Live Simple and Be Fulfilled
About Me
My Journey
For the first 32 years of my life, I spent my time fighting for more – knowledge, power, success, money. I never really valued these things, I just sought them mindlessly because that’s what I was taught. I saved a lot, but I also delved into the world of Consumerism. I achieved everything I went after and yet was never content. In fact, I would say that I was getting less content every day.
In May 2011 I left that all behind me. I quit my job, sold my car, downsized my house, sold most of my “stuff,” and moved my family to Colorado. I now work a lower stress job, and will completely retire in May 2013 at age 35. My family and I are happier than we’ve ever been.
Who I Am
In my professional life I’m an engineer and an entrepreneur. In my personal life I’m a father, a husband, a runner, and a writer. Now I’m a journeyman in search of happiness, financial freedom, and self-reliance.
My Early Retirement Journey
I am a true capitalist. And by capitalist, I mean that I lend my money (capital) to others, and they pay me back more later.
My current investments include:
- Individual Stocks
- Treasury Bonds
- Gold
- P2P Lending
- Real Estate
- Online Business Ownership
- Private Money Lending
My goal is to make all of these 100% passive. I am 33 years old now and will retire at 35. I’ve worked hard to increase my capital in order to set up a life-long passive paycheck. I plan to enjoy a lifetime of financial freedom.
If you like what you see, please subscribe to my RSS feed and make sure to join in on the conversation. If you have any questions, add a comment or email me. I love hearing from people that enjoy my blog, and I answer all emails.
If you’re new to the blog, you can start from the beginning. There’s an archive of all posts on the right sidebar.
-
-
Interesting life you have led so far! I’m sure I will be picking your brain in the future as I hope to mirror some of your moves and become a “capitalist” myself. One of my first questions would be have you experienced in any long-term success with your mutual funds? Since I am just beginning my investment journey I have been researching my options in depth. The stats on mutual funds beating their index over time are very poor indeed. I notice you have a large portfolio of dividend blue-chip stocks. Would you recommend these over the mutual funds?
-
My mutual funds are all extremely passive with low costs. They basically follow the market, which is why I bought them. To be honest, I would get rid of most of them at this point, but I’m sitting on some heavy capital gains so I’m dumping them slowly with occasional capital losses.
The only mutual funds I plan to hold in the future is for my 10% portfolio holding of bonds. I don’t want to deal with individual bonds, I only hold them because it’s smart asset allocation.
-
I’d reconsider buying individual bonds. It’s actually easier to learn than stock investing, and less risky. It’s just a bit harder to find good information.
Bond funds give you too much exposure to interest rate risk for principal, IMO. If you buy individual bonds, you can always commit to holding until maturity, and not worry about losing principal unless you choose to due to opportunity costs.
Sean recently posted..Most Retirement Advice is Worse than Useless — Part IV: The Devil’s Due
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I’ve done well financially, with a lot of good luck and good mentors along the way. At the same time, I realize now I could have done even better, which is why I’ve chosen to start writing about my experience in hopes that others can benefit. (Also writing forces be to thoroughly think through my philosophy… So I do benefit as well)
-
-
#11 written by Funancials 6 months ago
-
-
#13 written by Iowa 6 months ago
First of all, great site. I can relate to much of your lifestyle (except owning gold). I’m currently 28 and on a similar path as you so it’s exciting to know that others that have a passion for income outside of a professional job. One question; I’m recently married so how does your spouses income roll into your investment classes? I’m assuming they are in lock-step and share the same goal?
-
Hello Iowa, and welcome.
My wife quit working when we had our first kid, so she no longer has any income. If she did, we would roll it all together. We’ve never had split finances since we got married 8 years ago.
I never actually understood the logic of keeping finances separate once married, but to each their own.
Brave New Life recently posted..Lending Club Investment Strategy
-
-
#16 written by MHB 3 months ago
Excellent site with some excellent advice. I’m just starting my professional life (22, just out of University) and am looking to start being a capitalist now. Having just started accumulating my first real salary as a teacher, however, I’m not really sure what’s a good jumping off point. I have a lot of big goals for my future and I’m going to need to find ways to supplement my teacher salary. I graduated college with no debt (phew) but my income is just enough to support my means.
I’ve never had anything like a financial mentor, so tell me, how do I get started?
(p.s. fellow Colorado transplant here)
-
Hi MHB,
You’ve come to the right place. First off, take a look at this post, and feel free to ask follow up questions in the comments of that post:
What I recommend is that you take a 3 step approach.
First, create a budget with a high savings rate (preferably 50% or more) and stick to it. Saving it in a bank account is fine to begin with, until you get educated in investing. (see here). I know you said you’re only making enough to get by, but I have to admit that I doubt this. My family of 4 is getting by quite nicely on $36K/yr. Alone, I could do it under $20K for sure, and probably closer to $15K. To do this, you need to figure out what you value in life – for that I recommend Your Money or Your Life.
Second, start coming up with ways to diversify your income. As a teacher, you have 2.5-3 months out of the year you can do this. I have several streams of income, as you can see in my monthly reports. If you can create a passive income during that time, it means you could continue to get paid when you return to school in the fall. You’re at an advantage where you just left school, and should have plenty of diversified skills and creativity to help you. After 10-15 years of specialty work, us 30-somethings are at a disadvantage.
Third, learn about investing. Personally, I’ve chosen a rather passive approach with my Brave New Portfolio. Don’t invest until you understand your strategy – whether it’s with something like what I’ve done or whether it’s stock picking, REI, or dividend investing. There is risk involved no matter what, and you need to understand the risk.
Most of all, for any 22 year old, my recommendation is to avoid lifestyle inflation. There is temptation to get a new car, buy a big house, and upgrade your iPhone each year. I’ll assure you that these things don’t add value. I’ve been there, and I’ve been where I am now, and I can say in no uncertain terms that life is better if kept simple.
Let me know if you have questions about anything. A big reason I maintain this blog is to help others.
-
-
-
That’s to be determined. Prior to about 6 months ago, I planned on an HSA (health savings account) with a high deductible insurance. This would have been about $200/month, so not a big deal.
Since then, my daughter had some very serious medical conditions that would have cost a fortune without good insurance. She’s on medication now that we hope treats it. If it does, we’ll go back to the HSA. If not, I think we’ll get a lower deductible insurance plan of about $400-$500 per month. Either way, I don’t think it will break the bank. If I had to, I’d do some odd jobs to cover the difference rather than stay in cubicle land. But I don’t think that will be necessary.
-
-
- Comment Feed for this Post
Hello,
what kind of engineering do you do?