PBS's Next Avenue article about ERE makes HuffPo & Forbes

[jennypenny]

Next Avenue's article about ERE is making the rounds ...

HuffPo http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/2 ... mg00000063

Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/ ... est-of-us/

HuffPo on FB "Extreme Retirement is a thing." https://www.facebook.com/HuffingtonPost ... eam_ref=10

[chipmunk]

Wow. So, this is not the first time a link to an article about reaching financial independence in your 30s has been posted in this forum. But, this is the first time I've actually read through the comments.

Brings a whole new meaning to the term "arguing with a fencepost."

[ohcanada]

I like Jacob's full version much better, it gives more depth to the underlying concepts.

[Dragline]

Build it and they will come! Love the picture with the SEG (Shit Eating Grin).

The FB comments are funny -- lots of cognitive dissonance causing angry outbursts of disbelief and ad hominem assaults.

[jacob]

No idea who the dude in the HuffPo picture is. It's not me and it's not MMM. Probably a stock photo.
They used MMM's pic on the Next Avenue article though.

[Dragline]

I had to say, I was wondering when you grew all that facial hair.

[sshawnn]

Uh-Oh! The internet retirement police are gassing up their squad cars.

[ohcanada]

Sweet tat bro

[Ian]

I appreciated many of the touches in that article. Very balanced in ways that theoretically head off complaints ("theoretically" because of course they won't).

[jacob]

Ha! Yeah in practice, "reading comprehension" is a big issue.

"I bet those bloggers are childless..."

"Their parents must be really angry after paying for their college educations ..."

"How is it even impossible to retire without benefits..."

"How about telling me how I can buy a cheap house when the cheapest house in my neighborhood costs $400,000..."

"Let me guess, old money was given to them, an inheritance. There's no way the 99% could retire ..."

That's cognitive dissonance speaking out of a mind that has an extremely crystallized idea of only one single way to live. "Whoa! This is different. I'm scared. I'll object and point out the one thing that's most important(*) to me in life regardless of whether it was mentioned in the article".

(*) Usually depending on age, insert travel and restaurants for the 20-somethings, children for the 30-40-somethings, and benefits for the 50-60 somethings.

And so on... Such comments make it really clear to me that social problems is not due to a the 'lack of information' that information-providers are always blaming. "We must do more studies", "To further increase knowledge, an outreach campaign is needed", ... No, there's plenty of information. Social problems are primarily due to lack of education by which I mean an open-mind that's capable of comprehending new ideas and putting them in a critical perspective. Unfortunately, the current education-system is completely failing in this regard because it was never designed to do so.

However, I have noticed a subtle change over the past few years. I don't know if it's the great recession, a generational change, or simply MMM's huge popularity, but I do notice several people in the comments objecting to the objections. Maybe on a ratio of 1 to 10. Just a couple of years ago there were absolutely no defenders.

[RealPerson]

If information was all it took to make wise choices, there would be virtually no heart disease, little cancer, no obesity crisis, no addiction problems and no credit card debt. What people need is true motivation, which is a lot harder to do that just being informed.

When people say they can't, what they typically are really saying is they won't. Some people get angry because they did not make smart choices when others did, and don't have the motivation to do so now. Those are the nasty comment posters. Glad to see there are some voices of reason.

[Riggerjack]

Wow, the forbes article links to "coping with early retirement" a depressing article about how to survive an unplanned early retirement.

There's nothing like projecting a consistent message.

[Papers of Indenture]

I'm not FI yet but I get the same type of comments when I tell people that I paid off all $44,000 of my education debt in just under 5 years on an average yearly salary of $38,000 (before taxes). People respond as if they are offended. I'm sure most of them secretly assume I am lying or had the benefit of parents who paid for my living expenses. Hell....it wasn't even hard. Whatever....their loss.

Now i'm only up around $43,000 in salary yet I have accumulated the necessary budgeting skills to reach my FI goals in well under a decade. I'm sure folks will throw a real shit fit over that.

[JohnnyH]

Facebook is such a complete wasteland... One of the best decisions I've ever made online; not getting involved in that train-wreck.

[Tyler9000]

"How about telling me how I can buy a cheap house when the cheapest house in my neighborhood costs $400,000..."

"Let me guess, old money was given to them, an inheritance. There's no way the 99% could retire ..."

Those two comments stuck out to me, too -- Railing against those who have chosen a non-consumerist lifestyle by simultaneously lumping them in with the privileged 1%. Cognitive dissonance at it's finest, coupled with the standard defense reflex of looking for every reason that your own situation is wholly beyond your control. I understand that internet comments have huge selection bias towards the negative, but the capacity of humans to isolate and attack the "other" never ceases to amaze me.

[Seneca]

"How about telling me how I can buy a cheap house when the cheapest house in my neighborhood costs $400,000..."

But, it's LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE.

"Let me guess, old money was given to them, an inheritance. There's no way the 99% could retire ..."

I find it amusing the HuffPosters rail so hard against the implied message that they are in fact part of the 1%...

[Papers of Indenture]

People truly are beyond helping.

" In other words, fuck these people!"

"Glorified bums!"

"what a load of garbage. They better not be burdening the welfare system."

"Rich people gonna rich"

"this used to be called being a bum."

"Millions do it young. It's called welfare"

[Chad]

It would be interesting to see a study of the average IQ for commenters on various websites. I believe the average for the largest websites would be quite low. I don't even bother to read comments at any of the major news websites, as the people commenting there are barely human.

[slimicy]

I think frugalism may just be on the rise, especially in the younger generation. I'm 31, and while a good number of friends are focused on shiny things... most aren't decadent spenders. They still want houses and cars, but they're buying 2 Bed/1.5 Bath in the country and used Subaru's, not 5Bed/3Bath McMansions and Cadillac's.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... _page=true

I really do think it turns back to the ridiculous amount of student debt. I've heard even the most "shop-aholic" of friends say things along the lines of, "Oh, I want a new car but can't swing the payment with my student loans right now."

[JohnnyH]

(*) Usually depending on age, insert travel and restaurants for the 20-somethings, children for the 30-40-somethings, and benefits for the 50-60 somethings.

This observation is near 100% accurate... Jacob's Law of Seral Excuse Stratification. This is fascinatingly observed at least 2 dozen times in the comments.

Move on the spectrum from selfishly frivolous (restaurants, clothes, cell phones), to the emotionally anchored laziness (kids = $1 million [At least if you care!!!]) to the most fearful (and accurate) health concerns.

... I'm still shaking my head at the younger ones that think clothes, cars, restaurants, and 10 day vacation$ are the key to happiness.