I’ll continue to buy my own freedom and bring that future utopia closer to reality. 🙂

    Best regards.

  51. Allan,

    Personally, I would rather work $100k at a job I don’t enjoy and get to FI as fast as possible, rather than work at a job I might enjoy slightly more for $50k and get there in half the time. In my opinion, a conventional job is a job is a job. There’s still the clock, quotas, meetings, bosses, office politics, hierarchy, repetition, redundancy, etc. If I knew tomorrow I could find a job paying me $100k I would take it in a heartbeat.

    Sounds like with your income and your goal, you should be able to make it there in a relatively short period of time. That high income is going to propel you, so just dig in and go at it. If one day you can’t make it any more, then don’t. But in the meanwhile, continue to sock away a ton of money and build that passive income. Every single equity purchase is buying you a little time…a little freedom and flexibility.

    Best of luck!!

    Take care.

  52. Brian,

    It’s funny because I remember reading how it was predicted by economists back in the day that we’d only be working like 20 hours per week in today’s age. Unfortunately, desire has risen faster than disposable income and we’re now working harder and longer than ever.

    The key is to curb your own appetite. Sometimes we can be our worst enemy. In the rat race, nobody wins…because, in the end, you’re still a rat.

    Best wishes!

  53. Sorry DM,

    Your downfall may be thinking SS will be there when you hit 62.
    It would be more prudent to plan for Social Security to not exist when you retire,

    My plans assume SS is gone by the time I am eligible

  54. Steve, just curious, you mentioned the wife being worried. Without sounding too invasive does she work for a living? How do you factor her opinions into the mix? I’m trying to tackle the thought of eventually smushing two income streams together with two competing priorities and how i want to handle the trade offs. This is all a little ways down the road but it’s something i will have to wrestle with so i was curious.

  55. I found your blog from a comment you made on MMM. Your post sure hit home for me. I am 54 and nowhere near financial independence. My husband died at the age of 64. We had a lot of debt. Back when we were your age there was no internet, and people did not talk about money. At least the people I knew. So, this concept of early retirement, or at least early financial independence is new to me. Anyway, we spent more than we made. Although I do have a bit of a nest egg, I also have a big debt to pay off. I am working on it, and will have the debt paid off in August, and hopefully hit financial independence in a few years.

    Congratulations on all that you have accomplished this early in your life. I look forward to exploring more of your blog, and hearing about how your new lifestyle works out for you.

  56. Actually medical is a topic in and of itself. Just be careful. I’d be curious if you have addressed it before (or in the future)?

    Lets assume relatively healthy 32 yr old male, no major issues. Crap, the appendix kicked out. Had i not had insurance through my employer it would have cost me 15-25k retail. With the high deductible plan it would be 2k out of pocket max (not so bad) to cover expenses.

    Essentially, if i’m employed the high-deduct plan costs me nothing. So its all out of my pocket maximums i have to consider. Worst case scenario 2k a year to budget for. If i had a ACA high deduct plan it’s gonna cost me X for the plan and i’ll need a Y cushion ontop for the deductible. Point is even those ACA high deduct plans (the cheapest of them) still costs a good chunk of money. It’s fortunate people can get them now but they still factor in to the monthly budget equation.

  57. I’ve been retired for nine years now (starting from age 45) and living on a passive income of $1500/month.

    Reading many of the comments on here, it seems like a lot of people are mistakenly equating living frugally with self denial. In truth, frugality should mean being smart about how how you spend your money on the things you want, not denying yourself the things you want.

    My “frugal” $1500/month lifestyle includes driving a late model car, a 4wd camper van for roadtrips, 3 months every winter on my sailboat in mexico, and regular trips overseas. I drink beer or wine daily, and go out to eat at least once a week.

    My point being that you can live extremely well on a modest passive income if you just take the time to manage your expenditures intelligently.

  58. Thanks DM, we are really stoked and looking forward to the next few years. We are already currently savings 70%+ each month with expenses totaling around $3500. This is just about to change once again. It is funny that you mention open positions, when I spoke with on the phone to confirm details the company were like, any one you can recommend?? we have all these open positions??? my wife would have had a job there and then with the right experience/qualifications. When the sun shines it certainly shines bright.

    I think after this 12-18 month stint I may take some time off. We are planning a trip to the states once this position finishes up……a stop in Michigan is definitely going to be warranted!!

