What caught my eye this week.
One of the most popular posts we’ve ever run on Monevator was my co-blogger The Accumulator’s origin story.
In it we learned how the high priest of passive investing pursued financial freedom to retire early from the daily slog of slaving for a big corporation, for a life of slogging away writing for Monevator and me instead.
(Don’t worry, it’s summer and he’ll be too busy chasing cows to read this.)
Plenty of you shared your own stories in the comments to that article. Which highlighted both the multitude of ways it’s possible to achieve FIRE1 and also the breadth of our community.
So I got to thinking perhaps it could be a regular feature?
This is your life
I’d like to try running a case study focused on a Monevator reader every month or two, revealing the secrets of your financial success.
Don’t worry, you won’t need to wax as lyrical as @TA to be featured.
Rather we’ll follow an interview format. I’ll email you a set of questions, you’ll reply in as much depth as you can, and then I’ll run the edited copy past you before publication.
I imagine all the case studies will be anonymous – except for the Internet handles you use in our comments, of course – and I’m hoping people will feel comfortable sharing quite a bit of detail.
I know we’re (mostly) British and that talking about money still isn’t really the done thing.
But by opening up about the ways and challenges of getting wealthy, we can inspire others to do the same.
Also, it doesn’t matter how you did it.
Index funds, active trading, hardcore frugalism, crypto, fat company pensions, a win on the lottery or an inheritance from a long-lost uncle – all routes are relevant and will add to our archives.
How to get involved
I’m really hoping some of the Monevator regulars will step forward to get the series rolling, but consider this call for entrants open to all.
So if you’d like to get involved, either leave a comment below (with a valid address in the email field so I can contact you) or else let me know via the Contact form (top-right).
Or if you’re reading this after subscribing to get Monevator as an email, you can just hit Reply.
I can’t wait to hear how many of you made it – and your tips for others who’d like to do the same.
Have a great weekend!
From Monevator
ETFs vs index funds: What are the key differences? – Monevator
Reality bites for private company funding – Monevator
From the archive-ator: Sticking to your goals when the funk comes to visit – Monevator
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view you can click to read the piece without being a paid subscriber. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing if you read them a lot!2
Inflation hits 40-year high of 10.1% as food and energy prices surge – CNBC
Food sales rose in July, but we’re spending more to get less – ONS
UK debt interest payments balloon to £120bn – ThisIsMoney
Two-thirds of families could be in fuel poverty by January, research finds – Guardian
Consumer confidence hits rock bottom as prices soar – Yahoo Finance
Blame Brexit: UK hospitality industry loses 200,000 overseas workers [Search result] – FT
WeWork founder Adam Neumann’s residential startup Flow already valued at $1 billion – Protocol
Student made $110mn trading meme stock fav Bed Bath & Beyond [Search result] – FT
Wealth managers warn retail investors over rising inflation [Search result] – FT
Products and services
Interest rate rises make the cash ISA tax shield attractive again – ThisIsMoney
Are student bank account perks any good? – Which
Open an account with InvestEngine via our affiliate link and get £25 when you invest at least £100 (new customers only, T&Cs apply) – InvestEngine
How much could the state pension rise by next year? – Which
The people ditching credit cards due to the cost-of-living crisis – Guardian
Is a payment plan for that new jacket a good idea? – Vox
Open a SIPP with Interactive Investor and pay no SIPP fee for six months. Terms apply – Interactive Investor
Older homes for sale, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
Retirement income as water management – Portfolio Charts
Read the fine print before consolidating pension pots [Search result] – FT
Panorama: The billion pound savings scandal [Video, iPlayer] – BBC
Sequence-of-inflation risk – Humble Dollar
Show us your portfolio, with passive guru Rick Ferri [podcast, US but relevant] – Excess Returns
Why do advisors recommend complex portfolios? – Oblivious Investor
Larry Swedroe: no, indexing is not worse than Marxism – Advisor Perspectives
When data fails – Of Dollars and Data
What bond investors need to know in a rising rate environment – Vanguard
Four common sense rules of investing – A Wealth of Common Sense
How portfolio rebalancing reduces risk but can also reduce reward – Morningstar
Consistency is overrated – Klement on Investing
Work on your terms mini-special
“The best thing I’ve done”: over-50s on quitting work for good – Guardian
Life is not a game – Get Rich Slowly
The joys and challenges of switching to a four-day week – Guardian
Small US towns are paying as much as $20,000 to remote workers who relocate – Fortune
How one early retiree made his $1million the old-fashioned way – CNBC
Naughty corner: Active antics
A thoughtful review of a long-term dividend portfolio – UK Dividend Stocks
Taming investing regret – Humble Dollar
Inside long-short equity investing [Podcast] – Capital Allocators
Are growth stocks now cheap? – Validea
Outperformance ain’t alpha – Factor Research
Quest for a perfect hedge fund benchmark demonstrates [to me] their aggregate mediocrity – MPI
Emerging market cycles – Verdad
Kindle book bargains
Why We Get The Wrong Politicians by Isabel Hardman – £1.19 on Kindle
The Ride of a Lifetime by [long-time Disney CEO] Bob Iger – £0.99 on Kindle
Anthro-Vision: How Anthropology Can Explain Business and Life by Gillian Tett – £0.99 on Kindle
Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing by Jacob Goldstein – £1.19 on Kindle
Environmental factors
Can eating fish ever be sustainable? – BBC
Water firms in England and Wales lost 1tn litres via leaky pipes in 2021 – Guardian
How future generations will remember us – The Atlantic via MSN
Off our beat
Lewis Hamilton never quits – Vanity Fair
The Brexit exodus of EU workers has left a ‘cost of Leaving’ crisis – iNews
Five lessons from history – Morgan Housel
Why you should embrace boredom – Inside Hook
The rise and fall of Ashford International – Londonist
And finally…
“All new markets are inefficient at first.”
