Like I said, you guys have no idea what golf costs. $12k is outrageous. That's enough for unlimited memberships at 2-3 highish end courses with at least a few grand left over for additional rounds elsewhere. Nobody trying to live on $20k/year is spending more than like $5k/year on golf even if they play every day, including equipment upgrades.

cool blog cool guy, good recommendation. he's into cycling everywhere which ive always thought is by far the #1 most overlooked undervalued play for low to slightly above median income americans. i still bike everywhere to this day myself whenever possible.

still though, if I were pressed to live on 750k for life, cycling or not, the USA would be one of the last places id consider doing this. so many better places to be with the dollar stretching so much further.

You say that as if women in their 30s and beyond have major leverage in the dating market. Single women 40+ have almost no shot with successful guys unless they're willing to go 10-20 years older or are at the top of the food chain in every other way. There's an endless supply of them. A lot of them have careers and pride themselves on their independence. Find one whose company you enjoy and you've got your ticket to lifelong spousal health and dental benefits (plus you almost halve your housing costs).


The thread is all silly though since no one that age just peaces out mentally. Based on what we know it seems inevitable that he'll find ways to make money doing things that aren't particularly objectionable.

Need is a strong word in this context. The side hustles would mostly be going to finance your entertainment, not your cost of living. Maybe it's not retirement in the strictest sense but I think to most people it's just about as good.

not a chance in hell especially if he likes women

Could you give a few examples of courses? I used the Robert Trent Jones Trail for my analysis.

I'm sure the avenue you're taking is totally beneficial to discussion.

I'm also curious what you consider "highish end", if you think you can get unlimited memberships for 2-3k.

no clue how you're getting numbers like $12k then. it took me 2 minutes to figure out that $1500 gets you unlimited play for a year at 9 of their courses. $1800 if you want range privileges and some other perks.

https://www.rtjgolf.com/programs/

no idea how nice those courses are but i'm sure they're good enough for someone willing to live on $20k/year.

They're pretty nice! And I totally misread it. Apparently I am not aware of golf costs.

If he's not going to have kids then this is doable. Most people vastly overestimate their actual financial needs. The late life medical costs are the only thing that I'd be worried about in USA#1.

He should really have been investing all along, moving a set % of his bankroll into equities every 6 months. Then as his investments grow he can look to cut down poker hours or move down in stake if he's wanting to reduce stress/variance.

Think going all or nothing like OP proposes is a bad idea but he's in a fantastic position if early retirement is what he's looking for soon.

I think the best option for aspiring early retirees is to do more of a semi-retirement thing. For example, your friend could play one long 12 hour session per week and still make ~20-30k per year. This would be enough to cover most living expenses and he could let the bulk of his nest-egg compound in the market. He'd still have 6 days to golf, learn new things, and maybe start a fun side hustle to bring in a little more money so he doesnt have to stress about the market swings as much.

A few people have mentioned rising healthcare costs at old age but nobody has pointed out the utility tradeoff. For many, 5-10 extra years of clinging to life isn't worth having to slave away at a poker table for an extra 30,000 hours with a bunch of scumbags.

Revolvers, on the other hand, are very affordable.

And extremely reliable as well. However, that's quite the last move to pull on loved ones (assuming friends / relatives will be the ones finding you). I think a helium mask (i.e., a "suicide bag") is a much more thoughtful & peaceful way to go. Less violent, no messy cleanup, and just as effective.

And now let's end this derail!

A truly thoughtful person who simply just buy a bunch of life insurance and then engage in risk taking behavior like standing right on the edge of the subway platform at rush hour.

I think he gives away a large portion of the money generated from blog and his speaking engagements etc. Dude still bikes everywhere and lives similar life despite being able to buy and own multiple Teslas and a McMansion

I think he also retired with no mortgage or other debt. Someone mentioned healthcare, I think he has a plan which is like $200/month but has a 10K deductible each year.

interesting comments... i am of the age where i should be dating 40+ single women but i tend to be attracted to either much younger women or married women closer to my age - and i don't act on the married closer to my age.

i agree that with one poster that people are far too high on what costs will be, assuming OP is ok with foregoing the good life of restaurants, travel, high end women etc.. i wasn't being sarcastic either. many people are happy foregoing those things.

not sure where OP lives as i'm grunching but i saw reference to bobby jones trail which is alabama......... i agree that there are much cheaper places than alabama but now i think those places are pretty obscure. not sure places like costa rica, panama, thailand etc. are that much cheaper. they are way cheaper than LA, NYC etc. but not necessarily alabama.

OP can always work part-time along the way.

and yes, i think OP can live on $750k if housing costs aren't prohibitive and/or investment returns are ok.

I didn't know about him giving the money away but that's awesome. The fact he still bikes and lives the same life is a large part of why I think he is successful at this lifestyle and why others would not be.

750k will dwindle away if the funds aren't put to use but instead constantly being spent.
I'd say: Save 550k in a savings plan so that it will keep up with inflation and keep working at the same time and play with the 200k for growth or/ if feeling risky
Use the 550k and save 200k, majority to use for different streams of investments/business venture, remember steady growth of profits and don't put all your eggs in one basket. Ideas of investments: property investments, stocks and shares.

Yeah he also taught himself construction/carpentry from watching like videos online etc so he can make repairs, upgrades to his house and just pay for materials.

He was on the Tim Ferris podcast recently and went into a lot of details on his lifestyle etc

Probably the best advice FWIW. Probably could set up an S-Corp or LLC to gain maximum tax advantages. You can depreciate the value of the houses on a 27 year schedule. Probably can use leverage to your advantage too. Of course that isn't exactly a passive way to put the money to work either. At 37 a 30year treasury might be better as it has about a 3% yield. That gets you $20k + if all you need is 20k. If a person is willing to do their due diligence and was willing to take more risk, 30 year munis would be even better living in Nevada.

Except that he wants to retire, not become a rental property manager

For some that is retirement ymmv. But yeah that is much more active than playing golf as a hobby. Putting in $750k into an index fund and drawing a salary as a way to retire is pretty absurd though.

beats being an active property manager

If he has the option to unretire if things don't go according to plan, it's not absurd at all. Nor is index fund + one poker session a week. Both are way better options than slumlording

You can definitely retire on 750k in your 30's. You can spend 30k a year for 25 years living in a semi rural area. 30k a year is baller in some more backwater areas. 25 years is definitely longer than it will take for you to blow your own brains out from boredom retired in a place that probably has unreliable broadband.

30k a year goes far in any city.

People are bitching about housing prices in toronto skyrocketing but you can still rent a 4 bedroom/3bathroom house close to the subway for like 2500. If you're ok with living with people that's easy on any budget. Plus there're all sorts of savings/conveniences associated with communal living.

I think it's hard for people who have never actually tried to live frugally to imagine all the ways that you can cut costs without even feeling like you're missing out on anything.