Early Retirement Extreme Forums

For general health including fat loss, it seems the Mediterranean Diet has come out as a consistent winner over many studies. Walter Willett's book Eat, Drink and Be Healthy seems to give the most rigorous account of the scientific theory and evidence supporting this. This book is practically ...

I'm a bit puzzled about the expectation that gym bathroom/shower facilities are somehow better than what is found at a hostel or shared housing?!

The electrical outlets at a library would be preferred because this way you'll be sitting right next to your gadgets. I presume a hostel/shared house ...

I should apologise, I didn't really write much about the 4% rule itself...

If I want a % rule, it seems the best I can do is to find the most rigorous and unbiased analysis possible from the largest and longest data set possible. The best proxy for the above would probably be the papers and stated ...

Thanks for sharing all of this Conwy , I could quote and appreciate and align with pretty much all your wrote. That being said I just want to focus on this quoted part as the mental and physical growth I have found thanks to the freedom of time & energy offered from the ERE/MMM path. Stoic ...

Oh boy... this such an interesting thread!

I just want to thank Jacob for setting up this forum/community. There's something about this place (virtual as it is) that both sharpens me up mentally and calms my anxiety.

Update on my situation... I've been quite lucky, but a fair chunk of that luck ...

Great replies, thanks everyone!

Some additional thoughts from me...

I try to think of ERE as a whole lifestyle, not just a savings/investing/withdrawing strategy. But that said, it influences the withdrawal.

I think keeping costs low will be a big part of my strategy.

My spending should ...

This is what I developed prior to leaving work:

Withdrawal Strategy:

Rising equity glide-path in first 3-5 years (up to 93-95% equities excluding pension)
Roth IRA conversions up to standard deduction in low or no-income years
Withdraw from 457b until age 59.5
Consider accessing Roth IRA between ...

Western Red Cedar wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 15, 2025 11:13 am

I think it goes beyond calming and helpful. Having a well-defined withdrawal strategy is an absolute necessity.

Agreed. You're going to apply some kind of method in any case. It might as well be determined by a well-thought-out strategy.

I'm not withdrawing yet but I set myself up to be able to do a liability matching portfolio. Basically something like 1-2 years expenses in cash, ~10 years in bonds, the rest in stocks.* Where I can do it, all dividends/coupon payments go into cash.** Spend the cash first, sell bonds to replenish ...

Additional thoughts that just came to me ...

Certain items can be purchased and somewhat "locked in" in advance, from several weeks up to months.

High calorie, non-perishable, sealed food items such as canned beans, oatmeal, peanut butter, etc can be stored from weeks up to months, providing a ...

For the more pedantic among us (I consider myself that way) I think it can be calming and helpful to have some kind of plan around how to take money out in early retirement.

After a lot of varied research, investigations and thinking, I think I'm settling on a withdrawal strategy that works for my ...

I'm thinking of joining a gym, as I'm beginning to be tempted by some of the benefits.

For a renter (like me) living in a country (like Australia, Canada, etc) with expensive and/or volatile rental markets, on a fairly basic passive income, we have to be prepared to potentially live out of hostels ...

Yet another software developer here.

In a way, every job is like starting a career all over again, because the technology and requirements keep changing.

What I usually do is:

1. Search far and wide for job posting - Google, Seek, Indeed, LinkedIn, etc.
2. Keep editing my CV until it has enough ...

First intermittent fasting overtook six meals per day grazing as the healthier alternative. Now beans and lentils are recommended over meat and potatoes. What will they think of next?! :shock:

No wait, maybe all CFPs will suggest saving 50%+ to retire before 50 or at least reduce stress from ...

I'm a little dissatisfied with the term "anti-consumerism", as merely reacting to consumerism seems vastly insufficient. I would prefer maybe "post-consumerism", for transcendence over reaction.

From my observations of EarlyRetirementExtreme, Mustachianism, TimothyWardism, NoamChomskyism, early ...

I recently had asked myself a similar question but about renting rather than buying.

For renting I had essentially no problem finding multiple offers even in the very tight market that is any major Australian city. The key was, of course, to show my assets. I didn't even have to show my stock ...

For me money is a platform on which to build a lifestyle. The money isn't the lifestyle itself. The lifestyle itself involves free or near-free activities such as learning, helping, creativity, fitness, being close to nature and mindful reflection. Money is just a way to enable that lifestyle.

If ...

As you have observed, most of the broad market index funds have similar expense ratios and similar returns. I once worried about the “perfect” or “right” investment strategy. S&P 500 or total market? Value or growth? Should I own small caps? Does it make sense to own international funds? Emerging ...

It's as stable as the CPI(*). At maturity I-bonds return the principle + the cumulative known interest payment + the cumulative inflation adjustments. TIPS pay out the interest (it's been 0% for many years) and the inflation adjustment on an ongoing basis. If you reinvest TIPS as they pay out, you ...

Background: US-based, turning 30, employed, ~40K investment


Nice work!

Keep it up though – I would recommend aiming for $500k-$1M.


One thing that I'm convinced of is that I should be investing in index funds and should be looking for a low expense ratio. But when I'm comparing funds on ...