Millionaire Monday, Meet Purple!
Today's Millionaire Monday isn't a Millionaire (yet; if the market continues it's projected returns, she'll become a millionaire in under a decade), but she is retiring at the ripe young age of 30 when she hits her FIRE number. For those of you not in the know, FIRE stands for "Financial independence, retire early." The FIRE community is all about helping people save and invest enough money to cultivate a lifestyle where work is optional. The FIRE community has also been under scrutiny as of late for a lack of representation in the community and spiritual bypassing. I'm thrilled to share with you Purple, who keeps the alias so she can continue working at her traditional job without tipping off her employer. Enjoy!
When will you officially hit millionaire status? What is helping you get there?
I haven't hit millionaire status yet as an individual but am aiming to have $500,000 by the time I quit in September. My partner and I don't share finances so that amount is all mine. Assuming average market returns I will hit a million dollars in 2031 when I'm 41 years old. My investing strategy has been very simple: 100% Vanguard stock index funds.
I got here by increasing my salary, slashing my spending, moving to a lower cost of living area (Seattle from NYC), maxing my tax-advantaged accounts, and determining my values. For me, this meant getting into travel hacking so I could continue traveling in first-class at a fraction of the cost and switching my cell phone provider, among other things.
If you could share a lesson or advice with others who are looking to achieve FIRE, what would it be?
One of my original objections to pursuing financial independence was that the examples I was given looked like a life of deprivation to me. I thought I would have to sacrifice things I wanted so I could retire five or ten years down the line. The trade-off didn’t seem worth it to me.
Luckily, by reading more blogs and being exposed to other perspectives and voices, I discovered that I had it all wrong. FIRE isn’t about deprivation. I have been able to find a way to get exactly what I want for free or cheap through things like travel hacking and geo-arbitrage. I haven't sacrificed anything for financial independence.
So, when it comes to FIRE, my advice would be to figure out why you're doing it. Decide what goal or life you're trying to achieve because a slightly inflated number on a screen may be more anti-climactic than you might imagine. It's what you do with the money that matters.
What would it have been like to have a millionaire role model that looked or sounded like you when you were starting your journey to hitting your FIRE number?
That would have been great. I've been watching the FIRE community for inspiration for almost a decade, but the space looked nothing like me when I joined all those years ago. Luckily there are more diverse voices in the space now, so hopefully, more people see representations of themselves and realize what is possible.
Where can people find you?
If you'd like to follow along my journey of retiring later this year feel free to check out APurpleLife.com or come chat on Twitter @apurplelifeblog or Instagram @apurplelife.