RSS FeedJul 09 2009
Early Retirement Extreme
It’s probably no secret to folks who regularly read this blog that I’m not a big fan of the work-until-you’re-65-and-then-retire-and-finally-start-enjoying-life mindset. Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin’s book Your Money or Your Life comes pretty close to describing my current thoughts on the intersection between vocational and retirement planning. This is why I was so excited to recently discover the blog Early Retirement Extreme.
Early Retirement Extreme is the creation of Jacob who at 33 describes himself as “semi-retired”. (He still occasionally copyedits papers for a scientific journal for additional income.) Through extremely modest living and careful saving, Jacob reached financial independence at 30.
Jacob writes: “Most of my focus in my ‘retirement’ is on finding ways to be more economically and ecologically sustainable and find ways to use less resources, live better, and to be the change I want to see in the world.”
Jacob earns additional “cool” points with me because he and his wife have made the choice to live full-time in an RV, making them tiny-housers as well as kindred spirits.
If you aspire to financial independence in a radically short period of time, I encourage you to check out the blog. Be forewarned, though, that some of the advice is not for the faint of heart. As Jacob writes: “I basically live differently from 99% of those around me. I don’t have a driver’s license, I don’t have any debt, I don’t live in a house, I cook everything from scratch, I cut my own hair, I practically never buy new or anything at all for that matter, I am not on any prescription medicines, and I am in great physical shape.”
Jacob has pulled together a summary page of some of his best posts from 2008. I recommend starting there. He also has a great 30-Day Financial Makeover plan which can be located on the right navbar on the main page of hissite.
And if all that doesn’t keep you happily busy with reading, Jacob can also be followed on Twitter at @extremejacob.
As one final note, Jacob recently had a post about his aspirations to become a tiny home slumlord. Relentless determined to march to the beat of a different drummer, he refuses to choose Portland as the possible location because “all things cool already come from Portland”. Please do me a favor and drop him a note saying that resistance is futile and he needs to give it up and join the rest of the cool kids already. 
Portland could very much use its own tiny home slumlord.
Related posts:
It’s probably no secret to folks who regularly read this blog that I’m not a big fan of the work-until-you’re-65-and-then-retire-and-finally-start-enjoying-life mindset. Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin’s book Your Money or Your Life comes pretty close to describing my current thoughts on the intersection between vocational and retirement planning. This is why I was so excited to recently discover the blog Early Retirement Extreme.
Early Retirement Extreme is the creation of Jacob who at 33 describes himself as “semi-retired”. (He still occasionally copyedits papers for a scientific journal for additional income.) Through extremely modest living and careful saving, Jacob reached financial independence at 30.
Jacob writes: “Most of my focus in my ‘retirement’ is on finding ways to be more economically and ecologically sustainable and find ways to use less resources, live better, and to be the change I want to see in the world.”
Jacob earns additional “cool” points with me because he and his wife have made the choice to live full-time in an RV, making them tiny-housers as well as kindred spirits.
If you aspire to financial independence in a radically short period of time, I encourage you to check out the blog. Be forewarned, though, that some of the advice is not for the faint of heart. As Jacob writes: “I basically live differently from 99% of those around me. I don’t have a driver’s license, I don’t have any debt, I don’t live in a house, I cook everything from scratch, I cut my own hair, I practically never buy new or anything at all for that matter, I am not on any prescription medicines, and I am in great physical shape.”
Jacob has pulled together a summary page of some of his best posts from 2008. I recommend starting there. He also has a great 30-Day Financial Makeover plan which can be located on the right navbar on the main page of hissite.
And if all that doesn’t keep you happily busy with reading, Jacob can also be followed on Twitter at @extremejacob.
As one final note, Jacob recently had a post about his aspirations to become a tiny home slumlord. Relentless determined to march to the beat of a different drummer, he refuses to choose Portland as the possible location because “all things cool already come from Portland”. Please do me a favor and drop him a note saying that resistance is futile and he needs to give it up and join the rest of the cool kids already. Portland could very much use its own tiny home slumlord.
Finally! Some alternatives to the ubiquitous 4 hour workweek. Thanks for posting this -
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Yep, I’ve done the 4-hour week, but now subscribe to Jacob on a daily basis. He seems to be much less pretentious(?) than Tim Ferriss. He also does a lot more ‘living’ on a LOT less money. I’m working on developing some residual income streams, but I don’t want to ‘use’ othes the way Tim F. does, or at least appears to.
Jacob is a radical, but I really like his way of thinking. My own thoughts will fall somewhere there in the middle…
Phil in Texas (currently)
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