
I retired at 52 with a $3M net worth – here's what my spending looks like - simulate
https://amp.businessinsider.com/early-retirement-weekly-spending-budget-2018-7
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toomanybeersies
This is about as thrilling as eating sawdust.

I'm really failing to see the point of this article. It's not like there's any
particular insights in it. His net worth and retirement status is completely
irrelevant to his spending habits.

It would've been a slightly more interesting article if it was a yearly
breakdown, but a weekly breakdown doesn't tell us anything. The majority of
that week's expenses was a hotel stay, which I'm sure is not a weekly expense.

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sk5t
In fairness to sawdust, eating it would be a strongly memorable experience.

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erentz
Is this satire? It’s all so silly and over the top it kind of reads like it.
Seems to skirt around the $3 million part too, which makes retiring feasible
at any age (including 21 if you’re smart).

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11thEarlOfMar
I'd be interested to know how much of the income is generated by his web
properties, and, how reliable is their income in the future. If that goes
away, can he still be cash flow positive?

Dividends from index funds might be 2%? The S&P overall generates about 2%
dividends. Capital gains may double that, but are not reliable as the market
goes through its cycles.

Interest from cash is likely 1% at best.

From the spending analysis, he's spending ~$6,000/month, or, $72,000/year.
With a $3,000,000 net worth, his minimum cash return is 2.4%.

Assuming he's keeping up with inflation, which I'd say is really important
given that he's likely got another 30+ years of retirement to fund, he should
budget another 2%, and target 4.4%.

I've been stymied, like many investors seeking fixed income, by this
protracted low interest rate period. Municipal bond yields are poor, all cash
and govm't bonds have very poor yields. I tried peer lending, but was let down
by the service company. So I had to get creative.

Over the last 3 years, I built a dividend portfolio that currently yields 6%.
All the stocks in the portfolio have a history of at least 10 years of
increasing dividends, and I expect that the 6% will increase by about 0.2%
annually as they raise their dividends.

With all that said, it seems like he could get a better cash yield with a
different mix of investments.

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ap3
He mentions 14 real estate properties. Those will keep generating income for a
long time.

If he is living on that and not using up his principal it sounds good

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gremlinsinc
If any of those are mortgaged, once the mortgage is paid he will be earning
even more, if he owns out-right depending on area they could rise in
profitability. I live in provo and rental units were 600-800 when I moved here
for 2 bedroom, now they are 1200. Rent costs are rising. Now's a good time to
be a landlord for sure.

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lazzlazzlazz
This is one of the most useless breakdowns and analyses of post-retirement
spending I've seen.

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philipodonnell
Wow, seriously. This is as exciting and enlightening as reading an expense
report. I'm going to guess this guy was an accountant...

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temp_3542
I am 40yrs old, and "shame-retired" with $1.5M in cash (still single and
renting).

I say shame-retired because I still feel ashamed to say this out loud.
Certainly to members of the opposite sex.

I live in a crazy-expensive city. So sometimes panic sinks in and I feel i am
heading to a life of poverty. Especially thinking about my peers with
6-figure-$US equivalent salaries.

Am i crazy or a realist ?!

(To be clear, i have a CS degree, lots of experience, and can go back to tech
but only as a developer drone...)

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sk5t
Why do you feel you're too good for software development?

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User23
In today's interest rate environment with that kind of net worth you can, with
very little risk, get 4%. "How I retired on $120,000/year of economic rents"

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aaronblohowiak
What non equities or bonds investments are you thinking for that? Multi
family? Private placements?

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toomanybeersies
A couple of my ETFs have >4% dividends, both of them are New Zealand based.

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aaronblohowiak
This article showed a pattern of making more cost-conscious choices to
minimize expenses. All that fast food, though... not the lifestyle for me!

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conservajerk
Are we supposed to be impressed by this? I'm rather confused. I believe my
spending is more fiscally conservative than this guy. Granted I'm not retired,
but I don't think he is either given that he appears to be writing articles to
promote his websites...

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BrandoElFollito
It must be quite a sad life to have 3M USD and make sure not to forget the 40
cents when doing the budget analysis of the trip to the supermarket.

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flossball
Honestly, doesn't sound like enough to retire on so good luck. Oh and damn he
eats out a ton.

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twiceaday
3M is too much money to retire. I plan to retire early and it will be long
before I reach 3M. USA is very friendly to retiring on capital gains. The
first long-term cap-gain federal tax bracket is 0% on income up to $77.4k
(married, filing jointly). That is not counting the standard deduction of 24k
(married, filing jointly). If you move to a state with no income tax you pay
literally zero taxes for 100k/year. If you get zero growth you can live for 30
years. If you get 3.3% or more average annual growth you will die with 3M in
the bank. Move to a no-income-tax state, get a mortgage asap to cement your
biggest expense, and live happy.

There are other tricks you can do

(1) You can use your standard deduction to slowly convert your pre-tax
retirement accounts into after-tax accounts without paying any tax (i.e.
24k/year). Then after five years you can withdraw the principle from the
after-tax accounts. This can be done at any age.

(2) In years where you do not use your 0% tax bracket you can use the
remainder for capital gain harvesting. You can sell some of your investments
and buy them back again. If the gain does not push you over 77.4/k you pay
zero tax but raise your cost basis to lower your gain when you ultimately sell
the investment. And wash sale rules do not apply to selling with a gain.

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egypturnash
Nice humblebrag title there.

