Comments on: The Price Of Luxury

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 11:05:47 +0000

Now that's a completely interesting concept altogether. My cousin is looking for a costly bike since last 2 months but since he hasn't been financially established yet..he is hesitating a bit. Now I will suggest your tips to him to come out with a solution. Obviously we should and must meet our expectation keeping the budget in mind. Thanks for sharing. Jennifer Goldblum

By: TrekMan

TrekMan — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 16:27:40 +0000

You should buy a perfectly fitted bike regardless of if you choose to work more or not. A bike that is the correct size is more enjoyable to ride and prevents damage to your legs, knees and rest of your body. In the long run your decision to not buy a correctly sized bike might cost you money in the long run.

By: Brave New Life

Brave New Life — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 21:25:58 +0000

June 1st is the 2-year anniversary from when I started my new job on Colorado. At the time, I agreed to a 2-year contract in exchange for them paying all my relocation fees (including the closing costs on my over-sized $400K McMansion). Since the fees were over $60K, and I’d have to pay them back if I don’t stay for 2 years, that became my default “retire” date.

My total investable assets sit somewhere between 3% and 4%. Personally, I think 4% is a reasonable SWR, especially if you figure you’re naturally entrepreneurial in spirit and figure you’ll continue to make some nominal income in the future just for fun. That certainly applies to me.

By: joe

joe — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 10:37:42 +0000

You could probably think of many more one time things. I know a couple that only goes on vacation after they “earned” it. They are retired, but with no money budgeted for vacations. They take various oddball jobs 1-3 weeks when they are looking to travel.

Can you explain (or point me to a previous post) how June 1 2013 came to be? Some say “1 million” (lame I know), 4%, 85% pre-retirement salary, etc. Thanks

By: Crystal @ Prairie Ecothrifter

Crystal @ Prairie Ecothrifter — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:10:04 +0000

I look at our purchases like that – 30 minutes of work for a lunch here and 1 week of work for a car fix there. We aren’t nearly as close to retirement as you though, so we think in these terms just to help us prioritize our spending. Right now, our new home is being built, so cash for padding is our priority, but after September, paying off our current mortgage will be our priority. No matter what, thinking about our spending in the terms of time worked keeps us on track.

By: Brave New Life

Brave New Life — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:32:11 +0000

Hi Virgina, welcome to the site.

My wife worked up until my son was born in 2008. She’s stayed at home since, although she may return to some part time work in the future once the kids are in school and if the job is something interesting.

By: virginia

virginia — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:53:13 +0000

Hello – I just recently found your blog and have been browsing some of your older posts. I’m just curious, does your wife work or does she stay home with the kids? I’m sure you’ve mentioned this but I am having trouble finding it.

By: John

John — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:32:12 +0000

With Financial Independence and Extreme Mental Focus, you could…
Learn to play the piano in 3 days,
Use math in Poker,
Learn a new language in 1 month
Create a fun youtube subscription that thousands tune into each week.
Become a senator who doesn’t need Money.
Become the Next President of the United States who doesn’t need money and doesn’t waste it on unlimited wants.

By: John

John — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:22:09 +0000

Here’s some Motivation for Early Retirement from Dividendmantra’s blog:
1) Just Say no to the Alarm Clock
2) Be your Own Boss
3) Long-term Travel (trust me Japan, Europe, China, Australia is wonderful)
4) Spend More Time with Family and/or Friends
5) Cultivate yourself Through Hobbies
6) Limited only by your Immagination
7) More probability to take Risks and Generate millions from a future successful business or invention, now that you have all the Time in the world to learn from mistakes and educate yourself on anything (imagine taking free MIT, Harvard courses online, 5 courses per semester for 20 years straight!)
8) Easier to cultivate your needs through Autonomous, Self-sufficient machines, aka getting off the grid.

Drooling yet?

By: John

John — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 18:14:16 +0000

You could do what my Senior Semi-retired engineer reviewer is doing now, he works Tues-Weds-Thurs Only, 8 hours a day, 24 hours a week. For me to do this now, it would reduce my savings by $18k a year, compared with a goal of $30k. So it would postpone my Extreme Early Retirement, but kind of dip into the pool of how it feels. Though it takes more frugal discipline to have extended weekends, because it may always feel like weekend vacations, when you truely could not afford to do so. You could taste the cake, before pure consumtion.