    KM

  59. Such an interesting post, Jason. I can honestly say my work is not my life’s passion, but I am willing to trade my weekday 9-5 for the next 8 years for total freedom at the end of that stretch. For me, that’s more attractive than doing some other work, that I might like a lot more, for 50 hours over the next couple decades. The rub, for me, is that I don’t think I like ANY work enough to do it for 9 or 10 hours a day. 2 hours, maybe. I think I’m just lazy. 🙂

  60. Fantastic article. It is a huge, life changing decision to do the things you’ve done over the last month. I’m sure its put a tremendous amount of stress on you.

    I don’t know about you, but whenever I feel a massive change in my life coming up (a move, change of job, birth of child…) I get quite scared. But thats a good thing. It means your moving your life one step closer to where you need it to be.

    Looking forward to hearing about your new situation once you are up and running!

    Long Term Brian

  61. Rich Arnold,

    I hear you. Keep in mind, though, that I don’t plan for SS income. None of my calculations use SS income. However, I have sincere doubts that it will be gone by the time I’m 62. It’s quite possible they’ll raise the minimum retirement age significantly by the time I get up in years, but I can’t see the government wiping out a program that most of the population relies on for most of their retirement income – especially not after people have been funding it for years. I just can’t imagine a world where that scenario occurs, and our government has the ability to continue printing money anyhow.

    But I agree that it’s prudent to not plan for it. SS income, for me, will just be icing on an already delicious cake.

    Cheers!

  62. Judy,

    Thanks for taking the time to stop by and post a comment. I really appreciate it!

    I’m sorry for the situation you find yourself in, and I agree that your generation didn’t have some of the advantages that we now have today. I often mention how the internet makes this idea of FI much more possible not just through communication, but ease of access to information, cheap stock transactions, etc. However, it’s never too late to start. If you really start hustling now I would think you’ll at least have a comfortable retirement at a traditional age, which isn’t all that bad when you look around you and see what many others in their 60s are working with. The good news is that you’re cognizant of your situation and you’re reading blogs like MMM and my own to nail some realistic strategies down. I wish you the best of luck!

    And thank you for the support. I’m anxious to have even more time to share, inspire, educate, learn, and generally improve myself and others around me.

    Best regards!

  63. Zol,

    I have actually addressed healthcare costs a couple times:

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2014/04/three-reasons-im-not-worried-about-healthcare-costs-in-early-retirement/

    https://www.dividendmantra.com/2013/04/early-retirement-is-impossible-because/

    Healthcare costs are expensive, and we’ll all inevitably need some care at some point in our lives. The key is to minimize both the costs and the frequency of medical care. And I believe that early retirement in and of itself will help reduce costs by reducing stress in your life. In addition, HDHPs (as you mention) are relatively easy to access and fairly cheap. Furthermore, in more general terms, ACA has made it easy for someone on a low income to access cheap healthcare through the subsidy program – which is perfect for someone who’s retiring early on a low income.

    Just some food for thought there. Of course, one can never predict a major disease like cancer or something, but I think an overall healthy lifestyle with low stress, regular exercise helps. Good genes go a long way as well.

    Cheers!

  64. Steve,

    Thanks for stopping by! I really appreciate your perspective. And I couldn’t agree more on your stance in regards to frugality. Living below your means isn’t a form of torture. It’s simply focusing on the things that do generally and genuinely bring you joy, and less on the things that do not. Obviously, the key is to differentiate the two, and that’s where I think a lot of people stumble. Most people have an equation in their heads that looks like: Money Spent = Happiness. And it’s simply not like that in my experience.

    Good for you for living what most would deem a very full life on very little money. I find that there’s a lot of room for fun in the budget when you minimize the costs in the big three categories of housing, transportation, and food.

    Keep up the great work!

    Take care.

  65. Hi Jason, I haven’t worked out my “number” yet though monthly essential living expenses for my g/f and I are currently $1690 (excluding the mortgage payment) and an additional $775 discretionary budget for any non-essential things like travel. Medical insurance is the biggest unknown for me if I wanted to retire right now and I’ve really no idea how that’s going to look in 5-10 years’ time, so I’ve spent more time improving how I track my income / expenses than planning a future FI date.

    For me, financial independence through passive income is simply reaching the point of not needing to work; I likely will continue working once I reach my number since I enjoy it.

