liberty's liberty journal

[liberty]

My introduction

I have saved around $190k now. I'm still living super cheap and with a saving rate of around 65%. One problem that is approaching is the wealth tax from the Norwegian government. They steal 0.85% of stock investments and cash that exceeds 1.5 mill NOK, which is around the amount I have saved so far. This is just another reason for quitting and move abroad.

After "retired" I will do some freelancing and try starting my own software business. The chance of not earning anything from that is quite small, but if I fail completely I can move to an even cheaper or back to corporate life...

[Noedig]

0.85% of everything per year.... plus what you guys already pay in taxes is not low. My wallet aches with sympathetic pain.

Your government seems to have become a kind of high-fee fund manager!

We only hear good things about Norway, the egalitarian society and social support yada yada yada. No doubt all true.

I guess the money to provide that comes from anyone who has some. We don't hear about that part.

I would welcome your view as to the tradeoff - security is nice, but does it create a disincentive to work? Not in your case it would seem - good for you Libs!

If you feel like it, give us a bit more of a bio, your age, your savings rate, your goals or approach to life, your education level, family status, how you discovered the idea of ERE, ...?

Anyways good luck, keep at it. This one is a marathon not a sprint.

[liberty]

Real estate counts lower (I think it's 25% for primary home and 50% secondary), and mortgage for primary house is subracted. The goverment favourise home owners in many ways, and I hate it. The real estate market here is a big bubble and that's why I stay outside it.

Norway is okay, but the government is too big in certain areas and the weather is awful in the winther!

Yeah, the taxes creates a disincentive to work - for me too. I'm soon leaving to avoid the high fee fund manager haha

Some more info about my background in the introduction. In breaf:
- 30 years old
- single and don't want kids
- mainly self educated. Studied a bit in uni, but didn't complete a degree (hated school - the quality of education is really bad here in Norway). Regret I didn't drop out when I was 16 and started learning on my own
- Want to build a software business after I "retire"

Thanks so much! I will keep you updated here

[liberty]

I'm still at ~65% saving rate. Can improve a bit further if I learn to cook, and I'm working on that currently.

My target is now 500€/month. With 3% SWR that will be 200k € (246k USD). I'm currently at 184k €.

[Stahlmann]

I'm not Internet Retirement Police Officer (however I'm looking for side gig ), but 500 EUR per month is pretty extreme result in Nordic country.

Are you sure that your plan is viable in the longterm?
How have you solved housing problem?

[liberty]

@Stahlmann, 500€/month might actually be viable in Norway if I lived out on the farmland, but not in Oslo. Anyways, my plan is to live cheaper places in retirement, at least during winter. I hate the Norwegian winter climate.

I have made improvements since last update: Increased net salary with around 25%, but that includes also 10-15% more work. I have also started cooking instead of bying pre-made food, and that saves me a lot + is better for health. Should have done this earlier ofcourse, but better late than never. My saving rate is now 75-80%. I am currently at 200k €.

But I will not retire yet since there is nothing to do in retirement.

[jacob]

A Danish student stipend (tertiary education) is about 650EUR/month after tax. Social security for retirees is about 1000EUR/month after tax.
These are skill=1 amounts scaled to consumers. 500EUR is definitely not out of reach insofar one only needs one room per person and one can live without a car and monthly clothes shopping.

[liberty]

Hola amigos! I'm at 240k € now, which makes me FI in lots of nice places based on numbers from Numbeo. I adjust from 940 €/month in rent and 260 €/month in other expenses.

Some examples:
- Burgas, Bulgaria: 230€/month
- Merida, Mexico: 232€/month
- Tblisi, Georgia: 275€/month
- Patras, Greece: 308€/month
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: 316€/month (but there has been a shitload of inflation in Argentina lately, and I don't think Numbeo adjusts for that, so maybe more like 350-400€)
- Larnaca, Cyprus: 447€/month

I will travel around to different places, and that will of course cost a bit more because of transporation costs and because short-term rental is a bit more expensive. After a while, I will settle down, or at least stay some longer time at each location.

I can spend 600€/month with a 3% SWR, and 700 €/month with a 3.5% SWR. I think 3.5% SWR is quite safe: It has worked in all 30 years and 98% of 60 years periods, and I will get some pension from the gov from age 67 (unless they go bankrupt).

It's likely I will become an even better money saver in the future, especially when it comes to DIY skills. It's also some chance I will get a partner (or 2 or 3 - polyamory is even better for money saving) and that may decrease my expenses even more. It's also likely that I earn some money on making a product or doing some kind of business.

It's also risky to NOT retire: If I get sick and die at 40, it would be much better if I retired at 32 than got burned out in Corporate... I don't know how bad Corporate Life has been for my health, but I'm sure it has had some negative impact. The sooner I can get out, the better it is!

