Early Retirement Extreme Forums

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-m ... full.story

I liked this:
"At 6% — a scenario Field regarded as more likely — his net worth would be nearly $3.5 million at age 55. Continuing returns on his investments, plus pension benefits, should keep him going quite nicely through his retirement years."
The guy clearly has enough to retire, should he want to - but I don't think he would. He could probably live on rental income alone. As the article paints it, he seems to have some sort of psychological disorder - never having enough money to suit him, never spending even when it makes sense (for instance, on healthy food rather than $1 meals at McDonalds). Penny-wise and pound-foolish, based on his investments.
Either the author of the article is malicious, or he's more 'cheap' than 'ERE'.
At least as interesting as the story is how it's presented.

I read this yesterday. What struck me was his bad eating habits as well as probably doing this financial review to get it for free. Plus maybe to promote himself for a future spouse? While his savings are impressive, even I would never consider living like he does.
So to answer your question, not me!

I'm not sure which is worse, the "rich" schmuck in the LA Times article or the couple in this article:

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/20 ... _plan.html
59/58 years old, a whopping $33k in IRAs and three mortgages on their underwater residence. At least they have each other (and their three probably ungrateful children).
I think I'd rather be the LA Times guy. At least he can afford psychiatric care.

I'm curious what people find so disagreeable about the cheap guy, besides his diet. His investment strategy may not be great - but it's not ridiculous, and it seems to have worked out well for him. On a site where people don't own cars, make their own deodorant, and don't wash their jeans for months (none of which I have anything negative to say about) - what's wrong with this guy? He is pretty conservative, but if he like his job, gets the summers off, and doesn't get killed by gangs where he's decided to live... it never hurts to have more money in case the handbasket arrives in hell in the next few decades.
I'm actually more curious how he's able to put $38k a year into tax deferred accounts. What can you do beyond $15k in a 401k and $5k in an ira ($20k total)?

I agree with chilly.
He probably is putting $38k into tax deferred accounts by using a 401k (or similar) a 457 and his IRA. As a government employee he could be eligible for the 457 which is similar to a 401k, but can be added in addition to the 401k limit.

> what's wrong with this guy?
Wanting money is ok, having money is ok, wanting more is ok, but being more preoccupied with saving than building a relationship is unhealthy. He has a problem that makes him go full-throttle on various aspects of his life and needs help in throttle modulation. Even worse is that he doesn't know where he's going, has no plan other than taking of his dad and accumulating more wealth.
(if you don't understand the analogy, imagine trying to park a Ferrari neatly while it has a stuck throttle)

I don't really have a problem with the guy. And I can sympathize with being a little obsessive with saving - a lot of people on the forum are pretty much the same way (including myself).
The difference is that I care about how I invest my money, I care about my health, and the reason I'm saving is not because I'm scared, but because I want my freedom. Trying to save a lot of money, but then not caring about how it's invested or even investing safely is crazy to me.
What's the point of saving $1 on food if you're putting $100,000 at risk on a foolish investment? What's the point of saving $1 on food if you put yourself at risk for health care costs that could force you to spend 10s of thousands?

I actually read this in the paper yesterday and poked my boyfriend. I told him this is almost you. The only part of it that's him is my boyfriend has enough money to retire or to semi-retire if that makes him more comfortable, but somewhere he got it into his head he has to have 3 million dollars before he can even think of it. But the guy is really more like my dad who eats similarly and likely has a similar sub-Asberger's syndrome personality.