    Anyway, welcome back to Michigan – I hope you’re settling in well and I wish you all the best for your FI journey! Keep up the thought-provoking posts 🙂

  66. With Obamacare, medical insurance is no longer an impediment to a frugal ER. As a single 54 yo non-smoker I’m paying $44/month for a good policy (after the federal subsidy).

  67. DB40,

    I’m with you. That’s why I worked at a job I disliked strongly for all those years. Working at a car dealership was no cake walk, but I did it for the money because I knew it was buying me my freedom one day at a time. I’m now doing something I really enjoy, but I’m also doing it on my schedule. I’m like you in that anything that requires 40-50 hours of repetition will soon bore me and make me miserable.

    I used to have people ask me why I wasn’t looking at being a financial advisor. But when you add the up the time/costs to go back to school to earn my degree, I’d be looking at 4-5 years back from where I want to be. And then you add in the fact that it’s still a job with its own meetings, quotas, sales, office politics, hierarchy, crazy bosses, schedules, demands, etc., it just seemed to me that I was much better off doing what I was doing and socking away the money.

    But I’m definitely with you…

    Take care.

  68. Frugal living for some is a choice. For us it has been a necessity. Our income has always been low but I have always saved and paid all debt. We have been able to travel the world (frugally of course) and build a nice passive income stream.

  69. Long Term Brian,

    You know, it’s funny. I don’t feel stressed at all. I think it’s probably because this is all familiar for me…being home. However, I wasn’t really all that stressed when I initially moved to Florida with no money and no idea if my plan was going to work. I guess I just get excited, not stressed. I suppose that’s a good thing. 🙂

    And I do plan to write an article at one point about the day-to-day routine, and what it looks like to not work a traditional job anymore. I think that would be fun to do, once I have a good idea of what my regular schedule will be like. Things are still a little crazy right now with settling in.

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best wishes.

  70. Dividend Life,

    Sounds like you’ve got a great handle on what you’re spending, and that’s half the battle. From there, you can tweak things as you go and figure out what you want/need and what you’re willing to give up: time or money. I’m always willing to give up money, but others don’t mind giving up a little time. It’s all about perspective and priorities.

    And I hear you on working past FI. For someone able to reach FI at a very early age, the idea of just sitting around isn’t realistic, nor should it be. And as I mentioned near the end of the post, the odds of you never again making money doing something enjoyable down the road are low. I find it almost impossible to think that once you turn in your full-time career card that you’ll never make another dime through active work again. Of course, any work you do at that point would be on your terms, and that certainly changes the game.

    Best wishes!

  71. Steve,

    That’s what I was referencing before. Great information there. And I’m anxious to find out what I’m looking at myself if I continue down this path of writing on a full-time basis with much lower income. That could help me a bit as I’m currently paying a little more than $130/month for health insurance.

    Thanks for adding that!

    Cheers.

  72. Connie,

    That’s fantastic. Congratulations!

    I remember Jacob at ERE wrote a post a while back on how to achieve early retirement on minimum wage. Obviously, there was A LOT of cost cutting involved, but if you really want something you’ll do what’s necessary to get there.

    Keep up the great work. 🙂

    Best regards.

  73. DM,

    You do not have to have a degree to be a financial advisor. I think it takes 6 weeks or 6 months .. Robert Kiyosaki says this often “It only takes 6 weeks (or 6 months) to be a financial advisor and 2 years to be a massage therapist”..

    I know I wouldn’t want to be a financial advisor as they usual have there clients by mutual funds .

  74. Great post! It will be nice to know how much you will have in expenses per month but, folks who are married and have kids, it is really tough to have a handle on expenses, as there are so many variables happening in life.

    You can be more mobile when you was single or even married with no kids and expenses can be more controllable. I would think that expenses of $2000 to $3000 would be what is needed to be enough, especially, with the healthcare costs going up at a faster than inflation.

    Best.

  75. Dividend Mantra,

    You got it! Time is the most important, but the ultimate best might be to have both the money and time to do what you want. If you have time and money some things you can do are travelling, stay home and sleep in instead of going to your day job, and be in a good position to give back. Be debt free and pay off a mortgage or get a vacation home to getaway from the harsh winters here.

    What our your thoughts on ARCP with all these new developments I’m not thrilled about how they keep changing their mind on stuff and growing at all costs. I just made some money on a put option on X and thinking about getting some calls of ARCP that expire in January, because although I don’t like some things it seems there is too many fearful panickers. Who knows I may go with something else let see what the markets give us this week.

