Be that as a parent, a carpenter, a teacher, a hedge fund manager, a care giver, or a circus performer.Mr. At that point life isn’t about punching the clock, it’s about living your dreams. If they haven’t hit FI, they’ll be there soon. Some will always work because they love their work, but in a matter of years almost all of the folks at Camp Mustache won’t need to work. A group of people holding the reigns of life, deciding what’s important for them, and deciding that freedom for them is not constraining their days, months, and years to focus on a paycheck. I’d actually bet that most folks are making five figures a year, and yet they’re talking about retiring in just a few years! I didn’t meet any hedge fund managers at this gathering making seven figures. So rather than wonder how our neighbors the Jones can afford that fancy new car, the folks at Camp Mustache are focused on their own counter-cultural journey with money. The math works out, you can withdraw 4% a year and more than cover your annual expenses. With that stash of savings you’ve accumulated in little over a decade, assuming a 4% annual withdrawal, you’ll likely never need to make money again. The basic math of the Mustachians is that if you save 64% of your income, you can retire in 11 years. How can a 30 year old possibly talk about early retirement when he’s so many decades away from being 65? Simple. Sitting at dinner on the first night a stranger, soon to be friend, shares with me his own financial underwear and then asks me, “what’s your FI date? Where are you on your FI journey?” FI is short for financial independence, and most everyone at this gathering is working towards an “FI date.” The goal: having enough saved to cover their expenses so they no longer need to work. In fact, he’ll point you to his blog where he outlines in detail how his family spent $25,000 last year. Ask him how much money he spends, and the same is true. Money Mustache how much water he drinks, and he won’t blink. So why covet money? Focus on making sure you always have enough, and then stop worrying about money and start thinking about everything else. So anyone who organizes their life around collecting more and more water would, well, seem weird. We’re lucky to have an abundant supply of nearly free drinking water. We NEED water, but in the United States we don’t wake up stressed about water. Run out of water, and in three days you’ll die. Our societal relationship with money is like our relationship with water. As a result, there’s a certain mystery as we observe the spending choices of others and sometimes infer things about their relationship with money.Ĭamp Mustache is completely different. Among polite company we’re also trained to not talk much about our money. Everyone is trained to want more, lots more, and to compare ourselves to each other. It was a beehive of conversations all weekend. Realizing that all of us had something to share, the breakout sessions were led by attendees rather than hired guests. We spent the entire Memorial Day weekend gathered in a cozy retreat lodge, living dormitory style with roommates, sharing meals in the small dining hall, and talking about money. I’ve been to many conferences, but never such an un-conference. Money Mustache, and sold 50 tickets at a price point just high enough to cover their costs. The three fans and readers, who live the Mustachian philosophy, organized the event, invited Mr. Money Mustache isn’t one to organize events, he’s not that kind of a promoter, but Joe Goldberg, Emma Pattee, and Kristin Hoeflin are. Money Mustache followers gathered in Tiller’s home territory, the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington state. His blog is, in Internet speak, old school. No pop-ups asking for your email address. He continues to blog, but you won’t find the latest 2016 blog techniques at work for Mr. Friendly, funny, and self-effacing, he spends most of his days enjoying his personal definition of retirement: family time with his wife and young son combined with carpentry as he renovates his house, helps friends with projects, and enjoys putting his hands to work. Money Mustache is anything but a loud promoter.
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