In this episode we cover reader questions including Parenting vs. DIY Insourcing, how to retire early even with medical school debt, and how to keep biking even in winter, plus a couple related to our beloved young producer 2L&L :-)
Hello everyone! Sorry about the music, it sounded fine on my speakers while editing it, but watching on phones and laptops etc. made it sound way too loud, due to the arpeggios being higher sounds and the phones and laptops not being able to play lower sounds, so the next episodes will have no music in the middle, just and intro and outro. Thanks for the feedback, I agree fully that is was too loud. -2L&L
@@JohnnyFD I make all of the music for these videos myself, and on my own RU-vid channel I have a bunch of music that I have posted, which you can use for free (at least the current ones) as long as you credit my channel in the description of your video via a link to the song(s) that you use.
Do a Mustachian version of Cribs! I used to like that show on MTV, but rewatching, I see it promoted extravagant lifestyles. I'd like to see a version of that show that celebrates living simply. You could call it Lifestyles of the Frugal and Famous!
you might enjoy this channel ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZD_3_gsgsnk.html by Kirsten Dirksen. It is the cribs of creative, environmental, low-cost/high-efficiency, independent thinking and living😉 Definitely a source of inspiration.
Thanks for answering my question! My frugal sensibilities scream out in agony when I outsource, but you're absolutely right that I should pick the kids whenever possible. Is 3 yrs old too young to get on the creeper and help me with the oil changes? We'll see how it goes... My next question: now that the MMM HQ has proven to be a success, what do you think is the next concrete step to take towards a mustachian utopia? Could you start a business to develop and build ultra efficient community-oriented homes, with shared gardens/greenhouse areas, bike paths, common areas for bike/auto repair and a shared tool respository/shop? Like a gated community but without gates and filled with mustachians?
“If you’re in a hole, you need to stop digging.” “Get your money taken care of before you have kids.” Loving this. My mindset is the same. Subscribed. Notification bell slammed.
I love the diy house projects you do. You posted a couple videos on this a while back. Will you plan to share more? What are you latest diy projects that you're open to sharing? Thanks, Lauren
Hey MMM. First of all, awesome project you're doing with your son, love to see him getting into his own RU-vid career. Second, I just have one suggestion... You mentioned that long underwear was what you called "the oil well that you can keep in your pants". From following the blog on your site and a FB group, I've realized not everyone has read every single post you have, so maybe a quick link to the posts you reference would be beneficial to some people. Plus, it's nice to have a reason to go back and re-read some of them. Thanks, hope the suggestion helps. :)
Love this. Please keep feeding us. As you know you, and I’m sure your son is soon to be, you are an very amazing and influential person in this FIRE community. We can certainly use more of your input and guidance as this community continues to grow.
Hi Mr. Money Mustache, I live in Montreal and I commute by bicycle to do basically everything. (I don't own a car). I just wanted to let you know that I'll be stealing your quote of 'You just do it' for when people ask me how I'm able to do it even in the winter. Love it, thanks!
Not to pile on about the music, but no music while talking is better. Maybe intro and outro plus some B roll footage with music to transition between questions. Not slamming just making some suggestions. Ok... Love the MMM website I just started reading from the beginning and am compiling a list of entries for my 17yo son to read. Thanks for all your effort and advice. Q: If you're not sure what you want to be when you grow up should you even go to college? Seems to me the vast majority of people waste 4 to 5 years on a throw away degree like my Finance Degree. Sure I learned some stuff, but I learned more useful info from a few books and sites like yours. Sorry for the length of this. Just kind of geeking out that I just found this channel! Must admit I'm a bit disappointed you dont have a giant handlebar stache. LOL
Honestly, I'm here to listen to your tips and advice so i didn't hear any of the other issues😂 I agree completely with all of the winter biking tips! I've parked the truck and have been riding to do all of my errands for a few years now. Sometimes, I'm wet when I get home (it rains alot here) but I feel great and it doesn't take long to warm up. I also purchased a vis vest to wear overtop of my coat...I just feel better wearing it on the dark grey days! Thanks for your inspiration and perspectives✔️
Recently rediscovered your blog. Listened to a few interviews and now am really enjoying your vids. I love your pragmatic, authentic perspective. Such wisdom. No messing around here. I agree with your advice that it’s more effective to dive in. I’m such a perfectionist and it always keeps me from starting passion projects. Thank you. I’m learning so much and am inspired to continue on my journey to FI.
