A Google employee lives in a truck and saves 90% of his income (2015) | Hacker News Reader

A Google employee lives in a truck and saves 90% of his income (2015)

businessinsider.com

48 pointsLopRabbit36 comments

Coworker at Fortune 500 does this. Old housemate at different Fortune 500 did basically this (slept on the floor, only owned cardboard boxes, one week of clothes and a car).

Both of these people are incredibly rich. One came from parents with oil and financial sector money. The other has multiple real estate properties. Both have six figure incomes.

Other people I know in the tech sector are less extreme, but nonetheless have various plans for exiting the corporate world so that they can feel financially independent enough to retire early and then work on problems they find enriching/bring value to people rather than shareholders/etc.

Though one of them was obsessed with immortality and saving up for when cryogenics and Kurzweil's singularity were figured out. So I guess it's not all about the rat race for everybody.

I would add that they are incredibly lucky as well. If given the choice I would live like this. I do not have that choice.

You are an adult. You can choose to do whatever you want.

True, though sometimes that choice may involve something paying for necessary medical care or caring for a child. You could choose to do neither, but not in practicality.

Becoming rich (assuming it’s not handed to you by your parents) isn’t about how much you earn [0], but about how much you save. If you earn $120k/year, but only spend $20k/year, after five years you will have half a million in the bank.

The hard part is convincing yourself (and your family) that you don’t need to go that resturant or you don’t need that new car. Obviously younger people have the advantage here, as they typically have less attachments.

There’s a point where this can get a bit too extreme, but it depends on what’s important for you. Having that house within walking distance of your office, or cycling 10 miles to work and retiring at 35? If this is interesting to you, take a look at the various financial independence/early retirement communities.

[0] After a certain point, but I’d argue pretty much everyone working in tech is there.

I hate to split hairs, but you'll take home about $80k on a $120k salary, so the plan you've proposed would require over eight years of slumming it, not five.

More on topic, imagine that you try to retire with $500k in the bank at 35. Even if you're willing to slum it at $20k/year for the rest of your life, you'll only make it to 60! And that's ignoring the elephant in the room, inflation. With mandatory health insurance, $20k/year's going to be tough to clear too. You're probably going to have to seek disability status to qualify for government assistance at some point if you are fixed on the "early retirement" goal.

Now, it's not like you're going to throw the $500k in a mattress. Surely some combination of bonds, index funds and specie can spare you from the worst of outcomes. I don't know about you, but all of this sounds like a mean and tentative existence to me, babysitting a nest egg. There's not much wiggle-room for taking risks, like starting a business that's more interesting than "freelance programmer."

In summary, I doubt that one can retire early with any comfort off of a decade of decent earnings. That's not really controversial, but it disagrees with your financial advice, which I suspect is dangerous. I think it's a bit irresponsible to suggest that somebody spend the prime of their life squeezing out every last penny. I think it's unrealistic to suggest that the difference in rent between a convenient walking commute and a safe, 10-mile bicycling commute can equal the budgeting difference you've proposed. Lastly, you're ignoring the opportunity cost of living like a monk when it comes to professional networking, or more important things like having a varied and healthy social life.

You can live on $24k/year from $600k in invested assets. With mandatory health insurance, its income tested, not means tested; living on $24k/year means a family's premiums will be heavily or fully subsidized (under current ACA law).

> In summary, I doubt that one can retire early with any comfort off of a decade of decent earnings.

It can be done.

"A Brief History of the ‘Stash: How we Saved from Zero to Retirement in Nine Years"

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/09/15/a-brief-history-of...

"Getting Rich: from Zero to Hero in One Blog Post"

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-...

This guy and his wife are making $160k gross in 2003, and that's on the fifth year. I plugged that into a .gov inflation calculator just now and got $216k equivalent today! Some numbers are omitted, but they're nearing $200k by 2004 and certainly clearing it by 2006. Then when he "retires" he's pulling 50k with a side business? Everything about this is misleading.

Root of Good did it too with a modest income compared to Mr. Money Mustache.

http://www.rootofgood.com

Lots of people have done this successfully, making use of the "4% rule". Though it's always helpful to have a fun side income.

