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.
29 Comments to “About Me”
Leave a Reply
Hello,
what kind of engineering do you do?
I’m a computer engineer
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 hear ya, Sean. I opened up a treasury direct acct to buy individual bonds, but then just decided an ETF was easier. Once I retire and have more time for managing my portfolio, I plan on buying individual bonds.
You planning on retiring at 34-35 mate? If so, whatcha plan to do after?
Hello, Mr. Samurai. I have an entire post scheduled for Tuesday that will explain my plans after I retire at 35. Let’s just say I won’t be bored.
Very interesting. I’m glad I found your blog. Seems like you’ve done pretty well for yourself. I definitely could use some more pointers on investing.
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)
Looking forward to reading more of your blog! I can certainly learn from your experience
Welcome, looking forward to your point of view too.
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
how old are you ?
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.
What do you plan to do for health insurance?
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.
Love the blog. The personal finance stuff is great, but I really enjoy the philosophical thoughts. So much more interesting than the typical fare. Thanks!
Mate, how’s everything going? Haven’t seen you around in a while. Still on track to crush it by 35? I’m rooting for you man!
Financial Samurai recently posted..Making Money Too Fast Destroys You And Everything Around You
Yep – still on track. Spent time yesterday updating my portfolio to get more money moved into income generation stocks… I’m hoping that I’ll have 100% of my expenses paid out in dividends without ever needing to sell a share to pay the bills.
whuch college do you study CS Engg ? what is ur usr_name on android market , app name ?
Hi BraveNewLife,
While I’m googling around for expanding diversifying my investment portfolio I happen to I stumble to your blog which pretty interesting looking at your investments.
Hope you don’t mind if I’ll asking regarding gold investment. I’m really clueless on how to invest in gold and I hope you can shed light on this.
My initial thought was just to buy gold shop which pretty absurd if that is the way.
By the way I’m 28 and envisioning early retirement from Software Engineer profession in Singapore.
Thank you in advance.
Erwin@PinoyWealthy recently posted..How to manage a budget
For gold, I was investing in two different ETF’s (SGOL and GLD). I’m actually moving out of gold in my portfolio, however.
I’m not sure how it works in Singapore and whether yuo can invest in those ETF’s or not…
Thank you for reminding me why I do NOT want to be a capitalist. Fulfilling work is not merely a material necessity for many, but a fundamental necessity for everyone. I cannot be happy unless I’ve earned what I have, at least in large part. I do not WANT to live on “passive income.” I want to have what I have because I’ve contributed something tangible, however small, to everyone else’s existence.
I came here from David Foster Wallace’s This Is Water commencement speech. Interesting.
You might think I say this because I’m jealous. Wrong. I can live on passive income now. Modestly, but adequately — from a material standpoint, I mean.
I can but I don’t want to. Anyone who thinks they do is making a big mistake. Go back and listen to that commencement speech, this time more carefully.
If you actually allow this to be posted, good for you.
Wallace’s entire premise is that we all get to choose how and what to think. And because I embrace that idea, I’m choosing to think that you grew up in an environment where hard work was encouraged and praised, and where money was highly valued. That’s cool, me too. I just choose to think differently now.
I never would have thought you were “jealous.” As I stated on this page, I’m just a guy on a journey. You are on your own journey. There is no reason for either of us to be jealous of anyone.
Regarding capitalism, I’m not particularly a fan of global or even national levels of capitalism. I’m also not a fan of mosquitoes. But this is the world I was born into, and the environment in which I now must live. By embracing it and becoming a “capitalist,” and achieving financial independence, it allows me to make decisions independent of money. I can’t say that was true for the first 33 years of my life.
If your argument is driven by altruism, and “contributing something,” consider that becoming a capitalist with money that you earned means that you did contribute. That’s how we got our money in the first place. And by putting the money back into the market for others to use also is a contribution. As an example, I give money to a partner of mine to fix and flip houses. He pays me 12%, my partner now has a well-paying job working on the houses, the bank gets to dump the abandoned foreclosed properties at reasonable costs, new inhabitants get a nice houses that look as good as new, and the neighborhoods are improved. Is that not contribution? Must I go to an office and draw up new server schematics and write test plans to contribute?
Finally, keep in mind that contribution doesn’t end with a money-paying job. In fact, I would argue most jobs prevent people from contributing to the world in a positive way. I know mine does. Now, in the future, if I stumble across an opportunity to improve the world and it just so happens to pay me to do it, I wouldn’t turn it down. But I prefer to take the dependence of money out of the equation. That’s the capitalist I choose to be, and how and what I choose to think.
Hi, again. I just saw your email and appreciated it very much.
We agree on more than you think — and still disagree completely on some other things. I’ll keep this short.
I wasn’t raised in a family where money was highly valued. On the contrary, what David Foster Wallace said about money in his commencement speech — as surprising as his remarks are for the way he expressed them — sums up the attitudes I was exposed to very well.
I’m not sure if this is what you mean, and I don’t want to misrepresent your views, straw-man fallacy style, but Wallace does not suggest that there is anything laudable about choosing to think things that are not in fact the case.
My comments on the need for work aren’t meant to be altruistic at all. I think the depth of satisfaction that comes with working on something that is truly important to you and that you know makes a larger contribution many others, and thus takes you beyond yourself and the limits of your own (very finite) life, is irreplaceable. Money is, after all, fungible, and passive income is indifferent to its owner. Doing something of value that only you can do brings with it an inherent satisfaction that cannot be duplicated by passive investment.
You wrote, “Finally, keep in mind that contribution doesn’t end with a money-paying job. In fact, I would argue most jobs prevent people from contributing to the world in a positive way.” I think this is very astute — unfortunately! But let me just say one thing — if you do retire, and don’t find something to do besides invest, I predict that you won’t be happy. I don’t mean to suggest at all that you’d be happier staying in your job, or any prefabricated job for that matter. I’m suggesting that sooner or later, you’ll “invent” your own job.
The journalist George Monbiot published “Career Advice” for aspiring journalists, but I think the basic ideas could be adapted to a lot of things.
http://www.monbiot.com/career-advice/
In fact, having some passive income would be a real help in implementing these ideas. But again, that’s exactly my point. Passive income is — at best — a means. It is not an end.
What is interesting also is that Monbiot publishes the details of all of his sources of income, right on the web for all to see. (He does some things to make money that you’d approve of, I’m sure!) He considers disclosure of interests to be vital to his mission as a truly independent journalist. What better proof could there be that he puts his life’s work far above money!
@Grasshopper
You’re right, we do agree on more than I would have thought.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and the link to George Monbiot’s site. His article on career advice is exactly what I needed to hear when I was 22, and exactly what I’ve come to learn in the past 13+ years of working in a corporate environment.
As you stated, passive income is a a means not an end. It allows a financially conservative, fear-driven, number-crunching engineer like me to have the courage to choose liberty over security.