Retired Early with Over $4 Million, But Not Enjoying It!

Find work you love ❤️

I like the paper sound!!!

I'm pushing to get to a base of $1 million invested outside of retirement, then I'll save to fund "standard of living" increases.
$20k/yr on travel. Save $300k. $40k/yr on private pilot / aviation hobby, Save $600k.
$300k/yr on a sailing hobby, save $450k.
If I fund the expensive hobby upfront I have earned it and it is paid for forever, or as long as I want to continue with it.
No guilt for spending that money.
If I spend less on the hobby than the fund makes, eventually I can redistribute those funds, or save them to make a hobby purchase, like a new plane or helicopter pilot training.

At this point, everyone should know that a storm is coming. Do yourself a favor and be prepared to buy more; for those who know where to look tho. Only fools sell during a crash. I accumulated over $1.8m in profits alone during the last crash and even pulled it off with ease in a bad economy.

Not completely accurate. You don’t need to work yourself to the bone and you can travel the world while on your FIRE journey. We did and “retired” at 28

Except you don't penny pinch. You live off the returns from the accumulated capital.

Great video! I would love to start investing but the constant market volatility and diff manipulations by big sharks makes me wonder if people still make profits investing. I am scared how should i start risk free?

Ken. I love your paper crinkle. Just love it. I find myself doing it too.

I worked and earned quite a bit of money in my 20s, but I also spent a lot of money on useless stuff, alcohol addiction... Somehow I still managed to pay the deposit and fees to buy my own house at 25, but I did it on a 25yr mortgage with variable interest rate and didn't have any money in my name anymore once that deal was done.
My health and other issues made an end to both the working as to the lifestyle I had right around the time I turned 30 and I live on social security ever since, requiring me to live very frugal if I still wanted to build up an emergency fund and save slowly but steady for the future.
I don't regret living "the yolo life" (I did get and stay out of debt though) in my 20s since a lot of the money I wasted can be considered learning about life and myself.
I also don't regret living very frugal in my 30s since this allowed me to be financially prepared if and when I'm faced with an emergency, and I'm on track to have my mortgage paid off by the time I'm around 42 instead of the initially planned 50.
To anyone in their early twenties I would say: try to find a balance:
- Work hard now you're young and able to, but don't work at the limit of your health
- Play hard now you can fully enjoy it and are learning the lessons of life, but do budget for getting out of debt, don't create new debt (apart from a mortgage), follow at least the Dave Ramsey babysteps 1, 2 and 3.
- Switch it up, after every few months of living life to the fullest, be extremely frugal for one month, save every cent you can and spend it towards paying off debt or (if you have no debt) put it into a separate account away from your emergency fund account, use it to save for a deposit on a house or invest it safely towards retirement.
- I know time seems to go so slow and you don't look forward to climbing that endless mountain of decades of working, but don't let the FIRE-brigade get to you, time moves faster and faster the older you get, you don't have to burn yourself out by the time you're 40, most people in their 20s dream of retiring very early, most people later in life only start considering retiring when they're into their 50s.

This show has an abominable perspective of work. We all work here and learned long ago there is no dignity, no reward, no sense of accomplishment. But we are adults who have a sense of responsibility. The fact is the most peoductive, contributive, and fulfilling activities don't create an income, and this show would accuse of not being work.

Nobody tell these guys about FAT FIRE

Join the military and retire after 20 years.

This is terrible advice. It's not about penny pinching. It's about money in, money out. How much do you want to spend in retirement? There's a target number you need to reach in wealth to live the rest of your life free of the need to work for a living. You can continue working if you want to, but you don't have to. That's the point.

Wow... you guys are really twisting reality to make the 'work until you die' point. Anyone with $4 million dollars that can't figure out how to live on ~$160K/year aka 4% with no debt has bigger issues going on. No one is saying that retiring from the rat race has to involve hours on the couch each day with the tv remote in one hand with bonbons in the other. "Retirement" can and dare I say often does free individuals up to pursue their own interest in life which is fantastic. Hard to understand why Ramsey would be against FIRE except in the most extreme circumstances. Go figure...

This is my fifth year after retirement. I’ve been following the 4% rule thing, but this isn’t really how hard I expected things to be. I still have about $460k outside funds in my IRA to invest in stocks. Pls how do I take advantage of the market turnaround?

I'm under pressure to grow my reserve that currently holds about $500k. I'm down by 20% already following the crash and I fear I could lose more.

F.I.R.E. doesn't mean "never work again," it means not being FORCED to go to a 9 to 5, but rather, the freedom to work on what we want to work on, without the pressure.

We are born to work? Nonsense. Why should we continue to work if we don’t enjoy working?

We are worth 70+ million dollars I am 54 and scared to retire….what If I get bored in retirement?

Work is better and more meaningful when it’s not in need of money

I love what you guys do, but absolutely don’t agree with you all here. I’ve had a 50% or more save rate for a while now and still really really enjoy life and have a lot of fun. On track to retire/ be totally financially independent in 7 years at 45 and will be able to spend 3x more annually than I have been. I’ll still work, but I’ll be choosing more passion and fun work that will likely not make near as much money as I do now, but who cares, I’ll get to do things that I’m passionate about and only as much as I want so that my passions don’t turn into “work”

A career which gives you a little bit of time and work-life balance costs you financial independence because it'll be low paying. Tough choices to make. Keep in mind, investing provides a jumpstart to financial freedom. At 34, I already have a $6m portfolio.

