FIRE Movement

[Wolf359]

The successful non-degree holders have to work much harder to prove themselves in life. It simply cannot be seen as a measure of intellect. I'm talking about the ordinary public state funded take anybody with money schools, not the ivy league or highly selective schools.

I've hired both and the non degree people tend to work much harder. Society tells them their potential is lower and they must outperform.

Those are the ones that last. The ones that don't last are the ones that have close friends die unexpectedly all the time in the span of a few months and don't show up for work as they have to go to the funeral. The best was when we were going to fire her, she must have sensed that and called in sick that day so she got an extra day of pay.

You just don't know whether the resume is real or not when you hire a non degree holder and don't know if they will last or not in advance. So when you have a choice of people, you go with the higher degree. I remember hiring an MBA before, didn't really apply for the job but the other degree holders didn't have an MBA so we went with the higher degree.

There's lots of metrics when hiring someone. I remember one candidate that was very obese, I think someone cracked the joke that they didn't think he would fit in, as in not fit through the hallway....

 

[JeffKeryk]

College is a necessary requisite in my world. I have a bachelor's.

I got my 1st degree at the age of 40. It is one of my most prized posessions.
I majored in High Tech Business Management at San Jose Stae University and double minored in Economics and Computer Science.
This major did not require a minor to graduate, as it included numerous classes pertinent to Silicon Valley high tech companies.

 

[nomas]

Pay off your mortgage if at all possible before you pull the ripcord . Have a plan in place for medical insurance . Those two things are the most important in my book .

 

[Ws6]

I got my 1st degree at the age of 40. It is one of my most prized posessions.
I majored in High Tech Business Management at San Jose Stae University and double minored in Economics and Computer Science.
This major did not require a minor to graduate, as it included numerous classes pertinent to Silicon Valley high tech companies.

We are different, lol. I don't even know where my diploma is. Stuffed in a folder somewhere that I trot out for job interviews every blue moon or if HR needs to update something. I didn't even want to attend graduation, but it was required.

 

[Astro14]

Hahah college is a waste today. My industry is involved with it and the current crop “being educated” has some people who are so dumb. Like i cant believe they can dress themselves stupid. They will eventually finish their state funded 4 year degree and get a job interview they don’t deserve.

For a lot of majors, 4 year college = wasted 4+ years instead of gaining technical or trade skills that have real value.

Depends on both the profession and the college.

For many professions, college is superfluous.

Many colleges do a great job educating, and many do not.

 

[alarmguy]

If you can retire at 62 and not happy in your job, retire.
If you love what you do for a living, a passion, then it makes no sense to retire. Just know, an American male who retires at 67 only has about 10 more years to live (well 12 is the average to be exact).

So I say go for it and retire if you can do it at 62, keep in mind health care costs, if not possible do it at 65 when medicare kicks in. Use Social Security and Medicare for every penny you can get out of it, after all you paid for it your entire life, why wait until you die and let the government keep your money?
You can even retire at 62 if not happy in your job and take a part time job with health insurance until 65 in a field you feel more useful in. It doesnt matter what you get paid, its to pay your health ins.

62, 65, 67 doesnt have to be a hard number either. You can retire at 63 or 64 and Social Security will likewise be adjusted. Take the money you paid over your entire life as soon as you can IF you are unhappy with your job, you will live longer too.

Besides all the above, work isnt for everyone, if someone can do it and leave the work force at 40 so be it.

 

[Wolf359]

If you can retire at 62 and not happy in your job, retire.
If you love what you do for a living, a passion, then it makes no sense to retire. Just know, an American male who retires at 67 only has about 10 more years to live (well 12 is the average to be exact).

So I say go for it and retire if you can do it at 62, keep in mind health care costs, if not possible do it at 65 when medicare kicks in. Use Social Security and Medicare for every penny you can get out of it, after all you paid for it your entire life, why wait until you die and let the government keep your money?
You can even retire at 62 if not happy in your job and take a part time job with health insurance until 65 in a field you feel more useful in. It doesnt matter what you get paid, its to pay your health ins.

62, 65, 67 doesnt have to be a hard number either. You can retire at 63 or 64 and Social Security will likewise be adjusted. Take the money you paid over your entire life as soon as you can IF you are unhappy with your job, you will live longer too.

