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Comment by shireboy | Hacker News Reader

I might suggest a slightly different approach. “Early Retirement Extreme” proposes that if you save 80% of your income in a few broad index funds (search bogglehead), learn to live on the 20%, then you can get to where you are financially independent and retire in 5 years. I can’t say I’m personally there yet, but it sounds like you are more motivated and maybe less obligations. Get cheap ass housing, eat cheap, bike everywhere, and work your ass off for 5 years while saving 80%.

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/

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I salute this life hack. Focus on decreasing per-month expenses. Reflect on large purchases like a house because that's where you can save the most absolute-saved-per-percent-saved.

My first house was $50k with ~$550/month house expenses (HOA / taxes) in New Jersey. My current house is a $150k duplex with ~$200/month expenses (excluding utilities) in Michigan (and about $600 in income rent from renting the other half of the house).

Choose frugality level up to your comfort, but also read up on Positive Psychology and Hedonic Treadmill to learn how to squeeze more happiness out of your money.

Best article: If Money Doesn't Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren't Spending It Right

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/danielgilbert/files/if-mon...

This means I will have to live the rest of my life on the 20% budget, doesn't it?

If you want more than the 20, you just need to save a bigger stack.

In general, you just need to plug in your target income from your investment, and your expected long-term return in percent. That gives you the amount of money you need to save.

The more you save per year, and the lower your target income, the faster you get there.

You can also do some consulting projects here and there to get a big boost for that year. I'm living in a expensive place and have kids so it's not really doable for at least some years for me

Yes, that's generally the math. You save 80% of your income while learning to structure your life to live on the 20%. These people bike everywhere, eat cheaply, and are all around frugal. If you can do that, then in 5 years you can retire and have to worry less about money. For me personally, that would mean sacrifices to my family's lives that I'm not willing to make, but I see the appeal and try to apply the concepts where I can.

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