Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Hello everyone,

it’s been a while since my last update, and oh boy, a lot has happened! Let me walk you through my roller-coaster ride of a life.

Firstly, I took a plunge and got married. My partner and I decided it was the right time and I couldn't be happier with the decision. We've created a ...

Has anyone driven the smart car ? The car which is cut in half. They have quite a cult following now.

@horseman My dad drove to India in a VW camper in the early 1970s because VW spare parts and expertise were the only ones which you could be guaranteed to find en route. Even Afghanistani ...

Thanks guys, I am definitely set on German cars. I find them attractive, reliable and very popular (meaning that every mechanic can fix them and parts are easy to find). I am also considering a Mercedes Benz E Class 220 CDI Avantgarde from 2004 in immaculate condition for 7,000 euros with 93 ...

I'd get a VW Golf. Basically every mechanic can repair it, parts are everywhere, the car is well-made, reliable and looks good. There are still Golf 4 (1997 - 2003) roaming on German streets and they still look somewhat modern.

Diesel or gas depends on whether you mostly drive short or long routes ...

https://www.zeit.de/arbeit/2019-09/rente-40-fruehrente-fire-bewegung-sparsamkeit-ruhestand-lebensfreude

Comment summary:
- capitalistic exploiter (This is the main point, because Germans tend to not understand anything about investments. You're seen as a better person being unemployed and living of ...

https://www.nzz.ch/finanzen/mit-45-in-rente-millennials-sparen-fuer-den-berufsausstieg-ld.1506868


- ok introduction

- typical "expert" voices: You need high income, probably often bad math ( :lol: ), being cheapskate, losing social contacts, being a burden on society because of having to use ...

@wolf, value reduction of stock assets.


Are you strongly invested in the polish stock market? Have you thought about diversifying? I kept most of my assets in Euro Stoxx 600 for a long time because I thought the Euro would get much stronger again. I lost out on a lot of world-market gains in ...

Everyone feels like it is to good to be true and if it is possible, you must deprive yourself.

Even when the concept is put right under your nose, you still need imagination, education and math skills to understand and accept that it's not only possible but even desirable to live on less. Most ...

No they're not. The fact that bond rates are so low is plain evidence to the contrary, and their appetite to borrow more is insatiable.


The reason bond rates are low is because central banks buy up everything they get their hands on (especially the ECB and the Bank of Japan).
The ECB is already ...

One thing I'm trying to game out is how the idea of permanently low interest rates remains compatible with the concept of the business cycle.
Does extending low interest rates also extend/slow the business cycle? Is the business cycle driven by the interest rate settings or is it the other way ...

You seem to like to create threads that validate some idea you want to believe and generally in ways that your idea is more correct or superior,. Why would you jump to the conclusion that people give up, “let themselves go” or are dead inside at a certain age LOL? The basic ignorance of that ...

I had a talk with a friend at the startups' parent company and he advised me to stay where I am based on what he has heard.


I didn't realize you were based in Europe
My perspective comes from tech in the US. I am strongly biased in favor of small company work.

I'll take that as a compliment ...

Thanks to all of you.

I've talked with my boss. A big raise will be hard to get, because I'd need another 2-3 years to qualify (yes, performance is not that important. Doing good on that. He isn't calling the shots on raises.) We will both think about other solutions.


Maybe you could speak to ...

Thank you all for your perspectives.


You know how realtors are great at spinning bad situations? A house may be a complete dump, but the written description will be something like "Blank slate! Bring your updates!" Be careful that this isn't the same thing.
[...]
Don't get me wrong -- I loved ...

Thank you both for your perspective.

That's probably the way to go. I'm just feeling like I could forego a once in a decade (or longer) chance to build something from the ground up without having to move (which I don't want to).

The startup won't be in finanical trouble for a long time, if ever ...

I'm currently working for a relatively big company. I'm pretty happy, have lots of freedom, work <40h/wk, work pretty much whenever I want, no unpaid overtime, work from home 1 day/week, good benefits, union-contracts, no dress code. Salary is ok-ish. Super safe job. We make like a million profit a ...

You could kickstart it even more with a water fast for a few days - Give your body the time to recover. Food often means damage to your body. If your body is healthy it‘s no problem, but you‘re damaged. The body can repair itself very quickly if the damaging stops. (You should probably consult a doc ...

I‘d go very low carb for 2-4 weeks.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693479/
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/benefits/ibs

May or may not work. Worth a try I think.

I'm not dutch and my dutch is pretty bad by now (I lived in the Netherlands for half a year some ten years ago)... but around Zwolle would be nearly in cycling distance (race bike, of course) I'm always amazed how many dutch people are on here and get together so often. Have fun!

Missed opportunity Next level would‘ve been Steppenwolf https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steppenwolf_(novel)