Besides all the above, work isnt for everyone, if someone can do it and leave the work force at 40 so be it.

I don't think you're reading the charts correctly. If you retire at 67, males are expected to live about 16 years and females 19 years. The average age applies to the entire age group. If you make it to 67, it means you survived incidents that would have killed people in the younger years so total life expectancy increases. Notice that if you make it to 100, you have an extra 2 years of expected life but only about 1% of the population hits that number.

Actuarial Life Table

Actuarial Life Table

www.ssa.gov

 

[Donald]

There are some articles suggesting working until 67 puts your brain in best shape for not getting dementia.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

2. Leaving a legacy for your family: this one is personal, but to me retiring early and having my money last me through the end of my life is not success but failure...I want to help my children, grand children, and ideally great grand children with buying homes, going to school, and be able to leave an inheritance when I die. IMO, it's selfish just to think about you and your life sitting on a beach rotting away for your last 30 years.

I have seen it several times where a person saves up money with the intention of passing it on to children or grandchildren, and most to all of the cash and assets ended up being eaten away by assisted living homes and nursing homes. Now I am talking about sums of 200-500k, not a war chest of millions. In the end a few of these people ended up on medicaid and died penniless.

One person I know has looked into long term care insurance and was looking at 500 a month, for many people that isnt really an option, especially if they are cash poor.

Then I have seen families that inherit a "legacy" and proceeds to "invest" it in depreciating assets such as diesel pickup trucks, boats, campers, expensive suv's, or spend it on vacations, weddings for the kids that rival something fit for royalty, spend it on wooing a girlfriend with expensive things only later to get divorced from the spouse they were cheating on.

Then they end up broke, even more in debt than they started out all the while the roof on their house they really couldn't afford needs to be replaced and they already used the cash out from their first refinance to go on an expensive vacation and the HELOC is tapped. All while the inheritance has dwindled away.

So you can't always count on the inheritance being used wisely. Although sometimes it is, just pointing out what I have personally seen in some cases.

 

[HonorAndHonesty]

I don't think you're reading the charts correctly. If you retire at 67, males are expected to live about 16 years and females 19 years. The average age applies to the entire age group. If you make it to 67, it means you survived incidents that would have killed people in the younger years so total life expectancy increases. Notice that if you make it to 100, you have an extra 2 years of expected life but only about 1% of the population hits that number.

Actuarial Life Table

Actuarial Life Table

www.ssa.gov

What if you are a male and your male relatives typically don't make it past 70 due to heart issues ect...? I think that definitely should have some bearing on ones plans, to some extent anyway,

 

[Wolf359]

What if you are a male and your male relatives typically don't make it past 70 due to heart issues ect...? I think that definitely should have some bearing on ones plans, to some extent anyway,

Well those are just the charts, no guarantees for anyone. I think it depends more on the individual. If you have family heart issues but have a clean bill of health from a doctor, then it's possible that you will live much longer than parents. Works both one, one isn't a guarantee one way or the other. Remember life expectancy has gone up over the years. People who had grandparents who died in the 60-70s are living much longer today.

 

[nomas]

I know I'll be labelled selfish , etc. but I didn't work and save all my life to leave my money to my kids . I provided for them while I was raising them and now they are doing just fine on their own . If there is anything left when we die then the Will says they can split it . I will not live out my retirement with the intention of providing for them .

 

[Dave Hess]

I know I'll be labelled selfish , etc. but I didn't work and save all my life to leave my money to my kids . I provided for them while I was raising them and now they are doing just fine on their own . If there is anything left when we die then the Will says they can split it . I will not live out my retirement with the intention of providing for them .

Yep. Adults can work and not rely on an inheritance.

 

[Wolf359]

I know I'll be labelled selfish , etc. but I didn't work and save all my life to leave my money to my kids .

Yeah, that's how Doctors feel about their title too.

 

[Vikas]

1 - Health care costs can be astronomical. The #1 reason people go bankrupt in this country is suffering a major health calamity, and those people have insurance. They max out. This is a tough one.


Yep.

I had a relative in the hospital, 2 surgeries and rehab for 3 months.... total medical bills was $3.3M

After losing that $3.3M, how many millions your relative has now?