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Hi, I’m Jacob, PhD, MSc, Y2K, etc. I’m in my early thirties and married to DW. We live in a quiet middle class neighborhood surrounded by a municipal golf course in the Bay area.

Six years ago, I decided that a lifestyle based on bills, mortgages, retirement plans, and conspicuous consumption that depended on working a job for thirty more years or maybe even the rest of my life was not for me. Therefore I set out on a journey of becoming wealthy and skilled enough to never have to work for money again. Five years later I reached that goal.

The most important thing I have learned during my journey is that financial success is not about how much money one earns and spends, it’s about how much one spends and how much one keeps. In other words, it is about values and efficiency. For several years I have now lived at an expense level that is comparable to the poverty rate and even half the poverty rate for some of the years while saving the rest and eventually investing it. For this reason my savings rate has consistently been around 70%.

However, we do not live in squalor. I’ve found that apparent needs are often wants in disguise. By foregoing many of our wants, we can pay more for the things we need that really make a difference. Quality lasts a lot longer so I have made it a point to buy the best of the best. This means that over the years one accumulates a collection of really nice things without suffering the desire to upgrade, redecorate, or replace. This is better for the environment as well as it limits the consumption of resources.

I have a somewhat contrarian and opinionated take on many things but I keep an open mind. The most important criteria is whether something works, not whether it is in accordance with tradition or what “everybody else” is doing. I think it is crucial that one learns to think and take responsibility for one’s actions. This leads me to the Terms and Conditions.

To contact me, write an email to:

< my first name >@earlyretirementextreme.com

Important things to note. I read all emails, but I do not always have the time to respond everyone.

More important things to note. I generally (read never) do one to one link exchanges. I prefer to keep my blogroll representative of what I actually read or what I think would be relevant/interesting to my readers. Since link exchanges sometimes come with the implicit assumption of an obligation, I prefer not to.