  76. Hey DM,

    Thanks for another great dose of inspiration. I’ve really grappled with this trade off over the last couple of years of working hard and maximising salary income vs finding work I enjoy and going a bit slower to reaching FI. I’m on a good salary now, but keep hitting periods where I just don’t think I can stick it out long enough at my current job. It’s a tricky balance especially with a young daughter, and the thought of working like crazy for 10 years, during a huge chunk of her childhood, gets a little difficult to stomach at times.

    I think I’m finding a pretty good balance in general though, and have been pretty creative in finding ways to spend time with family around work. Despite the occasional rough spots where I want to throw it all in, I think I agree with you that you should stick at the highest paying job you can, make it as enjoyable as you possibly can (and there are usually a lot of things you can do to influence that, including your attitude), but find ways to still make time for things that are important to you.

    You don’t want to ‘throw away’ the years you’re working towards FI, but I think if you’re creative enough and care enough you shouldn’t ever have to feel this way.

    Cheers,

    Jason

  77. Fantastic post, as always! You are right, you can never replace the time that goes far too quickly day to day. You just have to use it well! Finding that balance when working is often tricky though.

  78. Dear Jason, I enjoy your blog. I have a career that brings a LOT of the things people look for in life – travel, adventure, impact. But it’s not FI. There is still office politics, deadlines, bureaucracy, public and internal scrutiny, etc. Plus, every job I’ve had in my career is a political appointment subject to loss depending on elections, etc. So I wrestle w how long to keep going in it. I am 47, I started my dividend growth portfolio in blue chips like you did in 2010; at 550k cap it generates 18,500 in passive income. I also have 250k in cash and 100k in Vanguard mutual funds (the funds are a legacy of my investing before I found DGI and I would incur major cap gains if I sell them-they generate 1,500 in income). I also have 600k in the USG version of a 401k, the Thrift Savings Plan. Additionally I could possibly qualify for a approximately 50K pension starting at 50 if I am able to keep my job in the particular branch of the Federal Government I currently work in until 50. I live in DC area. Expenses are ridiculously high here. My wife and I are frugal, but our total expenses are at east 60K per year. My salary is 172K. My wife also has investments but is an artist. Her income from investments and articles is ess than 30k. Anyway, I keep saving and investing. I will make FI if I get to 50 in current job and the government doesn’t change pension rules. I’m also hoping for a big stock market decline so I can put a lot more cash into dividend growth stocks to achieve FI even w/o pension. You are huge help an inspiration to me.
    Dividend Diplomat

  79. Jason, inspiring post as usual,
    I reached financial independence by a good margin (9,000 $/month passive), and also have a pension, now 52. Should I put my 15 year daughter into the usual rat race, and be stuck at least 5 years in Tahiti, around her school etc… or decide to offer her another life of travel, living in Thailand, visiting some family in Los Angeles, community work, while still giving her education of the way (including managing FI). Hard question !!!!
    Is’nt it inspiring that older people like us, you are supposed to have made it (like Dividend diplomat also), are finding inspiration in a young man like you.
    Good luck on inspiring your journey. Patrick (Moorea9)

  80. So, $1.5 million in assets on top of qualifying for a $50k pension which I’m guessing is adjusted for inflation yearly since it is a federal government pension. I’d estimate at 50 that the pension is worth another $1.7 million lump sum. You’ll probably be able to draw 3% of your portfolio yearly on top of your pension and then social security at 62 (probably another 35-40k/year inflation adjusted).

    $50k portfolio withdrawl + $50k pension + whatever your wife has = at least $100k yearly from ages 50-62 then at 62 you’ll be able to draw closer to $140k/year. That’s today’s dollars.

    Well done. Even without the pension you’ll still be able to do this I’m sure. With the pension you’ll be cash-flow “rich”

  81. Ken, thanks. 600k is in the federal gov’t version of a 401k called a thrift savings plan. I can’t make withdrawals from that until I think 59 1/2. So only 1 million right now in inevitable assets. I want to have as much possible in dividend growth stocks but as he market is so high I’ve only got 550k in DGI right now. RE the pension piece. I don’t think the pension has a COLA from age 50-62 if you take it early (I.e., 50). As I understand it, COLA only starts at 62 from the 50k base I’d qualify for at 50. You can get a supplementary social security benefit that does have a COLA if you truly retire and don’t take another job outside gov’t. Anotherthingbto consider is that I do not own a home. But I agree, could be worse. I’ll feel better when I hit FI which for me is 75k passive income with a good portion of that from DGI.