– Sebastian Mallaby, More Money Than God
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Looking forward to seeing the reader segment responses in the future on how they have done (worked on) FIRE.
Steve
“Student made $110mn trading meme stock fav Bed Bath & Beyond”
Headline sounds like a very lucky teen in their bedroom at home. But wait…
“Jake Freeman and his family bought almost 5m shares in the struggling US homeware retailer at less than $5.50 a share in July for a total outlay of about $25m”
You can ask me how I FIREd.
Re the archive-ator article, specifically TI’s comment#12…
“…and investing in equities is a long-term game. It’s not something you really want to start at 50.”
Oh, dear. I appear to have started too late. 🙂
@TI – This is really well timed as far as I am concerned, because I have just sort of FIREd. I’m happy to share my story with some tips and advice.
There’s a caveat though, I haven’t actually made up my mind yet if this is going to be an actual long term FIRE life with zero paid work from now on or if I will go back to some possibly part time work next year.
Sols my final salary pension 30 years a go as I wanted to retire at 55, now wrong side of sixty and still working. Happy to talk.
Happy to discuss. Have a pretty contorted investing life!
I retired last year at the age of 48. I am happy to share my story, especially as I am enjoying myself immensely!
Thanks for Londonist link re Ashford, I had not realised that the move from Waterloo to Kings Cross was responsible for services no longer stopping there. Emerging from the Eurostar on to the South Bank and immediately seeing Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament made for a grand piece of theatre that Kings Cross just doesn’t have (though it is a far more practical location for me).
Happy to discuss my own financial journey, imperfect and error-ridden as it has been.
Very happy to share my story to – pretty much FIRE’d at 44
This is a great way to motivate those on their FIRE journey. I suspect many who FIRE or pursue FIRE have a different take on life, which is interesting in itself.
My wife and I did the FIRE thing in our early forties. Life sort of forced it upon us.
I’ve just turned sixty this year, and it’s still going okay.
It’s been an unusual and rather convoluted exercise in our case – something that I think is probably not too atypical after all.
Happy to join the What’s your Story party.
Very much looking forward to reading the case studies.
From a financial point of view I’m in the grinding it out stage. More than half way there, the novelty of being awakened to FI has worn off. I feel I’m well set up and any progress from here is just going to be more of the same. Which on one hand feels good but on the other is frustrating.
I can tell you how mot to FIRE… pay for your kids education
Very interesting to listen to the stories of those who have fired. Wonder if you will ask those to do a reveal of stash either at fire or near fire. Can see why not. Equally it does help put people’s position in context. For example if you are Firing as a couple with a stash of say £1m then the combined pension of £20k is a substantial boost / safety net…..stash of £10m is more of a rounding error. Equally if someone is evangelical of the merits of leaving paid work then a £10m stash puts it into context…..But regardless very interesting to read people’s backstories.
On the link.
It’s worth reiterating approx (I recall) 25% of govt debt is owned by BoE and therefore you might surmise (I don’t know for sure) that roughly 25% of the interest is also being paid back to itself thus making the problem a little less. Notwithstanding that, this ought to be a massive wake up call – the fact that it’s not shows the electorate has no interest…just yet….in facing up to reality. I suspect it will take a crisis or a straw that broke the camel’s back.
