[Rutting Elephant]

Days later, realize I voted for 6-12 years, but the poll was asking about months.

[Goodtimez]

Would be interesting to see how that 12+ cluster breaks down, as there is quite a wide range in there.

I save/invest about $125K per year. This includes returns from current investments, although the (vast) majority is from income not spent. If I stopped working, I could live for a few years, but not indefinitely.

My goals is within 6-8 years to have enough to stop working indefinitely should I choose, while being able to lead a comfortable life (e.g., low six figures to spend every year).

I'm 33 and I work too much, so we'll see if I can keep working the hours I do for another 6-8 years. I may downshift the career a bit and lengthen the timeline by a year or three. Who knows? Play it by ear.

Someday I'll be able to live the dream like some of you dudes...until then it's weekends and a few weeks abroad here and there.

[roberto]

Really hard to quantify this sort of thing. Someone with 1k in the bank could have three months of expenses if they lived in a trailer park..

I'm with Laner. If business assets that you can sell easily count, then I have years. I live frugally, and any money gets spent on a machine (or rather toy) that will earn money if I use it, is unlikely to depreciate much further if at all, and is easy to resell.

I've managed over the last ten or so years to only have to do this once. I was well behind on the rent and had to sell a quad bike.

Latest thing I bought was a small milling machine. £2k new, bought for £1k with some tooling and minimal wear, and it's worth that all day long for the next ten years. It can also make me money/save me money on my own repairs once I figure out how it all works.

If I do one job with it at £60 profit, that's better than 1k in a typical savings account. Not very location independant though.

[jdreise]

(03-11-2015 03:10 PM)kaotic Wrote:  

This is a horrible reality check for me.

I'm 28 and only debt I have is my car (which should be paid off by summer) and student loans.

I've got no 401K, no savings, no investments.

I really to start planning this shit out asap, does anyone have a starters guide or could guide me in the right direction .

Check out Mr. Money Mustache: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

There are some good articles on there that really put monthly spending into perspective. He has some that break down the basics of index funds, ETFs, mutual funds. He's also a houseflipper and residential landlord. Overall, it's a good source for understanding how to build passive income, retire early, and become somewhat self-sufficient. The forum on that site is good too. Lots of financial tips on how to become a cheap ass but not sacrifice quality of life.

[lavidaloca]

Another good site to learn about investing and early retirement is:

http://www.financialsamurai.com/how-to-r...ork-again/

[GlockTrigga]

Currently zero but jobs in my industry are plentiful for the next 10+ years and I've had a lot of recent expenses (delayed dental work, furniture, exercise home equipment, etc.) over the past 2 years.

I can probably get hired at another job for the same salary within 2-3 months (max) if laid off/fired from this one so I should probably save up around 3 months of expenses to remain comfortable. NYC is expensive in general so it makes saving difficult. Food bill is around $500 a month split 50% between the Wife and I because we buy organic. My Wife has about 6 months severance so I won't need to cover her if she gets laid off. I have been shutting down her requests to go out because we have a trip to see her family in Japan coming up which is another hefty cost. There goes all the tax return :-\

[Laner]

(03-14-2015 02:13 PM)Goodtimez Wrote:  

Would be interesting to see how that 12+ cluster breaks down, as there is quite a wide range in there.

I save/invest about $125K per year. This includes returns from current investments, although the (vast) majority is from income not spent. If I stopped working, I could live for a few years, but not indefinitely.

My goals is within 6-8 years to have enough to stop working indefinitely should I choose, while being able to lead a comfortable life (e.g., low six figures to spend every year).

I'm 33 and I work too much, so we'll see if I can keep working the hours I do for another 6-8 years. I may downshift the career a bit and lengthen the timeline by a year or three. Who knows? Play it by ear.

Someday I'll be able to live the dream like some of you dudes...until then it's weekends and a few weeks abroad here and there.

You want to know how the 12+ plays out.

For one, guys like me can adapt to changes very quickly. We can get rid of assets that were purchased post depreciation and scale back our expenses. The entrepreneurs mindset. When business is good, so is the luxury. When business is tight, so are the expenses. We can move on, get past bullshit and setbacks and keep our heads in the game even when under changing conditions and stressful situations.

Would I take money out of my investments to keep a business I believed in afloat? Damn rights.

Would I save 80% of my income in order to maybe spend it in the future? Hell no.

If you are banking 125K a year then you are in the top 10% of the world. To think that one day you will be living the dream is the biggest crime sold to my generation. I am about your age. I am starting to lose friends to the game of life. Funerals and self sabotage seem to be the biggest ones.

I cant fault guys who are pinching all their money now hoping to coast through the future in their 40's or 50's until death. The thing is that they never had a clue.

Quote:

Someday I'll be able to live the dream like some of you dudes...until then it's weekends and a few weeks abroad here and there.

This sounds awful. Truly. A millionaire should never have to make these kinds of statements.

[CleanSlate]

Haha I feel out of my element in the very thread I started... y'all are talking investments and businesses generating enough passive income to do whatever the hell you want, and here I am trying to figure out what's a good benchmark for an emergency fund in case I lose my job.

I oughtta leverage my coding skills to generate passive income...

[Intl_Rasta]

(03-15-2015 10:33 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

I oughtta leverage my coding skills to generate passive income...

Can you leverage OTHER PEOPLE coding skills to generate passive income for you...?

[lavidaloca]

(03-15-2015 10:25 PM)Laner Wrote:  

If you are banking 125K a year then you are in the top 10% of the world.

Saving / investing 125k a year would put him deep into the top 1%. That is a massive accomplishment for someone his age.

It's all relative. Some people have the type of careers where it really is possible to leave work in your 30s well off. For the average joe that isn't going to happen and they might as well enjoy their time and try to save smaller amounts over a much longer period of time.

If I could go back in time, I'd be a Dentist. That is probably the ultimate get rich by 40 career outside of banking.

[CleanSlate]

(03-15-2015 11:23 PM)Intl_Rasta Wrote:  

(03-15-2015 10:33 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

I oughtta leverage my coding skills to generate passive income...

Can you leverage OTHER PEOPLE coding skills to generate passive income for you...?

I'm ignorant about this stuff, I'll admit that. How do you mean by that? Don't I have to pay them if I need to use their coding skills? If I get paid for a project, then doesn't most of that money go to others who do the actual work?

[bacon]

(03-15-2015 11:29 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

(03-15-2015 11:23 PM)Intl_Rasta Wrote:  

(03-15-2015 10:33 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

I oughtta leverage my coding skills to generate passive income...

Can you leverage OTHER PEOPLE coding skills to generate passive income for you...?

I'm ignorant about this stuff, I'll admit that. How do you mean by that? Don't I have to pay them if I need to use their coding skills? If I get paid for a project, then doesn't most of that money go to others who do the actual work?

Cleanslate if your doing the coding then that's active income. Passive income is using businesses, rental properties, stocks etc to provide you income that you earn with little effort to maintain it.

[sammybiker]

I selected 6-12mo but I have cash flowing rental properties that could sustain me indefinitely. If I leave 15k in my accounts for more than 3months, this is a problem and I'm missing out on compounded, low risk growth.

Cash flow positive, low (or even no!) leverage real estate guys...that's where it's at for me.

[Chauncey]

One month expenses saved, zero retirement savings, $3,000/mo residual income (lifetime insurance renewals). This thread is a wake up call for me as well.