Excellent parenting advice and I completely agree. 2 years ago when we got pregnant and I started working part time. Due to the part time work I had more time to think and ended up using creative thinking to come up with ways to make more money and continue working 4 hour days. Now I make about 80% more than when I worked full time, only work 15 to 20 hours a week and spend a ton of time with my daughter. Probably more than she would like :) I appreciate your view and giving that “hardcore” opinion. I agree parents and dads especially need to step up, stop making excuses and truly give your children 100%.
Awesome Pete! Glad I found this and added to sub list. With other F I blogs Have pedego trail tracker works great in winter and a beach. 4 inch tires. Great discussion...
The RU-vid channel is great, keep it up! It's good to highlight that most changes occur slowly. We *could* become full time cyclists overnight, but realistically it takes time to develop and refine habits. Took me about a year to go from driving to 100% bike commuting.
Thanks for doing this, it keeps me focused and gives perspective. Suggestion: Home made steady cam for moving/handheld outdoor shots. Inexpensive and maybe a nice quick father/son project. Many tutorials online, basically a long stick with weight at the bottom, the top screws into the camera. Boom, instant professional production quality.
-Blinking lights are not allowed in Switzerland. The light beam has to be steady. -You need a helmet. -The reason why people have medical school debt in their late 30s and 40s is because many people are still completing residencies and various fellowships well into their 30s. Many residencies are 4 or 5 years long, while subspecialty fellowships are 1 - 2 years long.
Hi MMM, love you and your son's new show. I have a question that has been gnawing at me for a while. Is there such a thing as bad money? Let me explain. We all know there are companies out there that do some pretty awful stuff, but what should we do when we discover one of those companies is a part of our index fund or other investments? Should we turn a blind eye knowing that we will put the money to good use to make the world a better place? Or is there some tipping point where we should switch to another fund even though the return may be lower so we can sleep better at night? Do you think the MMM army and the impressive war-chest that the larger FIRE community controls can or should be used to hold corporations to higher standards? Okay, that was maybe more than one question. Big hugs from D.C.
I often think of that too. Most of the large corporations in the stock index funds are not great, morally and ethically. There are some 'socially responsible' funds but they're riskier than standard index funds. Would love an answer from MMM on that one.
I love your recommendations about biking instead of car. As a fellow Canadian, I agree with winter biking all the way. You DO warm up from moving your muscles quite quickly. Car drivers are always cold because they are sitting stlll and barely dressed for winter.
Long time fan of the blog and I love this new format MMM! I didnt realise before that you look a bit like Justin Timberlake! Theres a side hustle right there!
10:36 has a "*second to final" text... Which makes sense, but it lasts only 1-2 seconds.... I literally had to rewind and pause to read it. Anyway... I'll definitely will be subscribing! 🙂
If you live in a place where you get enough snow & ice you'd consider putting winter tires on your car, then consider putting winter tires on your bicycle. Big knobby tires will be horrible for cycling when the weather is nice (rolling resistance will increase the amount of effort required), but great for winter riding. If you're going to change tires anyways, maybe consider a set of studded tires that are actually designed to be extra grippy on ice & snow.
Question: when getting close to FIRE how much should be shared in the office? Were you direct and said we have enough money for life based on our lifestyle or did you prevaricate & talk around that issue. Having 500k-1M saved in your 30s is just incomprehensible for so many people. How much did you share as you approached independence and what kinds of questions did you have to answer?
