Hello,
My name is Don Emanuel, my first contact with Jacob's blog was in late 2008. I don't remember how I exactly stumbled here. I started reading finance books in my first year of college (which I bailed out, read further) and later got introduced to Your Money or Your Life and How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. I'm not that advanced in this topic, lately got interested in value investing and I'm hoarding money to open an Interactive Broker account.
I live in a home with multiple family floors in Portugal, Europe. That means zero dept for my entire life, I also use public transport to go to work. Car use is limited to weekends only.
I bailed out of college because:
a) I was not learning anything new and I'm very autodidact(IT related).
b) To much unnecessary work (MIT equivalent).
c) I got an offer to work in a big company in 2009 which is speeding my ERE.
d) During college I was building a small business which I like and I'm growing at the moment.
Was dropping out of college a bad move ? Everybody tells me so, despite my blatant luck with life.
Here in Portugal house mortgages go from 150k € to 300k €. Social status is ridiculous important, the boss servitude culture is very prominent and the company hierarchies change rarely. It is also the country in Europe with the most accumulated dept (Companies + Country + Families). Investment habits is non-existent and the average salary is very low (600-900€).
Currently my saving rate is close to 85%, variance at 5%. This rate is very aggressive and I have most of the earnings and expenses registered since 2007.
Journey: To Reach ERE Before 2015 Whatever It Takes!
I plan to update this topic monthly with my milestones and notes of my journey, so I'll stick around.
PS: Special thanks goes for Jacob, for bringing awareness.
Introduction and journey
I spent an extremely fun week in Portugal last year - lovely country, except for my struggles trying to speak Portuguese (I can speak Spanish).
We stayed in a house for a few days in Alfalma, which we didn't know till the end of the week was the oldest part of the city, then a hotel...lots of adventure, and I plan on going back.
We stayed in a house for a few days in Alfalma, which we didn't know till the end of the week was the oldest part of the city, then a hotel...lots of adventure, and I plan on going back.