How to Retire on $25,000 a Year: A Conversation with Mr. Money Mustache
Eight years ago, the man known as Mr. Money Mustache and his wife retired from traditional work—at age 30. They did this after saving money for five years and relentlessly paying off their mortgage.
J.D. Roth spoke with Mr. Mustache about how they managed this non-traditional financial feat. Here’s a snippet from their conversation:
“We saved mostly by simply not following the materialistic trends of this country, which is kind of unique in this world where most are caught up in this trend of, like, a bigger house is better, and a faster car is better.
If you really want the boiled down, super short note of how this all worked, here it is: my wife and I saved just a little over half of what we earned – so, half of our take home pay. We earned a little more than the average American, but not a lot. And we invested it. Plus, every time we got a raise, we didn’t increase our spending; we just increased our savings.
And at some point, we had enough. We paid off our mortgage, had some Vanguard index funds, and had our retirement funds. Our low-cost lifestyle basically cost $25,000 a year, and was easily covered by the investments we had. So, luckily, we quit our jobs right around the same time as we had our first and only child, and we’ve been going strong for the last eight years under this plan. Life is good.”
Listen to the entire interview below (or click here).
This interview was recorded by J.D. Roth for Get Rich Slowly. By purchasing the course (starting at just $39), you can receive up to 17 additional interviews and complete transcriptions.
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