My best advice... be born on 3rd base.
 

My best advice to retire in your 30's... Be born on 3rd base:D!

My roommate in college came in with hundreds of hours of flight time and his Commercial, Multi-Engine, and Instrument. His family had a C182, a Bonanza, and a C310R, where he obtained most of his flight time before he started flying checks. He majored in AMM, so he got his A & P License. For his 19th birthday present, he got his B727 Flight Engineer rating. I know, this would be an easy guy to envy/dislike, but he was awesome and didn't flaunt it.

He was hired by TWA by, I believe, 24 years old. He met a Christian Flight Attendant who helped him find God, so after his trust fund came in at 25, he went on to retire at 28 and began missionary work. This was the guy who used to carry a mini boom box and blender in his flight bag.....:D

Again, be born on third base!

The bigger mistake is having $60,000 in depreciating equipment sitting in your driveway.

BUT you do bring up a really good point. Say one did have a bunch of paid off newer cars in the driveway, but also had a mortgage at 5%. Take the loan on the cars at .99% (or whatever) and pay down the mortgage at 5%. Your monthly payments would go up but overall your financial situation would improve. However, the difference wouldn't amount to much. Like I said you are much further ahead not buying those cars in the first place and spending a lot less money on beaters, and reducing how many you need overall.

Like I said, my family situation calls for four cars. I’m not a fan of putting money into cars, but both kids are at separate colleges which requires two additional cars. My personal car is twenty years old. My prior car I drove for twenty years as well. I travel alot and want the family in good dependable used cars, not beaters.

The cost of cars are crazy today. My first car was a nissan pickup. I purchased it for $5,000. I drove it for twenty years. I sold it for $3,500. That was money well spent.

" The cost of cars are crazy today. My first car was a nissan pickup. I purchased it for $5,000. I drove it for twenty years. I sold it for $3,500. That was money well spent."

NICE.

:)

My last car (in the U.K.) was a simply majestic thing - a 12 year old BMW740. £2200! Sold for what I paid for it a couple of years later.

She did love a bit of fuel, though.

On the subject of retirement, it is very daunting to see the figures required for a sustainable, comfortable lifestyle.

I’m 35. My planned retirement is in the U.K. and to do so, I would like an inflation-adjusted income of around £50,000. So, that’s around 2.2m nominal. Bearing in mind I’d like to retire early so I can enjoy it, I’ve got work to do! Yes, as per the OP, if I want a penny-pinching retirement of existence, a fraction of that would be fine. However, I want a couple of holidays, nice food, my motorbike, etc. Nothing extravagant, just normal stuff that we all work hard for.

I’m lucky in that I live as an expat in a low tax environment, without healthcare costs. I saved hard to buy a (modestly priced) house outright, so now I have to set to work on the retirement front.

While my pay is decent, with low tax and no healthcare costs (or kids) I’m able to squirrel cash away at a decent rate at the moment. That said, my retirement is ENTIRELY my responsibility, as having been an expat my whole adult life, I’ve got no state pension. What have when I retire is what I have to make work.

If I can achieve an annualised 6% across my investments, that should work out. That said, the best laid plans and all...

In summary, some may be able to retire at my age with 800k generating 30,000 a year, but unless they were extremely well paid, they’ve had a crap time getting there, and will likely have a slightly less-crap time after.

Play the hand you’ve got, and be responsible. But remember we likely have a spouse who we want to care for, we have interests and hobbies, and we are a long time dead.

So lemme get this straight. You save your whole life for 10 years of blowing money out your arse and then off yourself when it runs out? Think it would be far easier to spend every dollar you make, leverage yourself with credit for a couple years and then jump off a bridge. Longer enjoyment timeline if a shorter life.

Of course you could just go on living in the poor house, at least you’ll be old when you’re doing it instead of denying yourself when you’re young.

I knew a guy once. He only made the smartest financial decisions. Saved every dime he possible could. Never went on vacation, ate cheaply at home, still had his first car, paid his small house off in 10 years. Lived to be 88. Miserable right up to the day he died but his heirs were very happy!

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