  82. Actually, I was one of those weird kids growing up. In high school my only real aspiration in life was to retire. When I finally started working I saved better than most and thought I was doing a really good job getting ahead of everyone else. Then I discovered personal finance blogs and realized that I could really ratchet it up a few notches to shorten my working career. I wish I found blogs sooner but I was out doing stupid fun foolish things with my money (wait…. that sounds like I was just really enjoying life those years, I guess I wouldn’t take those back, but I probably could have done them a bit more frugally)

    I wish I could get my final numbers down to where you are at but I have some different priorities that unfortunately cost more. For one, I want to be near my family to, but my family lives in the San Francisco bay area. The cost of living here is higher than Florida or Michigan. Right now my costs are actually quite low. I could live off of $1500 per month but at the same time I don’t want to always have roommates. Right now I have 2 roommates and I’m a landlord. Actually, eventually I don’t want to be a landlord either, but that would be resolved by moving to a smaller house.

    I don’t know what the future holds for me. Right now I could get by on $1500 per month, but I know I don’t want to live this exact lifestyle forever. But for now it helps me fund my retirement accounts quicker so that’s more important than the “lifestyle” factor at the moment. Though the roommates do make me unhappy so I’m not sure how much longer it will last.

  83. I am concerned that once I get my debt paid and have a couple of years to save up for house reno’s I may fall into the one more year syndrome. But yet the way I feel now, if I could afford it, i would retire tomorrow. How strange is that?

  84. Anonymous,

    Well, I suppose it depends on what you’re looking for and who you want to work for. I know to be a CFA you definitely need a degree and then you’ll undergo a fairly rigorous program from there. You may be able to land a job at a local Edward Jones without a degree, but even then that my be difficult. I looked into it and a degree is definitely preferred, but if you know someone or appear extremely eager you might be able to skirt by that.

    However, even then you’re still looking at all the drawbacks I listed above. And I don’t want to be in a position to where I have to sell products to customers for a commission if I don’t really believe in it. It just goes against my ethos, and I’d rather make no money than make money that way.

    Best wishes!

  85. PIM,

    I can imagine it’s a bit tougher to track all expenses when you’re married and have children. But I don’t think it’s impossible. However, both partners would have to buy in to it and track diligently. For instance, a lot of cash purchases adds a degree of difficulty, which is why I almost never buy anything with cash. Once everything is purchased electronically and goes through your budgeting software you have a great idea of where you stand.

    I don’t ever plan on having children, but it would be interesting to see just how difficult/expensive things get after having a child. I know Pete over @ MMM had a child and it didn’t seem to slow him down, but he and his wife also made a couple of strong incomes.

    Cheers!

  86. SWAN,

    I’m with you. Time and money are both important; however, if I had to choose just one it would be time. But, absolutely, I’d love to have both. And I feel very blessed right now to live by my own schedule and work on what I’m extremely passionate about. I don’t know how long I can continue it, but I’m optimistic! 🙂

    As far as ARCP goes, I’m still a happy shareholder. I really wasn’t all that disappointed on the reversal of the spin-off; however, I’m not a big fan of the Red Lobster deal. That’s just not a strong restaurant chain. Of all the major chains, that might have been my last choice. But I suppose it’s still good real estate in prime locations either way you look at it. Just not a fan, however.

    Best regards.

  87. Jason,

    It’s definitely a tough balance, and life is always about trade-offs. I traded away some valuable years of my life to get to where I’m at right now, but I have absolutely no regrets about it. However, I felt that continuing down that path wasn’t right for me, and I also have no regrets about taking the road I’m on right now.

    For me, the job itself was never particularly enjoyable. But I always concentrated on the miles I had already traveled. Whenever I had a really tough day at work and wanted to just quit I would look at my portfolio, all the dividends I was collecting, the stocks I was able to buy, the posts I had already written on this blog, and my inner vision of FI off in the distance. And that kept me going for quite a while. And if it weren’t for changes within my family and my desire to move back to Michigan to be closer to loved ones I’d probably still be using my progress and vision as my motivation to keep going.

