Well, this week the majority of this site’s writing is coming to you from an actual professional, and not just my usual amateur ramblings.
In case you missed it, Business Insider ran a feature story on me! The article includes plenty of juicy details I’ve never discussed on this site, including my yearly salary and rough budget, so check it out!
How cool (and slightly terrifying) that this little blog was featured on one of the 100 biggest websites on the internet??
Special props to Business Insider’s journalist, Tanza Loudenback, who I thought did an awesome job presenting the Financial Independence concepts fairly. A lot of mainstream media outlets present financial independence as this wacky, naïve cult filled with crazies destined for a cat food diet by age 65, thanks to their misguided early retirement plans.
I mean, she even explained the Roth IRA conversion ladder! Its omission usually turns the comments section into a mess of “Gotcha!” comments about how all early retirees are doomed to early withdrawal penalties.
“Gotcha!” Comments Anyway…
Unlike the group of awesome Money Wizards we have in this corner of the internet, plenty of angry Doomsday Preppers over there emerged from their bunkers to flood the article’s comments section.
I believe the term, “haters gonna hate,” applies here.
To be fair, I found most of the comments pretty entertaining for how bizarre they were, and I did pick out some interesting lessons in the midst of it all.
Lesson 1: Most People Don’t Read Before Chugging the Haterade
Most readers still assumed I’d be sent to the poor house by early withdrawal penalties, despite the author’s pretty detailed explanation of the Roth IRA conversion ladder.
I’ve also been informed that I live in a dump of an apartment, apparently live with my parents, and somehow became a millionaire between the end of the article and the start of the comments section. Go me!
All joking aside, there’s a more serious trend of comments I saw popping up again and again that’s worth highlighting, because it’s the most wealth robbing attitude you can have…
Lesson 2: You Can’t Get Rich Living in Fear
“Aha!” many commenters said. “What if the market crashes, you’ll be poor!”
This is a pervasive mentality among the world’s non-investors. The idea being that the end of the world is just around the corner, that the problems facing our country today are far more dangerous than any period in history, and it’s just a matter of time before the sky falls and takes out all our investments with it.
Here’s the problem: people have been predicting the collapse of the market every day for the past 100 years. In the meantime, the market has trudged on through The Great Depression, two World Wars, the Dot Com Crash, and even the Hostess Bankruptcy.
Some people during those past 100 years have chosen to live in fear, and they’ve been poor because of it. Meanwhile, millions of people spanning generation after generation have been born, started careers, invested their money, and become rich.
There’s a risk to everything in life. We can choose to let these risks consume us, or we can accept the risk.
We could never leave the house for fear of a car crash, or we can get up, live life, and hope for the best. Chances are, things will work themselves out. 🙂
The great irony of it all? Far and away, the riskiest investment you can make is to do nothing. Doing nothing is the only investment guaranteed to lose half its value every 24 years.
Lesson 3: The Real Takeaway
The most important lesson, though? Saving $150,000 is far less impressive to Business Insider commenters than my $10 internet bill.
(I split it with my girlfriend. CenturyLink – $20 per month. 10 mbps!)
If you haven’t checked out the Business Insider piece, take a look, and definitely share the story in whatever social media channel you like best. You guys and gals are awesome!
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Congrats on being in Business Insider! That’s awesome! And definitely just ignore the haters. It’s so interesting that the first thing people seem to think is doubt, rather than just figuring out how they can do it too.
Thanks Financial Panther! Definitely an interesting little social experiment.
I knew you were featured, but I hadn’t actually read the piece until just now. I agree – well covered and balanced!
And $20/mo is really good!! We basically can’t get it below $25/mo in our area, even with introductory rates.
CenturyLink is not the best internet, but it works. And Comcast’s customer service is so awful that I don’t feel the need to pay more to get treated like garbage.
I have to call you out when you use the g word.
Is inflation actually guaranteed to average 3% a year for 24 years?
In reality, the amount of money in circulation has increased much faster than that lately though the “reported” inflation is under 3%.
Deflation is a possibility is my main point.
Fair point. On this site, any time “guaranteed” is used it’s safe to assume it was used for emphasis, and therefore should be accompanied by a big old disclaimer that nothing in finance is guaranteed. Deflation is always an economic possibility, but I still hold that over the long term, investing in cash is far riskier than most people think.
Your biggest money saver is having a girlfriend. Between splitting rent, utilities, and food (bonus points if she cooks for you so that you don’t eat out as often), having a partner can save people a lot of money. I believe most people should have roommates throughout their twenties to save money in this type of way. I recently got my own place, but sold my car and am relying on public transport to reduce the impact of my higher rent and utility costs. Still though, I envy that you get to share rent. I’m saving over 45% of my income now, but I could save almost 65% if I were able to split rent and utilities. I’ve had some good and bad roommates in the past, but as a 27 y/o making decent money, I’m not able to justify having a housemate.