On the state pension, I appreciate many people have limited other sources of income but I still find it pretty amazing that pensioners are being protected whilst many other segments of society will see a leg down. Mind you it’s always depressing to read the number of American’s working at Walmart >70 years old.
On TIPS – it looks as if a circa 30 year bond is paying a real return of 1% now demonstrating the price movement over the past 12 months. I continue to think for the UK investor an unhedged allocation can potentially make sense given the hedge they offer against falling £ given the £ now behaves like an emerging market currency, reflecting our dwindling fortunes.
Really looking forward to the interviews,
I’m about a quarter of the way there, but love seeing and reading other peoples journeys, from those just starting out all the way up to those who have recently FIREd or longer. Its really fascinating to see that there is no one size fits all approach. Like Rosario, I’m a just-keep-going….
Not sure I’d want to be featured, but usually fairly open in the comments anyway. Look forward to reading the case studies. A real life example is so inspiring. Thanks again all
I retired at 60, so that is pretty late to be considered Fire, but I loved my job and wasn’t ready to leave it at 55 though I could have afforded it financially. I even kept earning six figures for the first five years of retirement just messing around with maybe eight hours a week of light consulting. Now I do very little of that, not even eight hours a month so I’m more conventionally retired, but again, I’m US and didn’t retire very early so I doubt I fit the pattern that serves you in this endeavor but I’ll be interested in following the ones you cover. Because US or UK retiring with enough is a challenge and doing it earlier than most is a double challenge and I think those who pull it off are extraordinary folk.
Great idea. I’m game.
LOVE hearing stories like this, great idea. Echoing @SF, it is sometime annoying to not have an outline of finances up front, eg housing situation, inheritance, family support commitments. Get the full picture, even at a 10k ft level. Looking forward to it 🙂
Retired May 31st 2022 aged 54. Often get asked what I’m going to do – whatever I like is the answer :-). It’s also the wrong question, the right one is how it was actually achieved. Happy to share.
Always happy to talk about money ^-^
Feel free to contact with interview questions!
@TI,
Looks like the uptake of willing participants is going to give you a lot to talk about!
I could see a very popular book in this area similar to Guy Thomas’ Free Capital, still a favorite re-read of mine.
I am on the fence at the moment about sharing the journey as it is so personal and intertwined with my origin and relationships – also the howling mistakes I have made upon the road would, perhaps, not paint me as the logical person I hold as a self image 🙂
I feel that this is very worthwhile to give a window into how many paths can lead to the same outcome (although, thinking about it, one mans FIRE is perhaps an ember to another).
If it comes out as a book, put me down for a first edition.
JimJim
Good idea, generally, films based on true events are the best, IMHO. So this should be interesting and probably inspiring to many. Not sure my story is particularly inspiring or helpful though. Some good decisions, some bad, perseverance and loads of luck! Might offer to share if you repeat this again in a few years time though.
I would be very happy to contribute to the case studies, if only to be a boring outlier to leaven the wildly exciting stories of investment derring-do from others.
FI was always my goal rather than RE, although I did RE (sort of, a bit).
My story was one of bumbling along, then a major life-change, followed by an ‘oh shit’ moment when I realised some of the risks I faced, followed by belated action supported by resources like Monevator.
I look forward to the stories – particularly to see how many people are still working and consigned their 40s a decade of penury and misery just to have more money than they know what to do with in later age ! Put something away but aggressively grow your income and enjoy yourself at all ages, that’s my plan 😉
If I understand the MPI analysis on hedge funds correctly it seems to lay bare how poorly smart hedge fund managers compare with simple 60/40 portfolio.
Appears to be shockingly badly considering the fees involved.
Hi @TI I have not FIRE’d yet, but I’m up for sharing.
Just a thankyou to those offering their story it is going to be wonderful reading, hopefully I will be joining the club next year 🙂
There are other stories that cover some of the aspects of FIRE but don’t strictly qualify.
My story is one such, albeit towards the extreme end of the spectrum. I was compulsorily retired. I lost my job and my profession just as the Asian Financial Crisis struck. It was disastrous for me. Everyone’s worst financial nightmare, I was left, for a period, middle aged and penniless. To turn extreme misfortune into a near catastrophe, I then went on, within a year, to suffer from a major continuing health problem.
I should take pride in the enormous financial risks I took not only to recover but greatly improve on my original financial position. Believe me, I don’t. The risks were initially easy to take as as potentially losing 100% of nothing is not so scary. The experience was absolutely horrendous and has not abated much with time. I won’t be writing about it.
