What you need to know about early retirement
On October 16, 2020, I sold my house and my business and quit full-time work forever.
I now have enough passive income to cover all my basic costs of living, such as housing and groceries, and have embarked upon a nomadic style of living.
Recently there seems to have become a race amongst 20-something FIRE devotees to see who can retire before hitting the big Three-O. But retiring at 38 is still pretty unusual, so I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned in the last few months.
1. I’m *really* glad I didn’t follow my parents’ path
My parents are archetypal Baby Boomers.
They worked in the…
Don’t let teachers and bosses don’t hold sway over your life
The gatekeepers are gone. You no longer need permission. You don’t need to wait for someone to give you an opportunity anymore. You have autonomy to change your life in ways that weren’t possible even just a few years ago.
The power, tools and opportunities that were once clutched in the hands of a select few people and corporations are now available to everyone. You are empowered.
The conventional notions of education and hiring are such outdated concepts they almost feel quaint. Life no longer has to have an undeviating path of school, college, career, promotions…
The future of work…
My brain basically thinks about wine and where to go next
I’m from England but I have no home
I’m currently living in an Airbnb in northern Spain. I’m not sure where I’ll be in 2021. Hopefully lots of places.
I’m not afraid of making big life changes
My wife and I founded a business and bought a house but then sold both of them when we wanted more freedom. I’m now unemployed and homeless. And loving it. I’m spending my time learning, writing, hiking, running and improving my Spanish.
Money
You don’t have to move to Thailand to save money. I moved 1 mile
If you’re not exploiting geographical arbitrage, you could be missing out on the most powerful way to fast-track your financial freedom.
My exploitation of geographical arbitrage (AKA taking the money you earn in a strong economy and living somewhere with a lower cost of living) was one of the most important factors in achieving financial independence in just 18 months.
And I did it by moving just 1 mile.
This is something I like to call micro geographical arbitrage. It enabled me to spend just 2.9% …
And what I’m doing instead to cultivate meaning and purpose
“Find your calling” can be dangerous advice.
Find your calling encourages you to live for the future rather than finding meaning in what you do today.
It means waiting for a light at the end of the tunnel when instead you could be lighting a torch.
The idea of finding our calling is instilled in us early on by adults asking us “what do you want to be when you grow up?” As if your job is part of your being. …
My fast-tracked journey to retirement in my 30s
Retiring less than 18 months after discovering the concept of financial independence is pretty extreme. But that’s exactly what I did.
I first learned about FIRE from a BBC radio program in March 2019, and I reached financial freedom in October 2020.
Since writing about my experience in Making of a Millionaire, a lot of people have contacted me to ask how I did it so quickly.
So, here are the exact 9 steps that took me to financial freedom in such a short time.
Step 1. WTF is FIRE?
For the first couple of months after hearing that radio program, I took no steps…
How I felt when being faced with a frosty reception in Croatia
“I’m sorry but I can’t let you in.”
I’ve just landed in Croatia and the border guard ahead is not happy.
Before traveling, I’d read and re-read the rules of travel to make sure I was allowed into the country. But seeing the British couple in front of me refused entry suddenly made me incredibly worried. I’d intentionally chosen to join the line behind them to see what happened to some fellow Brits trying to enter Croatia but I’m instantly regretting that decision. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Since selling my house and becoming a nomad 6 months ago I have…
What you can take from my experience investing in myself
Picking stocks is dangerous.
I’m very cautious with where and how I invest my hard-earned money. For that reason, all my stock investments have been in Index Funds and ETFs.
Except one. My own business.
I founded my business in May 2013 and sold it in October 2020. Due to non-disclosure agreements, I can’t reveal the dollar amounts, but I can say that in percentage terms, I made a 1,729% return on my investment in a little over 7 years.
That’s equivalent to 16x what the S&P 500 did in the same timeframe.
In my opinion, most people don’t take…
Medium I love you, but please fix these features, fast
This is not another rant about the new algorithm.
But it is a collection of major issues that I believe are holding Medium back and could ultimately cause its demise.
Unlike most social platforms which can scale revenue exponentially as their user base grows, Medium’s revenue can only grow linearly because its only source of revenue is its subscribers.
It is therefore essential that it attracts and retains as many subscribers as possible. Medium needs readers to spend as much time on the platform as possible. …
Entrepreneurship is scary — but these steps will help you make the leap
Everyone’s talking about being an entrepreneur.
30% of millennials are already entrepreneurs and 41% of Gen Z plan to be. But for a lot of people, taking that leap into entrepreneurship seems pretty scary right now.
I’ve been there, I get it.
The fear of giving up a steady paycheck. The pressure of no longer having a manager to guide you. The awareness that you have no idea how to actually run a business, employ staff or know anything about all the legal stuff that comes along with a business.
But there’s a secret.
You can train yourself to feel…