Might I encourage two things. But first! Fantastic job, to both you and your son. His comments cover any av issues, so I'll get to my consumer issues. 1.) Make more videos, with the same content. First this works great into RU-vid's algorithm, but it also plays into my 2nd comment. 1.) Make the title more searchable. If you do 3+ questions, it's hard to define them all in the title, but if you follow step one, then you can make each title related to the videos exact content. Meaning, I'm a med school student, and I watch this today, but in 3 years I want to go back and look up the advice again, right now I'd have no way to find the advice without just re-watching everything! Great job both of you, these are awesome and I don't know everything, maybe I'm wrong, just my thoughts on a starting chan. No offence, you all are awesome, love your blog!!!
Excellent points John. Hmm - single topic videos would definitely address those things - algorithms and searchibility. On the other hand, they might feel a bit mechanical to watch. The best thing would probably be a themed show with several related questions, and maybe some personal stuff thrown in and an overall lesson or idea. Like real TV shows (at least good ones) tend to have - a satisfying story arc.
Would you take a paycut by switching careers to a field you'd enjoy (or at least think you'd enjoy) doing? I'd imagine Id take a $20k cut switching from corporate finance to... Some entry level IT job. I want FI ASAP, But maybe it's worth slowing it down to explore different jobs to find what I love doing?
Thomas definitely a question that I’m asking myself as well. Thanks for posing it! Hopefully MMM addresses this later. I’m also looking at a career change eventually that would drop my salary (in my case, the income would drop by ~50%) so the current plan is to save up enough to cover my basics with the 4% rule, build up an unrelated side hustle (just for the cushion), and then switch over to the new career and let the portfolio grow with smaller additions from the new career.
We're thinking about moving to a new location in the US. Are there specific places that lend to a Mustachian lifestyle that you would recommend? Specifically, reasonable cost of living, access to the outdoors, walkable/bikeable planning, and good community all seem like important criteria to be MMM-approved. Any good resources to start researching this?
Love it ! Great job on the videos - I subscribed to the channel. Keep in mind less is more for the video editing, I found the music a little distracting while listening to MMM.
Love your new venture here! Coming from Canada, my concern is with safety - ie wiping out on ice, visibility, aggressive drivers not giving space, deep icy ruts etc. Do you have an attachment for things like bringing groceries home or do you just do mini, backpack size shops?
Great to see you in person (youtube), You will get more comfortable with the camera, I promise! Don't stop. We very much want to hear what you have to say, regularly. Question,... any funds you recommend. I am looking at low and zero expense ratio mutual funds and ETF's at Vanguard and more recently with Fidelity. I just opened an HSA for tax deferred investment purposes.
How did you get the courage to finally pull the plug? Been a reader for six years, extended my retirement date once or twice, and should be saying goodbye in March, but its still challenging to do
Can't help but sense a bit of Excusitis with the med student in your last question. I have sympathy for her and her debt, but she seemed more intent on using this as a crutch and putting up a barrier, rather than seeing that actually, she can live frugally and, more importantly, can continue to once she gets her job. It's easy and lazy of the mind to come up with excuses and problems, but much harder to rise to opportunity, challenge and change. Thank you for doing these videos - loving the father/son project going on here! :)
I posted the question and I completely agree with you. The MMM lifestyle can be difficult to explain to people, especially if they think they know better. Relatively few people in this part of Canada have ever heard of FIRE and they are distrustful of it because they think that if it were possible, everyone would be doing it. The conversation happened over a few drinks and if I hadn't dropped it I think it could have easily turned into a full blown argument. It can be difficult for people to have an abrupt paradigm shift, especially when it comes to money.
Check out white coat investor, can give you a good supplement to the info from MM and is more MD focused. The short answer is that new docs need to keep living like a resident until debt is paid off if they want to have any sort of financial freedom later in life. Even if not interested in FIRE, there are several specific financial concerns for md’s that can only be addressed by getting med school debt off your back.
More on bike tires. I live in a northern Canadian city with a freeze-thaw cycle that guarantees glare ice on roads and trails. Studded tires are highly recommended (if expensive). I got tired of hitting the deck hard and hurting. Never had a fall since getting them.
