Comments on: Escaping the “9 to 5″ before 25

By: Alex Oliver

Alex Oliver — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:19:43 +0000

@FS: “I guess I could live off 12K/yr in income if I had no living expenses, but why not just work until 30 or something, and triple your savings and then retire?”

one might not want to do that because,
a) they don’t want to work that long, and
b) they can live on less than 36k per year.

By: Guest Post Author

Guest Post Author — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:18:08 +0000

@Financial Samurai – In short (a lot was answered above) I don’t know. I may miss work, may not. I’m not so much escaping work as I am escaping working for others. We want to take a couple of years to relax, but I also plan on spending part of our time off trying out some start-ups that I’ve been looking forward to.

PS – Before 25!

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:52:57 +0000

Howdy Author,

Do you think you’ll miss work? Finishing up at 25 with just 300K in the bank seems like a long road to hoe.

I guess I could live off 12K/yr in income if I had no living expenses, but why not just work until 30 or something, and triple your savings and then retire?

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:09:26 +0000

We’re doing something similar this year at age 31 (and with one child)… reading this I almost wish we hadn’t frittered those 5-6 years in graduate school getting our PhDs on 18K salaries in an expensive city. But I like my long-term job (and the PhD was required for it), and my husband’s degree is helpful for his start-up, so I can’t complain too much.

Enjoy your time off! We’re definitely enjoying ours.

By: enid

enid — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:30:30 +0000

I can’t help but agree with Alex here… just a few more years and you would be SET for LIFE. I don’t understand the rush… unless one of you have a terminal illness and only a few years left to live (in which case your plan would be perfectly justified), why would you throw such great momentum away?

I respect the reasons behind your confidence (great education, great compensation at your current job, plan on being self-employed, etc.) BUT I think it’s better to be cautious than sorry. In ten years your financial knowledge/skills will be largely irrelevant. The world is already changing at an alarming rate and who knows what the employment future will look like or what the economic climate of this country will be? You’ve mentioned all the upsides, but fail to consider the downsides. It’s less that posters like Alex and I are envious of your situation but concerned. In a worst case scenario, you will have no means to support yourself by the time your mini-retirement is over and your 30s and 40s will be exposed to more hardship and risk than if you had simply waited out a few more years in your 20s.

I appreciate your confidence, but there is a reason why people are cautious. If the upside (hopefully everything works out for you two) is a possibility, so is the downside. I just think the risk outweighs the returns, when you could be in the same happy scenario in your thirties, but this time for good.

By: Concojones

Concojones — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:27:24 +0000

I would also appreciate any info you could give (without giving away anonymity) on your self-employment plans. What exactly in Finance have you been doing as an employee, and what would you do when self-employed? I have similar goals as yours (financial independence, self-employment) but I’m a couple years older, 70k in the bank, worked in Finance too but now changing careers.

By: Concojones

Concojones — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:11:40 +0000

@Guest Post Author: I’m in awe. Not even 25 years old, great savings, and ready to kick ass in self-employment! Yes I would love a follow-up post in 6 months!

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:07:04 +0000

@ Sassy Saver: I don’t think he read most of ERE either. Mathmatically it is very possible to retire completely before 25 years of age.

By: sassy saver

sassy saver — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:58:21 +0000

i don’t think Kevinam read your post very well. It is possible.

By: Guest Post Author

Guest Post Author — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:29:06 +0000

@Sassy Saver: Only about $75k of our net worth is in retirement accounts. We of course would not draw down on funds in tax advantaged accounts to fund mini-retirement. One of the things that I probably should have been clearer on in my post is that I don’t anticipate our mini-retirement lasting more than two years without at least ceasing to draw down on savings, if not beginning to replenish what we’ve spent.

@Kevinam: I’m happy to respond to your perspective or concerns if you articulate them, but a two-word reply doesn’t give me much to go on. I’ll start though: we have the money for at least ten years of zero income, and plan on taking at least two years off of work. Sounds very possible to me.