I read every weekend but very rarely comment. For me this is a very interesting thing to do and I would be very much interested to hear regular commenters journeys, as well as contributing my own. At 32 I reached my life long dream of becoming a millionaire on paper and it was a massive anti climax due to not even feeling like I could tell anyone! The closer I got to my goal the more secretive I felt i had to be about it.
I’m sure I’m not the only person to ever feel this, which is why sharing when possible is so important as the people who flaunt their successes are usually not always telling the full story. The book “The Millionaire Next Door” really helped me see this is quite common, but the quiet ones are the people we can learn from, not the loud mouth who’s all fur coat no knickers.
@all — Thanks for the tremendous response, both here and on email where I’ve had at least as many put themselves forward again. So five years worth if nobody else achieves FIRE in that time… 😉 Seriously we’ll see how it goes but this does look like it’s really sparked some interest and I agree that hearing from those who’ve (realistically) made it could change a few lives, as well as helping more of you get through the mid-phase funk to the finish line! 🙂
Been reading here for 10 years, first comment. I left UK aged 28, spent a few years in US then onto New Zealand where I’ve been for almost 30 years. I’m now 62 so don’t qualify as an early retiree (and I’m still working) but I have been FI for about 10 years. I got there by IT contracting for many years, a somewhat lucky business windfall mid 30’s and investing (mix of active/passive) for 25 years. Made some mistakes but have so far survived intact. Happy to share my journey if it may be of interest.
@Ed2. Hedge funds have outperformed a 60/40 portfolio quite substantially over both a 20 and 30 year period. The only period they underperformed was 2010-2017 and, in particular, the very low vol period of 2014-17. So choosing a 7 year period like MPI has done will show them in a very poor light.
I have to reiterate though that broad hedge fund indices are utterly pointless. You simply cannot group together equity long-short fund (which act simply like long equity funds on an aggregate basis, just with lower beta and more fees) with something like an interest rate yield curve trading fund (say a Bluecrest). Such a fund is totally unreplicable with conventional assets like bonds or equities. To compare such as fund to an equity long short fund, a bond index or the S&P index, is not just comparing apples with oranges. It’s comparing apples with with … washing machines. It’s meaningless.
Anything you can easily replicate with cheaper, more liquid products that have low tracking error, you should replicate with those products. That’s sorts of investment 101. It’s those products you cannot replicate that add value.
Very interested in hearing others stories. As someone on the verge of FIREing (was going to be at the end of this year, currently postponed in my head for a year to make some more use of pension LTA headroom and absorb some of the current inflation/bear market shock) very interested in those who pulled the trigger at the worst times in the cycle and how that has worked out. It’s relatively easy to find those that FIREd in a bull market and have been able to say “I’m still worth more now than when I retired”
There’s plenty of great material already, but happy to share my story if anyone wants to hear about the FIRE journey from an expat pov (UK-> SG).
I’d be interested in hearing stories from others but would also be happy to share my case study. I’m nearing the point of FIRE (hopefully have 3.5 more years so I retire no later than 58). Having worked in the NHS for the best part of 32 years (and now almost burnt-out), most of my money is tied-up in my main NHS 1995 Section DB pension which now stands at 34/80ths of my salary plus lump sum). With no mortgage to pay I’ve been building-up a small warchest using a VLS60 ETF to cover the ‘leaner’ years until the State Pension kicks-in at 67.
First time commenter here, despite having read Monevator articles for years. I do not regard myself as having any special investment knowledge or insight, and do not work in finance or write a blog. I am simply a very unremarkable individual who lived relatively prudently, saved sensibly, and found himself retired 5 years ago at the age of 50 (after a bit of a wakeup call on the health and career fronts).
I grew up in Lancashire to parents who, while good people, were never much good with money. My father had a good job in the 60s, things went downhill in the economic turmoil of the 70s, and my mother kept the family going when she returned to work as my sister and I grew older. To an outside observer (not looking too closely) my parents had a good sized house and two modest cars — so seemed to be doing OK for themselves. But they never built up any savings. There is quite a story to be told about how my family managed not to have money but, suffice it to say, their experience taught me from an early age that I wanted more of a financial cushion so that I could have better control of my life.
I went to the grammar school, got a maths degree, and went to work as a computer programmer for various companies over a 30 year period. I worked hard and received a decent though not huge salary for a fairly difficult and sometimes stressful job. I first started investing in shares when I was 26 — in the aftermath of Black Wednesday when I reasoned that, if the pound could suddenly devalue markedly, then maybe having savings in pounds is not the wisest strategy.
