The road to early retirement isn’t easy. Once you become dead-set on finding financial freedom, your entire world turns upside down. For many of us, this means spending as little as possible, ditching takeout, saying goodbye to expensive events, and becoming a frugal hermit in our own financially-focused worlds. But, this can lead to serious burnout since a life without fun is a hard life to live. Today, we talk to Sam, who’s feeling his own type of frugal fatigue.
Sam was blindsided by a sudden divorce, separating him from his daughter and prompting him to restart his career. He went the unconventional route, getting his pilot’s license and slowly building up his income. But, switching from stay-at-home dad to breadwinner in an instant left a mental mark on Sam. As a result, he’s kept an extremely lean budget, even as his income has grown into six figures. He’s doing a phenomenal job on the path to early retirement, but with time freedom in sight, Sam is still struggling to live life in the present moment instead of always focusing on the future.
In this Finance Friday episode, Mindy and Scott walk through paying off unconventional student debt, building a financial runway, the difference between being frugal and cheap, and whether house hacking vs. renting is the right move in this housing market. They’ll also chat over employee stock purchase programs and investing for early retirement, all while making dozens of pilot puns along the way!
Show Notes at:
www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-406?
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Why You Don’t Need to Sacrifice Everything to Hit Financial Freedom:
www.biggerpockets.com/blog/biggerpockets-money-podcast-172-jeff?
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How to Get to Early Retirement Even Faster:
www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-314?
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Episode #406
00:00 Intro
02:33 Money Moment
03:06 Income, Expenses, Assets and Liabilities
04:24 Sam's Money Story and Becoming a Pilot
11:38 Student Debt and Pay Raises
18:03 Frugal OR Cheap?
25:24 Building Your "Financial Runway"
30:25 Making a Move
36:06 Rent or Buy a House?
46:05 When in Doubt, ZOOM Out!