The hardest for me now is to not talk about FIRE. People don't like FIRE, and most don't understand it. Unfortunately I expained this thing to a friend some years back, and he still doesn't get it. "You know you will loose on this later", he said when I said I was going to quit my job. And then he gets tired of my explanation on SWR and shit. So after I quit, I should just call myself a freelance programmer (and do one job per leap year, so it's not a lie).

[wolf]

Hola Amigo libre!
FI sounds great.
Congrats for reaching 240k€.
When will you start traveling?

[Nicolino]

Hola amigos! I'm at 240k € now, which makes me FI in lots of nice places based on numbers from Numbeo. I adjust from 940 €/month in rent and 260 €/month in other expenses.

Some examples:
- Burgas, Bulgaria: 230€/month
- Merida, Mexico: 232€/month
- Tblisi, Georgia: 275€/month
- Patras, Greece: 308€/month
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: 316€/month (but there has been a shitload of inflation in Argentina lately, and I don't think Numbeo adjusts for that, so maybe more like 350-400€)
- Larnaca, Cyprus: 447€/month

I will travel around to different places, and that will of course cost a bit more because of transporation costs and because short-term rental is a bit more expensive. After a while, I will settle down, or at least stay some longer time at each location.

I can spend 600€/month with a 3% SWR, and 700 €/month with a 3.5% SWR. I think 3.5% SWR is quite safe: It has worked in all 30 years and 98% of 60 years periods, and I will get some pension from the gov from age 67 (unless they go bankrupt).

It's likely I will become an even better money saver in the future, especially when it comes to DIY skills. It's also some chance I will get a partner (or 2 or 3 - polyamory is even better for money saving) and that may decrease my expenses even more. It's also likely that I earn some money on making a product or doing some kind of business.

It's also risky to NOT retire: If I get sick and die at 40, it would be much better if I retired at 32 than got burned out in Corporate... I don't know how bad Corporate Life has been for my health, but I'm sure it has had some negative impact. The sooner I can get out, the better it is!

The hardest for me now is to not talk about FIRE. People don't like FIRE, and most don't understand it. Unfortunately I expained this thing to a friend some years back, and he still doesn't get it. "You know you will loose on this later", he said when I said I was going to quit my job. And then he gets tired of my explanation on SWR and shit. So after I quit, I should just call myself a freelance programmer (and do one job per leap year, so it's not a lie).

Watch out those assumptions... I don´t know about the other places, but there is no way you can live in Buenos Aires on that money. You would need at least 1- 1.5 K USD /month to live in the comfort level expected by someone from Scandinavia. Maybe 1 KUSD/month per person assuming 2 people per household...

[liberty]

Thanks @wolf. I will start travelling in August or September.

@Nicolino Currently I live on 16 square meters. That's a bit too little. Want to upgrade to 25.

One bedroom flat outside of city center costs 218€/month in Buenos Aires:
https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/i ... rrency=EUR

[frihet]

Hi there liberty!

Exited to hear about your traveling plans. I will follow your journal and adventures for sure. Part of me wants to quit this autumn as well and spend the winter months in India. But I'm scared, afraid to loose the good deal I've got in the North Sea currently. I can't see myself ever getting such a deal again. You are lucky to have a skill/work that is location independent.

God tur! When that time comes

[liberty]

@frihet yeah, location independence is a good thing with programming. But hopefully I won't need to work for money ever again!

Takk!! Will keep you updated

[Lemur]

@frihet yeah, location independence is a good thing with programming. But hopefully I won't need to work for money ever again!

Takk!! Will keep you updated

What languages do you program in to work independently/remotely?

[liberty]

@Lemur Any language.

I don't work remotely currently. I have a location dependent job in Oslo currently, but will retire in august.

[liberty]

Didn't retire after all because I got a salary raise and a new and better project.

I am in the position of fuck you, and that's nice to have the ability to quit whenever I want. The reason why I continue, is to increase my retirement income a bit. Currently saving around 80% of my net income.

[liberty]

I have finally retired, and I'm feeling much better than before. Working was not something for me. People say they get bored of being unemployed, politicians on the left says "everyone wants to work", but I guess that doesn't apply to me. Or, there might be work that I like to do, but I was not able to find any such job while I was in corporate. Now that I can do whatever I want, I guess there is some chance that I will do some useful work - work defined as "doing things that help others". Work gets much better when I don't have deadlines and colleagues who interrupt me all the time. Also when I work on my own projects, I can do it exactly how I want it, with the technology I prefer, at the times I prefer etc. The stress went away after retirement, and I'm now happy to be a free bitch!

[basuragomi]

Congratulations! When did the "not retiring because they pay me too much" feeling go away?

[liberty]

Thanks, @basuragomi. I got sick of money-hunt, and understood that work-life was unhealthy for me. Also it's pretty easy to come back later if I want to. Money isn't important for me. The only thing I care about is to have a fucking good time! Money is just a tool, and now I'm way above the amount I need in order to live a good life. My portfolio is at around 400k euros, which is the double of what I really would need to retire.

[sky]

Congrats and enjoy life.