I mostly invested as widely as possible, mostly via investment trusts in PEPs and ISAs, but I suspect my results would have been similar if I had stuck to index funds. I have also put money into alternative investments at times (such as gold and silver back in 2008, and whisky in 2015). My employer for the last 15 years had a defined contribution pension scheme where I contributed 10% of salary, and the employer matched that, so it built up reasonably well.
At the age of 30 I moved to Cambridge and bought my first house. I have not specifically invested in property, but have moved six times, including both upsizing and downsizing. Interestingly, I have managed to lose money on two occasions (which might be a record) but overall have done reasonably well, without it being a significant feature of my investments.
I have never married (not by choice) and that of course has allowed me to build up wealth, since I was one person living on one salary. I never had much reason to borrow money other than a mortgage: my first car at the age of 22 was bought on finance (which is what my parents always did) and I quickly promised myself that future cars would only be bought with savings.
At the age of 49 I was having eyesight problems which turned out to be severe diabetes. I doubted that I could work to 67, and sold my 3-bedroom house and moved into a flat half the size, paying off the mortgage and giving me some extra money to invest. Downsizing meant that instead of having 2/3 of my wealth in a house, and 1/3 in a pension and investments, the proportions swapped round. That is probably what made me unusual for someone at that stage in life, and so ripe for early retirement.
I was then earning £3000/month and resolved to live on £1500/month, with the aim of retiring at 55 on that level of income. But after 12 months of living successsfully on that amount, I realised that I would be able to retire immediately, and live on savings until I could collect my private pension from the age of 55.
I turned 55 last year and now draw £1000/month from my pension fund of £280K which is in drawdown, mainly invested in income-focused investment trusts. I have £350K invested outside the pension, variously in an ISA, a bit of gold and a lot of maturing whisky. The pension and ISA give me an income of around £1500/month, with the rest being a capital buffer and emergency fund.
I am lucky that I can live on relatively little, with just me and a couple of cats in a small flat, with days spent reading, relaxing, walking and generally pottering around. The pandemic forced me to adjust to more minimal living than I had intended. But I am certainly pleased to have given up the desk job, and in many ways that is one of the pleasures of retirement. I rarely go to the pub, and I eat and drink more healthily than I used to — and that was another part of the motivation, now that I need to look after my health.
So I do not have a grand story about battling the odds to come from the depths of indebtedness to the heights of financial independence through superb investment strategy or amazing powers of abnegation. But I also did it without family money, an exceptional career or a public sector pension. I am not a millionaire, but am pleased to show that financial independence can work for some people without needing to be one.
@NZ Pom- good to hear there are a few readers of this eminent and erudite blog over here!
@Grumpy Tortoise – ex NHS worker here too although transferred my 30/80 pension pot over as QROPS when you still could
If anyone is interested in a journey involving emigrating from Britain in 2009 and achieving FI, then RE at 61.6 just recently, happy to share.
I look forward to reading all the inspiring stories!
I like your initiative, TI! Looking forward to read first interviews. I appreciate the idea of emailing a predefined set of questions, I saw something like that in “Millionaire interviews” in Esimoney website: it gives structure to the process in time and simplify the process of reading when you reach hundreds of interviews. One suggestion: many don’t want/can’t share real numbers…why not to propose the Lifetime Wealth Ratio, introduced some years ago in the website “budgets are sexy”? That could be a way to give an idea of the efficiency of the process of saving, investing and earning in working life, before…FIRE. Just an idea, obviously.
@Geoff Leach: I read your story: so sincere and wise. Thank you for sharing…and “Ciao!” from Italy.
Would be happy to take part in FIRE side stories. Was due to fully retire this June at aged 54 but have since been persuaded to stay in my role, largely on my own terms (1 week on, 1 week off, no team to manage). Worked for same PLC company for 35 years and they wanted to keep my experience/knowledge in the business, and I saw it as an ideal way to transition to full retirement when ready, and keep topping up my pension through salary sacrifice plus 10% company contribution.
@Geoff Leach: thanks for sharing!
@Andrew – are you still progressing with the London house purchase?
There was a great comment on the Times along the lines of – at 1% interest the total repayment cost of a mortgage is 113% of the borrowed amount, at 5% it’s 191% (they said 175%). For me this is the root explanation of house prices and I’m expecting a bit of pain in my small portfolio – my IO payments are now over 3x what they were
Looks like the 175% was correct – I used annual not monthly interest! Or I’ve forgotten the formula..should have checked sooner
Put me down for buying the book too.
Happy to share my FIRE story. By the way, love the articles – they have helped a lot with my investing journey and getting me to where I am now. Easily the best resource out there.