Please don't take what I said too seriously, it's not meant as "life advice you should follow to the T". It was merely intended to provoke a discussion about an alternative to the way most people deal with personal finances.

As I mentioned, there are plenty of people who practice 'financial independence' who have done this before, what I'm saying is nothing new. Early Retirement Extreme [0] is a good introduction to the subject. Mr Money Mustache [1] is a bit less extreme. These are still rather extreme examples though, so no not everyone will be able to retire in 5 years, but a lot of the advice they can follow, and at least save up an emergency or investment fund of a decent amount.

I think it's irresponsible and dangerous to live paycheck to paycheck, and take on mountains of debt just to buy something you don't really need, but plenty of people do that every day.

[0] http://earlyretirementextreme.com/about-the-blog

[1] http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

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One Weird Trick to Hack And Save Money

How does anyone ever sustain a relationship let alone hooking up with something like this?

I really hope he finds a partner who appreciates such a sacrifice and attitude !!!

a redesign of the internal space of personal transportation vehicles was inevitable this century. flat-packed open-topped convertible electric mover rented for sleeping, sex and middle journeys (500-2000 miles).

Old, from 2015.

Where is Brandon now?

According to his most recent blog post[0] (last week!) he is working on a different team in a different Alphabet subsidiary.

[0] https://frominsidethebox.com/post/the-switch-up/567040587648...

Thanks for pointing this out. I was about to say that Google doesn't offer corporate housing to their interns (anymore; the 2014 cohort may have ruined it for the rest of us). They do offer a generous relocation stipend which covers flights and rent for the summer though.

thanks, i didn't notice it from the title's parentheses

I did something like this making six figures and working for a non tech industry. My plan wasn't to retire early, but to save enough to quit for 1-3 years and work on my own ideas. I'm at the own ideas part and things are going well.

I had acquaintances who didnt understand why I lived so far below my means. But most people reluctantly agreed once I explained my plan.

Worst case if this all comes to nothing I can go back to a job.

For perspective, I did this in Houston, was able to buy a house and have a social life. Lower living costs will push that six figures a lot further than it would go in a place like SF.

For a similar story, see this MLB pitcher who lived in a van on a Walmart parking lot (even after signing a $2 million contract):

http://www.businessinsider.com/daniel-norris-lived-in-a-van-...

Anyone knows where this guy is from?

Wasn't he fired?

Don't you need an address for most things?

I'm not sure I'd want information like this public. Doesn't seem safe.

I doubt he keeps his savings in the truck, and very few people are going to risk going to prison over stealing a bed and dresser.

And his truck's parked in a Google parking lot. Where you can assume almost every inch of pavement is on camera. This is probably, disclosure included, one of the safest places to live in the US.

From this guy's perspective, the biggest risk of publicizing his living situation is that maybe someone on Google's legal team learns about it, decides it's a liability concern, and kicks him out of the lot.

The article is from 2015 so kind of moot at this point.

FWIW, for the same reasons above, it's safe to assume nobody lives on Google's campus without Google knowing about it. (And of course, the article mentions Google security checked out the trailer.)

Google's employee perks are heavily built around the idea of keeping their employees on campus as much as possible, an employee living there is almost arguably the penultimate goal.

This is not so easily done in a cold or hot climate where air-conditioning or heating are needed. It is the reason why most people outside of the SV bubble can't do it.

You would need to buy a refrigerated truck to pull this off in the south.

Yes, and a heated+refrigerated truck for most of the north. It would be unacceptable to have the engine running the whole time. I think it's doable in theory with a truck that has giant electric batteries, e.g. a Tesla Powerwall or two. Maybe a specialized RV cwould have it.

Or a diesel generator. But that's an ongoing vs capital cost question I guess.

Diesel exhaust is never good for you. It also risks being noisy. The noise attracts unwanted attention too.

Imagine an RV with sufficient batteries that can be charged at an electric fast charging station. That's all you need, but I don't think it exists.

There are propane-powered appliances intended for RV use.

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