Advertiser Disclosure: rich & REGULAR is a member of affiliate marketing programs and may receive commission in exchange for promoting products and services.
The plan didn’t come to us like a dream in the night, but over years of reading about wealth building following others who have done it in the FIRE movement, trial and lots of errors. Between 2012 and 2016, we were GRINDING and almost everyone we knew was drinking from the same cup of work now, play later. Over time, our approach transitioned to work hard, play harder and finally, today, our motto is
work smart, opt out.
We fully expect our plan will evolve, but can say with absolute certainty that it won’t include being a corporate workhorse when we’re in our latter years. The concept of “opting out” is more widely known as achieving financial independence, early retirement or as the hardcore gunslingers of the movement call it; FIRE [financial independence, retire early]. There’s even a movie about it called Playing with FIRE and we’re proud to be cast members!
Now, you’re probably wondering, how are you going to make money? How are you going to survive? How will you take care of your kid(s)? The answer is; our money makes money so we don’t have to.
Look at it this way. If you invest $400 monthly over a forty year period, you’ll have a balance of $1 million [conservatively]. Despite the assumptions in that statement, what you should be asking yourself is –
What if I saved $500? $1,000, $1,500?
The answer is clearly, you’ll reach the million dollar mark in a shorter period of time which is an amount most people can live comfortably on, indefinitely. However, the million dollar question is “do I even need a million dollars”?
The answer to that question is solely based on your consumption rate; meaning the total amount of money it costs for you to cover your cost of living. For example, if you add up all of your bills and expenses on an annual basis, THAT number is your annual consumption rate. If you’re able to save up 25 times THAT number, several studies have verified that you can withdraw from that balance all you need to maintain that lifestyle and NEVER run out of money. Forever, ever.
Let’s use a realistic and simple example. Let’s say, you live in Atlanta and it costs you $40,000 [after taxes] to live. You just need to build a nest egg of $1 million and you can rest assured that if you withdraw 4% of that [$40K] on an annual basis you’ll have saved enough money to live indefinitely because your money will grow at a faster rate than you withdraw. Soooo…that’s the plan.
Save aggressively, invest at a crazy high rate over a shorter period of time and chuck the deuces at the high-stress, work life. Walk away from the traffic, free ourselves from the the cubicle/office, the golden handcuffs and start living good…on the low. Forever, ever.
There’s obviously a bit more to it than that so…keep reading
Recommendations:
15 Comments
Leave a Reply
Advertiser Disclosure: rich & REGULAR is a member of affiliate marketing programs and may receive commission in exchange for promoting products and services.
The plan didn’t come to us like a dream in the night, but over years of reading about wealth building following others who have done it in the FIRE movement, trial and lots of errors. Between 2012 and 2016, we were GRINDING and almost everyone we knew was drinking from the same cup of work now, play later. Over time, our approach transitioned to work hard, play harder and finally, today, our motto is
work smart, opt out.
We fully expect our plan will evolve, but can say with absolute certainty that it won’t include being a corporate workhorse when we’re in our latter years. The concept of “opting out” is more widely known as achieving financial independence, early retirement or as the hardcore gunslingers of the movement call it; FIRE [financial independence, retire early]. There’s even a movie about it called Playing with FIRE and we’re proud to be cast members!
Now, you’re probably wondering, how are you going to make money? How are you going to survive? How will you take care of your kid(s)? The answer is; our money makes money so we don’t have to.
Look at it this way. If you invest $400 monthly over a forty year period, you’ll have a balance of $1 million [conservatively]. Despite the assumptions in that statement, what you should be asking yourself is –
What if I saved $500? $1,000, $1,500?
The answer is clearly, you’ll reach the million dollar mark in a shorter period of time which is an amount most people can live comfortably on, indefinitely. However, the million dollar question is “do I even need a million dollars”?
The answer to that question is solely based on your consumption rate; meaning the total amount of money it costs for you to cover your cost of living. For example, if you add up all of your bills and expenses on an annual basis, THAT number is your annual consumption rate. If you’re able to save up 25 times THAT number, several studies have verified that you can withdraw from that balance all you need to maintain that lifestyle and NEVER run out of money. Forever, ever.
Let’s use a realistic and simple example. Let’s say, you live in Atlanta and it costs you $40,000 [after taxes] to live. You just need to build a nest egg of $1 million and you can rest assured that if you withdraw 4% of that [$40K] on an annual basis you’ll have saved enough money to live indefinitely because your money will grow at a faster rate than you withdraw. Soooo…that’s the plan.
Save aggressively, invest at a crazy high rate over a shorter period of time and chuck the deuces at the high-stress, work life. Walk away from the traffic, free ourselves from the the cubicle/office, the golden handcuffs and start living good…on the low. Forever, ever.