This is such a horrible talk, who are these jokers? Stop spreading this bullshit strawman argument of working yourself to death and never spending money for enjoyment, it's not true. "Build the life you want and then save for it" is a mantra of the FIRE community, the point is to not be miserable and start living the life you want and to stop spending on things that don't actually add meaningful value to your lives. I'm living the FIRE lifestyle and still continuing to travel internationally, go on multi-week rafting trips every year, spending money on the hobbies that are important to me. But I'm somehow a miser because I'm not wasting my money on all-inclusive resorts, going out to fancy restaurants that I don't enjoy, or driving a nice car which I could care less about. There is nothing extreme about FIRE, you just have to decide what is important to you.

That couple who retired early with 4 million dollars do not know what it means to retire. Retirement is not about not working, retirement is about the financial freedom to do what you want to do without worrying about bills. Just because the couple in this example doesn’t know how to retire does not mean FIRE is unhealthy. FIRE is the tool that enables you to pursue your goal - travel the world/reading books/volunteer/whatever without the financial constraints of bills to pay. Don’t blame the tool, blame the person who do not know what to do with this precious opportunity. There are plenty of people out there who enjoy the financial freedom that FIRE provides.

Carl and Mindy are 2 of the most famous fire movement people. They aren’t fully retired and they still are valuable contributors. They have blogs and Mindy does a podcast for Bigger Pockets.

Pointless video. An important aspect of financial independence is the return you get on the money you’ve set aside. Nothing mentioned about that in this clip 😒

F.I.R.E means you can work the job and hours you want to work. You get the opportunity to say no to certain things because you have the money safety net.

FIRE isn't the issue here. They are just afraid to spend.

Most people are really seeking FI. The RE part is mostly true for the job they don't like, not working in general.

All the FIRE people should just join the military or become cops or firefighters. Most of those jobs are 20-25 years and out.

One way to avoid fire “regret” is to develop a plan for what you’ll be doing. It could be some kind of work/activity that’s fulfilling rather than laborious. It doesn’t have to be don’t do fire so that I could “never retire” like Ken.

These guys don't seem to grasp the spirit of FIRE. FIRE isn't actually much about retiring early. It's really about having options, "FU" money as JL Collins calls it. I don't think anyone actually "retires". It should really just be called Financial Independence (FI).

Retire early enjoy your time. Tomorrow is promised to no one!

Ken once again shilling for the corporations. Mindy and Carl (from BiggerPockets) and Sam Dogan (Financial Samaraui) still all "work" hosting podcasts and writing blogs. They just don't HAVE to work for someone else if they don't want. Ramsey Solutions would rather you work until you are no longer useful, then allow you to enjoy your final few years.

I agree! I don't want to retire. I want to buy what I want and go on vacations without worrying about draining assets.

I'm completely debt free including no mortgage. I'm not a golfer.

Two Simps talking about independence 😂

These two believe they were created to help their future ex-wives buy as much stuff as possible until a 50% fat divorce..

if ever i achive FIRE status, i think i would still want to keep a job and finally love doing because there is not that looming feeling anymore that i am only doing it because i have to pay my bills. it would be nice to put in an application at a nice local coffee shop and work there as a barista. i think thatll give me a sense of purpose.

This is a clear example of people who know how to obtain financial freedom, but don't have a clue about what it means or what to do with it.
Why because many save to survive rather than to be free and live, its a psychological hurdle that they must tackle, in this case they are rejecting it saying if you retire you are a non contributor.
On the contrary there is no greater force in society than someone who is a hard worker, who has the freedom to choose and can follow their passion.

I follow Carla and mindy and they’re way smarter than Ken. Mindy in fact still works and Carl is quite busy with entrepreneurial endeavors.
They’re not unhappy because they don’t work they’re unhappy because they still live a very frugal lifestyle

Chick fila is the best. i just got hungry.

FIRE = FU money. Freedom to work or not.

I FIRED BY 39 THANKS TO DAVES TEACHINGS !!!!! Now I help my son do a car lot !!!!! YooHoo !!!!!

I regret to disagree with the Ramsey folks on this FIRE subject.
The folks in the FIRE movement that I know
Volunteer and become teachers in poorer countries. Become active with organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Other’s travel the world (while they are young)😂😂, and can hike and bike.

In my humble opinion the Ramsey Solutions and The FIRE movement are on the same side of the aisle.
• God Bless The Dave Ramsey plan.
• God Bless the FIRE movement.
A difference in perspective doesn’t have to mean one perspective is wrong.

I love not working! I’m Heathy and love not working. What a negative attitude this man has.

I'll take FIRE any day over being broke and eating cat food or relying on the community food bank. Work hard and don't be a leach on society. Carl and Mindy are great people. Their habits are why they are financially well off. Now they have time to work on their lives and make it better every day vs. slaving away in the rat race.

Guys FIRE! Dave is all for FI. RE is opcional.

You van be "F.I.R.E. retired" and still work. But you work when and where you feel like rather than what you need to work at. It's not one extreme or the other. Do part time consulting. Work for a charity. Be a pet groomer. Teach art. Do whatever fun but low paying job you feel like and take off 6 weeks to go to the mountains.

Worthless clip

There are different types of F. I. R. E. movements. I think the couples mistake was saving and investing to achieve "BARISTA F. I. R. E" but then trying to live as if they achieved "FAT F. I. R. E.