If you're new here, this blog will give you the tools to become financially independent in 5 years on a median salary. The wiki page gives a good summary of the principles of the strategy. The key to success is to run your personal finances much like a business, thinking about assets and inventory and focusing on efficiency and value for money. Not just any business but a business that's flexible, agile, and adaptable. Conversely most consumers run their personal finances like an inflexible money-losing anti-business always in danger of losing their jobs.
Here's almost a thousand online journals from people, who are following the ERE strategy tailored to their particular situation (age, children, location, education, goals, ...). Increasing their savings from the usual 5-15% of their income to tens of thousands of dollars each year or typically 40-80% of their income, many accumulate six-figure net-worths within a few years.
Since everybody's situation is different (age, education, location, children, goals, ...) I suggest only spending a brief moment on this blog, which can be thought of as my personal journal, before looking for the crowd's wisdom for your particular situation in the forum journals.
If you enjoy the blog, also consider the book which is much better organized and more complete. You can read the first chapter for free, listen to the preamble, or see the reviews (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,Z). Subscribe to the blog via email or RSS. Get updates on the facebook page, join the forums, and look for tactics on the ERE wiki. Here's a list of all the ERE blog posts.
I’ve spent some time trying to figure out whether ERE (as the philosophy described in the book/as the common traits of people in the forums) could be easily matched to other subcultures. This would make it easier for me to describe it in one word and it would also make it easier to find others to identify with. There are bohemians, hippies, beatniks, and even transcendentalists. However, the closest subculture is “simple living“.
However, all of these seem to completely ignore or even oppose the FI/capitalist aspects of ERE(*) (perhaps especially “simple living” people who are more into relationship/community/paycheck-to-paycheck based personal finance) which in a sense are very close to Randian (objectivism) almost in an Atlas Shrugged (I don’t know about you guys but I am definitely sympathetic to the concept of retiring as a form of protest towards the current system), so nothing really matches 100%.
(*) Your Money Or Your Life is the first/oldest book I’m aware off that actively includes financial independence from investing as a major ingredient in its philosophy. Previous books all propose that the lowering of expenses are matched by lowering one’s earned income. If you’re aware of earlier works, please let me know.
But hey, maybe one day, ERE will get its own wiki—that’ll make it official 🙂
Originally posted 2011-10-07 10:56:28.