Hi MMM, please do an episode on cycling everywhere for transportation and going car-free or car-lite and how it helps you to save huge amounts of money and health as well. For an average person it is a huge cognitive dissonance to even to begin to understand that this guy-riding a bicycle like a teenager is literally a millionaire.
I'm still confused with the "buckets" that you would put total stock market index fund in. I've saved up some money but don't understand how to do it. Also, is there a way to have any increase automatically reinvested in the index fund? Do you still have to pay income tax on it even if you have it automatically reinvested? Thanks. Love this new platform. your son is smart!
Do you sweat more than a little bit while riding dressed for winter? A concern for me is that I sweat quite a bit riding in winter, compared to the rest of the year. I work in an office environment and don't really have any place I could clean myself when I get there.
MMM - Can you clarify your current thinking on how to invest FI money including dealing with large one time cash infusions? I understand your portfolio grew quite nicely even during an only decent market environment. Does the recent market madness have you rethinking what works? Would a dividend aristocrat stock strategy be optimal to pursue?
Question: if you like your career, have excellent long term prospects, make good money, and already save 20%, is there much point in going hardcore with trying to save 50% or more?
Aron Levin YES, even if you love your job you should strive to optimize expenses to boil down to what really makes you happy. It’s easy to think of that saving as hardcore deprivation but it’s not. The posts on stoicism www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/02/what-is-stoicism-and-how-can-it-turn-your-life-to-solid-gold/ explain it better than I can in a little box. Spending more than the optimal amount is just hedonism, and long term leads to more wants, bad outcomes, etc. also this great Wds talk by mmm is another golden oldie vimeo.com/183016901 As long as you think it’s just about money, you’re still just a rat in a cage. Get that savings rate to the right level because it’s the right thing to do, it’s not hardcore or deprivation or some such. And good luck!
@@PsychicsRfake456 Pay off debt. It's basically a double win; you save yourself the interest that you would otherwise be paying and you can then invest those savings and earn interest of your own.
JM I only buy stocks when it’s high, because because they’re worth more. Same as with luxury cars, buy new/expensive and sell them when they’re not worth as much. 😁
25 now and have 100k in the market. What should I invest in now and/or in the future if I want to retire at 45 with a steady income? Not interested in real estate. Contributing to the s&p 500 primarily, but should I maybe consider some dividend funds and just live off the dividends at some point?
I ask again about what to do with a mistake we have made.....Bought into a timeshare and just don't know how to get out of it......it is paid off, but the yearly maintenance fees are a drain. We just want out...any ideas?
I live in Colorado ...and would like to see examples of being able to retire early while not making over 50k. Earning power is not as important as saving power imo. Please correct me if I'm wrong?
I disagree - electric bikes are an AMAZING invention and address the biggest hurdle most people have to bike commuting: the perceived difficulty of things like distance and hills. So I'm all for them. Of course, I don't need e-bikes MYSELF, but if this were just about assuming everyone were the same as me I wouldn't even have started blogging/YouTubing in the first place.
Hi. I have £145k mortgage fixed for 9 years at 2.59% (18 yr term). No other debt. Can overpay 10% of original amount c15k per year. My question is should I start to invest or should I concentrate on overpaying the mortgage?
Electric bikes are awesome, but did you say your prodecotech phantom (looks like the x2 folding model) is Junky?!?! I have a prodecotech phantom and it’s heavy but solid budget choice for an ebike. The newer models have a much better design with a down tube mounted battery but for a trailer and heavy item towing the 500W motor in the phantom has been perfect in the snow and hills in blacksburg.,VA.
I have two boys, ages 4and 6. We already regularly contribute to RESPs but have a small lump sum inheritance from a relative. Planning on holding in a high interest savings account until they’re old enough to start learning about investing because the complexities of setting up an investment account ‘in trust’ don’t seem worth the headaches over a couple thousand dollars. Any other ideas? FYI: Love the new content and thanks for the information from your solar project! We installed a 4.22 kWh system last year and I have posted the costs, impact on our power bills and energy generated on my own website (www.thesunnyginger.com).
