“I want to retire by 35”
This has become a goal of mine over the past two years as I have dived into the financial independence movement and I truly believe it is feasible. I am currently 32, so that goal is quite close. Of course most people stare at me like I have two heads, or give a nervous chuckle when I tell them this.
The thing is, I believe that early retirement is possible for almost everyone and to be honest I don’t think it is that hard to achieve. This is one of my main motivations for starting this blog. I want to help point you to freedom, which is the real goal of the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) community.
What makes financial independence difficult to achieve is that we have had scripts drilled into us since a young age that:
- You have to find a career, or in my generations case, careers, and keep at them until you are eligible for social security.
- You have to have the best and biggest house and car the bank tells you you can afford.
- You have to spend money to have fun.
- You need all the flashiest accessories to attract a mate.
- Debt is not a big deal and as long as you are making the minimum payments you are fine.
- Your worth is tied to your belongings.
- Money = Love
- And many others…
I am here to tell you that there is another way. Do any of us really want to work until social security, no, but it is so widely accepted that we fall into the rat race and plug away the best years of our life. Up until two years ago I was on this path and accepted it as the way of the world. Thankfully, I was introduced to the idea of financial independence and early retirement and realized there is another way based on reading numerous books, blogs, and listening to numerous podcasts of people who have escaped the rat race and have become financially free.
I must confess I wrestled with myself a lot over whether to start this blog or not for numerous reasons: 1. I am lazy. 2. Because of what appears to be the saturation in the market of financial independence material. 3. Worrying about having enough to say to make it worth it. But, then I read articles about how little Americans have saved or how much debt the average American has and it scares me. If I can even help one person see that there is another way it will be worth it.
I also started this blog to learn. One thing I have seen in reading blogs and listening to podcasts on financial independence is even the authors and hosts are constantly learning from their guests or readers of their sites, and I hope to do the same.
So, in this blog I plan to address myths about frugality, ways of achieving financial independence, how I have been able to save over 50% of my take home pay the past three years, plus resources that have helped me along the way. Won’t you join me?