
How I retired at age 25 - pmichaud
http://www.petermichaud.com/essays/how-i-retired-at-age-25/
======
ryandvm
I'm glad I can appreciate the recursiveness of reading a minimally informative
blog about getting rich, all the while knowing that the punchline is going to
be "write lean content that strings people along".

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tsally
I guess I always thought retired meant that if all your sources of income
disappeared tomorrow, you could live off of your savings for the rest of your
life. Don't get me wrong, I find owning a business where you can pay your own
salary impressive as well, but retiring seems a bit misleading (unless there
is some detail I'm missing).

~~~
nihilocrat
I had the same reaction. Honestly, I don't think you are missing anything,
this is like an oil baron saying he's set for life because his oil rig is
pumping out enough money _today_ so that he doesn't have to work. For some
reason he forgets that the oil might run out 2, 5, or 10 years from now.

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apowell
"I tinker around the edges of the business, but I don’t have to. It’s on
autopilot, and if I don’t do anything to it at all, it’ll keep earning. It’s
as secure as any investment vehicle, and if I want to, I can make it grow at
any time."

We have different definitions of "retire". It sounds like you're still running
your business.

Also, the idea that it's "as secure as any investment vehicle" is misguided.
I'd trade my content site, which has been generating consistent income since
1999, for T-bills generating the same income any day of the week.

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shafqat
After reading all of that, I still don't know what he/you actually did.

~~~
nkh
Without numbers this isn't very useful.

This reminds me of when I was at WestPoint (US Military Academy). Everyone
would talk about how once you graduated you were "set for life" (after your
five year commitment). They would leave it at that, and not mention any
numbers to back up the statement. I still remember I asked an officer what
"big money" was. And he replied, "Oh, big money!! Like 65,000" Which is less
than every single one of my friends and I made after quitting westpoint and
getting jobs out of school.

~~~
weaksauce
Is that just a one time amount or yearly? I know of people that have been in
the marines for 20 years and then have a retirement that pays him yearly and
also has a job that pays well.

~~~
yters
The other part nkh didn't mention is you can retire after 20 at half pay. If
you make Lt Col by then (not so hard), that'll be about $45k free yearly
income at age 42 for the rest of your life.

Plus, it's quite easy to then get a military contracting job. That, with the
secret clearance you'll have as an officer, pays pretty nicely.

~~~
nkh
_If you make Lt Col by then (not so hard)_

I have a lot of friends who stayed at Westpoint, and served at least two tours
in Iraq or Afghanistan. They would argue with you over the "not so hard" part
of the argument.

~~~
sangaya
My fiance's brother has done multiple tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan as
part of the IED group. From the experiences he's been able to share, "not so
hard" could only be written by someone without active duty military
experience. I would never want to see the things our soldiers see or have the
experiences they do.

They do a great service for our country; and honestly, can end up fairly well
off if they manage to survive 20 years + land an additional job after
retirement at 38+.

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jamesbressi
It feels suspicious to me that this article is now up to 18 points?

The suspicion? Some users up-vote a headline before reading the article.

~~~
teye
I upvoted it (after reading) because I like periodic reminders that sexy web
apps aren't the only way.

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araneae
"Work for someone who produces actual content and then happen to be married to
them so you can claim all that money is yours."

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Willie_Dynamite
How lame. I'm 35 and I haven't even started working.

~~~
davidw
I'm 35 too and wondering what I'll do when I grow up;-)

~~~
qjz
Maybe you and Willie_Dynamite can start a blog about how you retired at Day
One.

------
nickpp
I keep noticing lately this kind of blogs: "I made millions without hard work
from this simple passive-income scheme with just a small e-book..." etc.

I wonder who's making the REAL money. And what is he selling. These blogs are
probably fabricated, but what's their point? Lots of people doing blogs and
e-books about lots of niches? Only Google gains from that.

Or maybe lots of unhappy "entrepreneurs" looking for SEO tips? That's more
like it...

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GiraffeNecktie
I'm waiting for the sequel "How I sucked in a whole bunch of HN readers by
submitting a corny, too-good-to-be-true headline"

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antidaily
the niche disease site and ebook made 40k in its 12th month??

~~~
blang
I was wondering that as well. I am pretty confused about the time frame, he
said the book was released last summer and in it's first month made $10 and in
it's 12th month make 40k. How can he know what the 12th month is if it hasn't
been twelve months since the book was released? Am I missing something?

~~~
ruslan
I think he's just projecting his current income growth for the next 12 months,
which sounds a little bit naive. :-)

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nfnaaron
Thank you for writing this, it's great food for thought, especially as you're
under no obligation to either write it or to write to a particular level of
detail.

Reading this was time well spent in the ongoing adjustment of my brain.

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chubbard
Pictures or it didn't happen.

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fargdarg
Total bullshit.

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swombat
How lucky for him that his wife had a strange disease! We can't all be this
lucky though.

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Jim72
Well looking at your profile picture, I would say you got rich by pillaging
and plundering on the modern high seas: the internet.

~~~
Jim72
What is wrong with people here? They lack any sense of humor. Besides, this
guy is making money selling ads. I'm surprised there wasn't a solicitation for
a book. Oh wait.

~~~
dmoney
Humor is the gateway drug. If people start upvoting jokes, then HN will turn
into Reddit. Then into Digg. Before you know it, you might as well call it
HNchan.

~~~
Jim72
Interesting idea. I suppose hospitals should get rid of the clowns that
entertain hospitalized children. I mean, they use humor to make them laugh. I
suppose medical science should retract their findings that laughter can indeed
heal, since humor obviously is a destructive force.

I don't mind if people don't want to upvote a joke. That is fine by me. But,
we don't need to downvote them either.

I disagree with jokes being the catalyst which will change HN into Reddit or
Digg. I don't think it is the comments that turn the worm, rather the quality
of the bookmarks which are submitted. If the heart is true, the body will be
also.

