A few notes based on the responses. One benefit of tracking what you spend like this guy does is that you can try to keep your spending consistent while your salary goes up. I realize this is stated too simplistically since adding kids adds expenses and not everyone gets a yearly raise, but if you keep a comfortable lifestyle without spending more each year, it means you save more each year, so you could be saving 70% of your HHI after a decade.
I also agree with him that it's easier to save when you have inexpensive hobbies and enjoy homemade food and drinks over going out. That will vary by person.
MMM is big on the savings of not having a car (gas, maintenance, insurance) but not everyone can do that especially if you have kids or two people working. It makes MMM and this guy less relatable.
Texas really is cheap y'all and you can have a nice house (the 1800 sq feet he talks about), two cars, visit DFW attractions, and get to travel for under $40k.
I like that this guy is open with the numbers, but I've never thought about roaming nor retiring out if country. I also don't feel $1 million is enough for me personally to stop working. I would want the 4% withdrawal rule to last until age 150 as a buffer and that would be true without kids. I would be very conservative with the formulas if I had kids.
Lastly, I think it's good that there are people that like the work they do and don't retire early. People are happy and productive when they work because they want to and not because they have to (like when a couple could live off of one income meaning either person, but not both, could quit). I guess my point is that it could be a modified definition of early retirement that might be more achievable but just as satisfying.
Isn't this pretty much covered under healthcare reform? The old days of being denied an independent insurance plan are long gone, as are preexisting conditions and all that jazz. Anyone can go onto a healthcare exchange and sign up.
](Though they did bring up international plans down thread.).
I just saw this and wanted to throw out that those are extremely expensive. We had one. Apparently it costs the company 5x more than similar coverage in the US so we got forced into a American insurance when we came back to the U.S. I have no idea what level of coverage they would want, or what a lesser level of coverage than we had costs, but that could easily run 100% of their annual income just for the policy.
ETA: And in those types of plans (with the exception hospitilization a and care sought within the US while on them) you pay the entire medical bill up front and the insurance company reimburses you whatever portion they are going to cover. If you're on a fixed income I'd imagine that would lead to cash flow problems.
I'm wondering what the time limit (visas) for these countries are..,you can't just take up residence in any country, when you want & for as long as you want. But sounds fun pre-kids....I daydream of doing something like this & we could swing it financially probably....not from saving or being thrifty but through buying real estate in booming cities. But I'm not that into non-luxury travel anymore & having kids makes travel a PITA until they are like 6yrs old (then you have to worry about school). Yeah, I still like the idea of financial freedom & owning minimal stuff...but long term wandering is probably not for me. I spent 1mo backpacking Europe & I was over travel for a very long time after that. Lol. We'll see what they end up doing long term. I watch a family on YouTube who basically did the long term travel thing with kids and maybe 9 years into it, you can tell they are Settling down (in Costa Rica).
What's the youtube fam site?
He's got a couple channels but this is the one the travel is mostly one. I'm not a raw vegan, I just watched to see where they go. They have 5 kids now. They also "unschool" unsuprisingly...lol. m.youtube.com/user/KaSundanceAndFamily?feature=sub_widget_1