There’s obviously a bit more to it than that so…keep reading
Recommendations:
15 Comments
-
[…] and making a meaningful impact on our communities. It simply wasn’t worth it; and thus the plan was […]
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[…] launching rich & REGULAR we’ve had some people raise their eyebrows at us with regard to our plan. Meanwhile, they give 70%+ of their lives at a negotiated discounted rate to corporations who […]
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[…] It takes just as much effort to solve the wrong problem as it does the right one, so when I was faced with the crossroads of leaning into my career or leaning into the math – I chose the math. […]
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[…] or two off or give the surplus away. Even if we earn $0, we’ll be fine because we know that we can safely withdraw 4% from an account in addition to rental income to cover our […]
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[…] you’ve seen our 2018 Plan and/or our long term plan then this may help you understand how any of this is possible. Couple of things here worthy of […]
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[…] and inevitably cuts are made. For us, this technically makes us vulnerable and potentially puts our plan at […]
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[…] our plan and purchase a new home earlier than we expected. So what impact does that have on our plan? Well, for starters we were planning on using a bulk of our monthly surplus to payoff our rental […]
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[…] important than our definition, we believe THIS is precisely what it takes to pull off the plan we have to retire early. Now this does not mean we abstain from all spending on pleasure but it does mean that we make […]
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[…] the tab, to purchase the plane ticket are precisely the type of friendships that I now avoid given our plan to achieve financial independence. To be clear, I’m certainly aware of how blessed we are and don’t judge my friends […]
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[…] the initial shock and awe from disclosing our plan, after the intrigue [assuming you move onto this stage] and well after a few minutes of solid […]
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[…] several signs that assured me we made the right decision, despite the speed bump this created for our plan. Here are just a […]
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on November 3, 2018 at 10:50 AM
I love the motto “Work Smart; Opt out,” as a motto for FIRE. Similarly, we see FIRE as opting out of 9-to-5 corporate work environment, so that we can spend out time living our ideal life and lifestyle and do “work” (that likely won’t feel like work) or passion projects that are meaningful. I love what I’ve read on your blog so far, and I’m excited to read more.
– Jessica (aka Mrs. Fioneer)-
on November 3, 2018 at 2:05 PM
Thank you Jessica. We really appreciate your comment and so glad you’ve stumbled across our little corner on the internet. Best of luck to you on your FI journey!
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on May 31, 2019 at 9:06 PM
I want to know if you all do actual one-on-one (or, two-on-two) consultations?
I’m trying to pay off debt, invest, and become FIRE!
I need an honest plan though.
-
[…] we are on FIRE. First, starting with our plan to financial […]
[…] and making a meaningful impact on our communities. It simply wasn’t worth it; and thus the plan was […]
[…] launching rich & REGULAR we’ve had some people raise their eyebrows at us with regard to our plan. Meanwhile, they give 70%+ of their lives at a negotiated discounted rate to corporations who […]
[…] It takes just as much effort to solve the wrong problem as it does the right one, so when I was faced with the crossroads of leaning into my career or leaning into the math – I chose the math. […]
[…] or two off or give the surplus away. Even if we earn $0, we’ll be fine because we know that we can safely withdraw 4% from an account in addition to rental income to cover our […]
[…] you’ve seen our 2018 Plan and/or our long term plan then this may help you understand how any of this is possible. Couple of things here worthy of […]
[…] and inevitably cuts are made. For us, this technically makes us vulnerable and potentially puts our plan at […]
[…] our plan and purchase a new home earlier than we expected. So what impact does that have on our plan? Well, for starters we were planning on using a bulk of our monthly surplus to payoff our rental […]
[…] important than our definition, we believe THIS is precisely what it takes to pull off the plan we have to retire early. Now this does not mean we abstain from all spending on pleasure but it does mean that we make […]
[…] the tab, to purchase the plane ticket are precisely the type of friendships that I now avoid given our plan to achieve financial independence. To be clear, I’m certainly aware of how blessed we are and don’t judge my friends […]
[…] the initial shock and awe from disclosing our plan, after the intrigue [assuming you move onto this stage] and well after a few minutes of solid […]
[…] several signs that assured me we made the right decision, despite the speed bump this created for our plan. Here are just a […]
I love the motto “Work Smart; Opt out,” as a motto for FIRE. Similarly, we see FIRE as opting out of 9-to-5 corporate work environment, so that we can spend out time living our ideal life and lifestyle and do “work” (that likely won’t feel like work) or passion projects that are meaningful. I love what I’ve read on your blog so far, and I’m excited to read more.
– Jessica (aka Mrs. Fioneer)
Thank you Jessica. We really appreciate your comment and so glad you’ve stumbled across our little corner on the internet. Best of luck to you on your FI journey!
I want to know if you all do actual one-on-one (or, two-on-two) consultations?
I’m trying to pay off debt, invest, and become FIRE!
I need an honest plan though.
[…] we are on FIRE. First, starting with our plan to financial […]