I retired at 52 with a $3M net worth – here's what my spending looks like(amp.businessinsider.com)
amp.businessinsider.com
I retired at 52 with a $3M net worth – here's what my spending looks like
https://amp.businessinsider.com/early-retirement-weekly-spending-budget-2018-7
24 comments
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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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.
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.
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
If he is living on that and not using up his principal it sounds good
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.
This is one of the most useless breakdowns and analyses of post-retirement spending I've seen.
Wow, seriously. This is as exciting and enlightening as reading an expense report. I'm going to guess this guy was an accountant...
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...)
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...)
Why do you feel you're too good for software development?
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"
What non equities or bonds investments are you thinking for that? Multi family? Private placements?
A couple of my ETFs have >4% dividends, both of them are New Zealand based.
This article showed a pattern of making more cost-conscious choices to minimize expenses. All that fast food, though... not the lifestyle for me!
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...
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.
Honestly, doesn't sound like enough to retire on so good luck. Oh and damn he eats out a ton.
It isn't.
This "retiree" has monthly income of $8K+.
This "retiree" has monthly income of $8K+.
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.
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.
Nice humblebrag title there.
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.