    I also think it depends on how much you dislike your job. Mild annoyance is certainly a lot better than pure disdain, and I was probably closer to the latter with my job. Certainly not every job will make you feel that way, so if the journey becomes particularly arduous then it might be time to switch gears a bit and find something different to make the road less painful. And it’s funny that people always talk about my frugality as the torture within my journey when it was really my job all along.

    I wish you the best of luck in finding that right balance for you and your family. I can imagine it’s tough to slink off to work in the morning when you’d rather be at home watching your daughter grow up.

    Take care.

  88. Nicola,

    You have a really pretty blog there. Best of luck with it!

    And thanks for stopping by and offering up some support. Really appreciated.

    Using time well is the name of the game. For instance, I spent most of the early afternoon today out with my parents on their pontoon boat. We caught some sun and had a great time. Time well spent!

    Every day is a gift, right?

    Best wishes.

  89. Dividend Diplomat,

    wow, you’re in an incredibly wonderful position there. It sounds like you don’t particularly dislike your career, but I think if it ever came down to it you could easily move somewhere more affordable (about 95% of the country) and retire early right now. If you’re happy doing what you’re doing and feel your time at work is well spent at work (you wouldn’t rather be at home), then keep going and collect your pension down the road.

    The greatest thing about your story is that you have options. You work because you want to, not because you have to. And that’s one of the best positions to be in. 🙂

    Cheers!

  90. Patrick,

    That’s a great spot to be in, and it sounds like your daughter will definitely benefit as well. I’m happy for you guys!! 🙂

    And $9k/month in passive income is mighty impressive. I’ll likely be an old man before I get to that level, but I’m excited to get closer every single day.

    I do indeed find it so amazing and wonderful that others that are already living a very successful life stop by here and share some of that joy. And the fact that you guys are somehow inspired by me makes me really proud, and it motivates me to keep going. I’ve said it before: You guys inspire me more than I inspire you.

    So thank you! And enjoy the fruits of your labor. 🙂

    Best wishes.

  91. Zee,

    I hear you on wanting to be closer to family. Although Michigan isn’t expensive, my desire to live closer certainly threw a wrench in my long-term plans. However, I have no regrets. I’m really happy about my choice, even if there were costs involved. And I’m sure you feel the same way about you and your family.

    As far as roommates go, I hear you. I’ve always been okay living with other people or having roommates, but I think this flexibility probably diminishes with age. For instance, I’m not sure how open I might be to living with roommates when I’m 45 years old!

    Thanks for stopping by!

    Best regards.

  92. I’ve actually never thought of my number, rather I’m going to pay off all debt including mortgage and real estate debt. After that I will have somewhere around the average household income from rental at this point is where I’m ready to declare FI. I plan to have multiple streams of income at this point(real estate, dividends, side hustle, etc) with a large enough emergency fund most likely a year’s worth of expenses. I don’t have the exact number, but as I get closer to the end i’ll make sure to calculate it out, until then the plan continues.

  93. debt debs,

    It’ll be interesting to see what you do. I’m definitely not the type to go in for even an extra day, let alone an extra year. Other people are perfectly fine padding the investments. It might depend on how much you like/dislike your job. For me, my job was very stressful and the weeks were way too long. If it was a more enjoyable job I could see the “one more year” syndrome being easier to fall for.

    Cheers!

  94. Thanks Jason. Yes, just completed a work trip to Ukraine at a key turning point in their history and then to Vienna. Some people think I’m insane to be striving for FI and to retire early given my exciting career. But tomorrow am, I have to get up at 7 go back to the office (a stressful 40 minute commute) from a house I rent for a whopping 3000 plus a month (which is a bargain here in Chevy Chase). Also, as I mentioned, my job is 100 percent dependent on political forces (as has been every job in my 20 yr career). FI sounds damn good even w an exciting and fulfilling job in foreign policy.

  95. evenstevenmoney,

    Sounds like a reasonable plan there. Not everyone has an exact number in mind, and it’s certainly a moving target. But I feel comfortable declaring my “number” at $1,500/month because I’m also willing to do what’s necessary to make it…even if it means cutting expenses further as I near the finish line.

    But I like your plan to diversify your income sources. Mine will be diversified as well, although it’s unlikely real estate will be in the mix, other than REITs.

    Best of luck to you!!

    Take care.

  96. Enjoy your blog, Jason. If you plan to continue writing, please edit or have another edit your good work for abbreviations (ie, your vs you’re).

