moda0306 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 18, 2020 11:56 am
Love ERE stuff. I think everyone should dive into Jacob's philosophy, even if they leave out some of the more "extreme" elements.
I believe you are referring to Mustachianism
But I am with you, almost everyone would find something useful if they read a bit of the blogs in question. Another one that I re-read often is
Lacking Ambition, although he hasn't updated it in years. It went down briefly and I was very sad, so once he got it back up and running I scraped the posts and made myself a little pdf.
The "financial independence" math around lowering costs (and therefore simultaneously increasing savings rate AND requiring less in assets to be FI) is too strong to ignore. I've also found that taxes come in to play "bigly" when you have to fund a higher lifestyle expense. If you can keep your lifestyle expenses below the 22% federal bracket, only a small fraction of your post-FI income needs will go to taxes. To the degree your lifestyle creeps above that threshold, you might as well factor in about $1 of taxes for every $2 of lifestyle expenses.
In addition, it lines up well with what legal tax protesters
are doing, if one is so inclined. The states all have their different methods of taxing so that requires individualization, but in general keeping your expenses low lets you tax-shield more of your income (or earn less, obviously). On that last point, when I was transcribing some of my notes today, I came across this bit that reminded me of this thread:
Cottage industry, after all, had great advantages for the merchant-manufacturer, in particular, low cost of entry and low overhead. In this mode, it was the worker who supplied plant and equipment, and if business slowed, the putter-out could simply turn off the orders. Large shops or plants, on the other hand, called for a substantial capital investment: land and buildings to start with, plus machines.
Putting out, moreover, was popular with everybody. The workers liked the freedom from discipline, the privilege of stopping and going as they pleased. Work rhythms reflected this independence. Weavers typically rested and played long, well into the week, then worked hard toward the end in order to make delivery and collect pay on Saturday. On Fridays they might work through the night. Saturday night was for drinking, and Sunday brought more beer and ale. Monday (Saint Monday) was typically holy, and Tuesday was needed to recover from so much holiness.
. . .
... the dispersion of activity across hill and dale was driving up costs of distribution and collection. Meanwhile, trying to meet demand, employers raised wages, that is, they increased the price they paid for finished work. To their dismay, however, the higher income simply permitted workers more time for leisure, and the supply of work actually diminished. Merchant-manufacturers found themselves on a treadmill. In defiance of all their natural instincts, they came to wish for higher food prices. Perhaps a rise in the cost of living would compel spinners and weavers to their task.
And while currently not "FI" yet, the ability to "work a job from a position of strength" is far-more satisfying than feeling like you're on the edge of a financial cliff. I'm amazed that so much of the language & thought process around being "financially successful" has to do with a high-paying job, sprawling business, and/or "nice stuff," while people can barely grasp the concept of being financially independent at a young-ish age with a low cost lifestyle.
100%, and again, even a cursory exposure to ERE/MMM would be eye-opening for tons of people. I know it was for me... I'm sure I mentioned it before, but I had zero knowledge interest/stocks/bonds were, how taxes worked, savings accounts like Roths, IRA, 401k, TSP. None of that even entered my mind until years after I got out of college. I thought you just worked at jobs until you were 65, and thus "allowed" to retire
You there, Ephialtes. May you live forever.
You said, "we were just talking last night about the fact that many times having a paid off mortgage adds little value to the retirement picture." That might be accurate if you replaced "many times" with "for people who live in heavily urbanized parts of the tri-state area"
