Comments on: Where Were You At 23?

By: An Erring Economist

An Erring Economist — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 04:31:41 +0000

I was in graduate school at the time I was 23. I had no debt. I had a car in good working order. I was single. Although the stipend as a graduate student assistant was small, I still managed to save a little from month to month. As I grew older, I was not initially concerned with (early) financial independence per se; I was only concerned with having enough for a future retirement (as of around 1985) because I was aware then of the coming retirement problem (and social security) in the future (which is now) for boomers due to an article I came across by chance in the early 1980s.
Fast forward to 2013 when I found myself ready to retire at 57, but realizing that I would not thrive with such a large amount of free time on my hands. Plus, I have a couple of young-ish kids still at home. I work part-time now in a couple of jobs that I enjoy with much less pressure than before. I could stop working and live modestly, but I am not confident yet that the US is going to resolve its financial problems at the Federal, State, and local levels any time soon, not to mention various public pension deficits, SS (again) and Medicare. Recall the story of the ant and the grasshopper. The best and most unusual advice I learned is that your best retirement asset is yourself. If you keep up your marketable skills and you will be able to provide your own income. God is not often mentioned in these columns, either but I have found truly that if you honor Him, He will take care of you and provide blessings both material and immaterial.

By: Stephonee

Stephonee — Sat, 21 Jan 2017 19:02:42 +0000

I'm so excited about this question - because the month I turned 23 was my rock bottom for my net worth. I had graduated from college early that year, and dedicated my savings to a fund to move to a new city - a much more expensive area. Unemployment was really high (thanks to the 2008 financial crisis), and I was looking for work and taking pretty much what I could get. I ended up taking an independent contractor gig at $9/hour that month, which turned into my first post-college job, and then I was off to the races. But that month, the month I turned 23, I had a net worth of negative -$38,901. It took me four and a half years to claw my way up to $0 from there!

By: Zach @ Four Pillar Freedom

Zach @ Four Pillar Freedom — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 10:35:36 +0000

In reply to John klabunde. I LOVE that "go 6 years and watch your life and finances go to the miracle level", such an excellent point. The math behind the savings rate works at ANY age, this is so easy to forget. No matter how old you are or how many mistakes you've made you can likely turn it all around financially much quicker than you think.

By: lyn

lyn — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 03:42:45 +0000

Thank you for putting this all together. It’s amazing to read how different everyone was at the point and all comes together to hit their goals in FI.

By: John klabunde

John klabunde — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 01:47:30 +0000

In reply to Zach @ Four Pillar Freedom. Miss Mazuma is correct. Don't leverage your future. But , But you can catch up at any age. I did it starting at 48 years in Honolulu as a flight attendant as well. The key is save 65 percent or more of your pay. Do the hard decisions to make it work. go 6 years and watch your life and finances go to the miracle level. This FIRE isn't just for the young. Its really about 10 years to freedom for any age!!

By: Ning

Ning — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 21:54:23 +0000

What a great list of bloggers! I guess I was one of the lucky ones at 23 because I had no student debt and lived at home after finding a job at my hometown out of college. The only regret I have was that I didn’t not save more when I had the chance. I’ve only discovered FI idea a few months ago and glad it isn’t too late for me.

By: Erith

Erith — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 18:41:07 +0000

Great post, and very interesting variation in the responses.

At 23, I had graduated, just got married and bought a house (with a mortgage of 3 times our joint gross income!). No savings worth talking about, but no debt except mortgage, and mortgage was only 80% of value. Our car was 20 years old…
By 30, I had 2 kids, a bigger house, a bigger mortgage (but now only 50% of value), a savings pot of about 25% our income, one 5 year old car, one new one.
Then we made a decision that was both good and bad, we started paying for private schooling. That was a major branch in the road. The kids benefited, but without that our savings level would have grown fast, and FIRE would have been a reality within 10 years.
However by 56, FIRE had happened anyway, both kids had graduated with no debt and settled in good jobs. We have the money to live life in retirement to the full…..

Knowing, what we now know, we might have made different decisions, and certainly retired earlier, but the key habits that kept us on the path
were
– no debt, except mortgage on the house we lived in, and we paid that down as soon as we could
– living within our means
– a healthy level of saving

By: lindy

lindy — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 16:47:38 +0000

At age 23 I had just completed my master’s degree and my father offered to help me set up a budget in which I could retire early. I didn’t understand what he meant, didn’t want to restrict my fun, and turned him down. Now, one month away from being 45, I continue to think “oh why???” and “can I influence my child to not do the same???” while I inch ever closer to retiring early but not EARLY.
Oh well, I did have fun those first 18 years before I got serious about this. And at least I didn’t make too many big mistakes…

By: Zach @ Four Pillar Freedom

Zach @ Four Pillar Freedom — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 15:42:17 +0000

In reply to Miss Mazuma. Thanks so much Miss Mazuma, I appreciate it! :)

By: Mr. RIP

Mr. RIP — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 15:41:42 +0000

Nice work!
It makes me feel a total noob.
In Italy we grow up thinking “yeaah, you’re not even 30… just stay at home and enjoy the sun – and complain, you must ALWAYS complain”. I became 23 in year 2000, not that close to complete my master study and far from all of my subsequent dream jobs.

Thanks for having shared all these amazing stories!