  97. Very good post. I recently found myself in the position of choosing between a killer salary, long hours, and busy city life versus modest salary, normal hours, and coastal life. Ohh yeah, dang right, I picked the latter. I’ll be cruising into FI a few years later, but the journey will be much more pleasurable. At times I lost sight of the goal. I erroneously thought getting to FI absolutely as fast as possible was the goal. Actually, the goal is to maximize happiness. In my case, that meant delaying FI a few years in exchange for greater happiness in the present. No doubt you are on the same path.

    Loving Life,
    Josh

  98. Josh,

    That’s such a wonderful story there. Thank you very much for sharing!

    It’s incredibly difficult to turn down money when it’s right in front of you. I know personally there’s people in my life that think I’m a bit crazy to not get up in the morning and march down to a local dealership around here for a big, steady paycheck. But I’d be trading my life away doing something I don’t like simply for money. No way! Like you said: The goal is to really maximize happiness. That’s all that really matters. Being happy in life is what it’s all about. And for me that has always been the pursuit of FI so that I don’t need to trade away most of my waking hours for cash, but the journey in the meanwhile shouldn’t be forgotten. It’s not like the time we spend before FI is any less valuable than the time we spend after FI. In fact, these moments may be even more valuable because they’re live and in color, whereas the future isn’t promised.

    Best wishes.

  99. Food for thought on the subject of time…specifically, as it relates to what we do with our investment capital.
    Background: I have invested in DRIP stocks for the last 15 years, and built a nice six figure account. I can totally relate to living frugally – It’s a way of life, laden with contentment and gratefulness:-)
    Then, while on the same journey as you are…I realized (seriously) that every dollar I had invested was at the mercy of the stocks I owned. The fact is: we can’t control what happens to a company, the execs that run it, or all the economic information that impacts a company’s share price.

    That’s when I began (a project) the journey of looking for ways to reduce my risk on our total portfolio.
    What did I find?
    The answer may surprise you…
    OPTIONS
    About 12 years ago I experienced Options negatively. Mainly because I used them incorrectly, like 95% of all people do… Now I know why they were created and for what purpose: To reduce RISK.
    Now, for the subject of TIME.
    Theta in the greek, means Time Decay. The loss of time works in favor of Selling Options.
    I’ll cut to the point…Selling Options for (cash up front) premiums, using Credit Spreads generates more income with 80% less capital than directly owning stock, 20-35% ROR for 1, 2, and 3 month contracts, with 60-75% less exposure to risk. Not sure if you’re open to it. If anything, maybe something to think about?
    I have enjoyed reading your Blog in the past on my journey to financial freedom- Now that I’m there, I like to share powerful information with others that might empower them to learn more, and benefit from their own hard work.
    I like your new web based presence- you are definitely helping others…
    Keep up the great work!
    I’de like to share a quote with you, that I refer to often as a personal reminder:

    “THE MOST DIFFICULT SUBJECTS CAN BE EXPLAINED TO THE MOST SLOW-WITTED MAN IF HE HAS NOT FORMED ANY IDEA OF THEM ALREADY; BUT THE SIMPLEST THING CANNOT BE MADE CLEAR TO THE MOST INTELLIGENT MAN IF HE IS FIRMLY PERSUADED THAT HE KNOWS ALREADY; WITHOUT A SHADOW OF A DOUBT, WHAT IS LAID BEFORE HIM.”
    – LEO TOLSTOY, 1897

    Congratulations on taking the next step in your life journey!
    Again, Keep up the great work:-)

    Best Wishes

  100. Dana K,

    Thanks for stopping by and sharing what you’ve learned! Much appreciated.

    I know some investors use options to their advantage, but I haven’t really found it necessary for what I’m trying to accomplish. Although, I hear you on risk. We’re all looking for ways to constantly reduce risk. Ultimately, it’s all about generating the most possible income with the least possible risk. And that’s a hallmark of my strategy. I may look into options at some point, but I really enjoy my simple strategy as it stands.

    But I’m so happy you’ve achieved the freedom you were pursuing! That’s fantastic. I love to hear from people who have “crossed over”. I hope you’re enjoying your time now that you own all of it.

    And frugality does indeed involve a hefty dose of contentment. I guess those of us that do well with frugality naturally find a lot of happiness with the small things in life.

    Keep up the great work!

    Best regards.

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