As you might have already guessed, I’m Earl. (duh!)
I am mid forties, father of 3 trying to get out of the rat race early despite being irresponsible with my finances in my earlier years.
I see others out there who retired by 40 or even in their mid 30’s, I have heard the stories of the minimalist who lives on wafers and water and saves 60% of their salary…
I am not here to tell you that if you never ear again you can live in a box and retire after working just 4 weeks. I also don’t condemn those that choose this path.
I will however, tell you the harsh truth.
Achieving Financial Independence is hard.
The system has been designed to keep us ignorant of what is possible and keep us working and paying those taxes until we can no longer get out of bed.
But it IS possible, through hard work and dedication, to achieve your financial freedom and leave the rat race on your own terms.
Earlyretirementearl.com is where I blog about MY journey towards early retirement and financial freedom. Here I write about my own personal journey as well as sharing all the incredibly useful information I have learned and continue to learn.
I have been featured on such sites as Camp Fire Finance and Personal Finance Blogs.
You can read my blogger confessions over at ThinkSaveRetire.com.
You can also follow me on twitter @misterash13.
I have written over 50 articles on various topics related to personal finance and the quest for early retirement. Some are personal, many are just a compilation of helpful information I have learned throughout my lifetime, but I promise you will find each of them useful.
I try to update the site with another informative article at least once a month and I will also continue to update once a month with what has now become my favorite feature, my monthly dividend income report. Please be sure to check back frequently.
It is not as easy as I would like to keep these updates flowing. I do still work full time (for now anyway) and with my family responsibilities as well, my time is pretty well spoken for already.
I am committed to this site and even if it means writing sometimes at 5 in the morning, I do it. I do not want to put mediocre information out there so it sometimes takes longer then I would like to get articles out, but rest assured, they are coming.
My Story
I grew up, lets just call it, less than well to do. As an adult, I worked at the same place for over 20 years before I realized just how unhappy and unfulfilled I really was. And, like most people, I always just sorta assumed nobody liked work and this is just the way life is. I accepted my fate as the norm and simply looked forward to the end in another 20 years when I could retire in my 60s and ride off into the sunset.
Boy was I naive!
I passed the years distracting myself with the usual forms of entertainment; TV, Movies, sports, video games, dining out, drinking, taking expensive vacations and buying crap I didn’t need. The more I did this, the more I began to realize I was sinking deeper and deeper into what felt like an inescapable life. I needed change and fast.
For most, we start out full of hope and dreams.
Then reality kicks in.
Bills start to pile up.
Responsibility rears its ugly head
We get married, buy a house, a few cars, have a couple kids and suddenly… Holy shit have I screwed up my financial situation.
Sound Familiar?????
There is a light at the end of the tunnel
If you relate to even some of this I have good news for you.
There is hope.
There is a way to improve your finances and escape the rat race to enjoy the financial freedom you have only dreamed of. I have become living proof that you do not have to accept a life of 40 years working at a job that leaves you feeling unfulfilled, unhappy or just down right miserable.
It has only been a few years since I got serious and fully committed to getting myself out of the rat race. As I calculate it now I will be retired before I turn 50. I know there are stories out there of people retired in their 30s. Then there is the testimonial of the guy who got rich on youtube making videos of his cat licking itself. Good for them. However, I can only tell my story and in my experience so far, there are many of you just like me. Hopefully, you can benefit from hearing about my mistakes and successes.
How I got here
I can’t say there was a straw that broke the camels back for me. Similar to how I had gradually accepted my position as someone working 60 hours a week for no satisfaction, I just grew more and more tired and unwilling to accept this way of life. Over time the things that I once just took as normal became unacceptable to me. Like having to be in the car for 3 to 4 hours a day going to and from work. Or waking up at 2 am for work one day but then working until midnight on a different day later in the same week.
If you can relate and want to hear more about what drove unhappiness at work, read my article Work is literally killing you. Why you need financial independence
I decided it was time to change. And with each small step, I felt better and better about my situation. Whenever I achieved a milestone or made any kind of breakthrough, I knew I was one step closer to getting myself out of this job that was making me unhappy. I first began by calculating how much money I would need to never work again. Then how long it would take to save that. Next, what would I need to sacrifice in order to save the money to reach that goal. Finally, the important part, I actually did it!
Why I started this blog
I started earlyretirementearl.com because once I realized this could be done by anyone, I was a little angry I didn’t know about it sooner. Once that feeling passed, I decided to share everything I had learned and my experiences so hopefully others could benefit.
It really is a shame how simple some of this is. The fact that they don’t teach basic personal finance to high schoolers is criminal. Something as simple yet as powerful as compound interest should be drilled in to our heads from the time we learn to multiply. Everyone who ever went to public school in the United States knows that in Fourteen Hundred and Ninety Two Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but most of us can’t even balance a freakin check book, let alone plan our own retirement.
Some scary facts
The average American is $38,000 in debt NOT including their mortgage.
21% of Americans have ZERO saved for retirement
33% of Americans have less than $5000
AND
The Average saving for families with members between the age of 56 and 61 is $167,577
Those are some scary facts. I was once among them. No more. I will no longer tolerate the results of my school system’s failure to educate me about how to handle my own finances. So I decided to take control and take control I have. I am now the architect of my own financial future and I have the power to make my retirement into what I want.
The goal of earlyretirementearl.com is to pass along what I have learned to as many people as I can reach. My hope is that you too can learn to control their own destiny. Hopefully this blog can help to motivate you into action or even teach you some of the things our school system has failed to teach.
Good Luck, happy reading, and happy future to you. Go for it and Live with Passion
Earl
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