A North Carolina man revealed how he and his wife were able to retire at age 30 after saving $1.3 million
Justin McCurry has never made six figures from his job, but now his nest egg keeps growing thanks to the 4% rule.
Justin previously worked as an engineer, but he and his wife decided in their 20s that they wanted to retire early, as he explained to CNBC Do it.
Over a 10-year period, they saved $1.3 million and finally worked for good at age 33.
Despite their millionaire status, neither Justin nor his wife brought home a significant salary.
Both earned about $70,000 a year in their prime before retirement, providing a household income of $140,000.
However, they lived extremely frugally and managed to save between $50,000 and $100,00 every year.
Thanks to investments in the market, Justin’s nest egg has doubled in size in the last seven years.
“Our net worth continues to grow as our investments grow,” he said.
“We are seeing our net worth grow faster than our spending right now, which is a good position to be in.”
Justin and his family, including three children, live exclusively off the returns on their investments.
He is in no rush and is completely free to spend his time however he wants.
When choosing how much to withdraw, he follows the 4% rule.
What is the 4% rule?
The principle of the 4% rule is simple.
This means that money can be withdrawn from investments at a rate of 4% per year without ever depleting the main fund.
Because the stock market has historically averaged returns well in excess of 4%, money continues to grow.
Many financial experts, including Dave Ramsey and Graham Stephan, agree that retirees can comfortably withdraw at least 4% a year, if not more.
Justin and his wife also own family They live in Raleigh and have already saved to pay for their children’s college education.
However, they still live modestly on $30,000 to $40,000 a year and are careful about what they spend.
WHAT IS FIRE?
Justin is part of what is known as the FIRE movement – which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early.
Although it’s far from the normal approach, this method of maximizing savings and living frugally is an inspiration to many Americans.
O Reddit r/FI/RE community has 450,000 members.
However, the movement has its critics.
The Ramsey Show’s George Kamel recently warned about the impacts extreme frugality can have on your life.
“Here’s the problem: You could live another 60 years,” he said.
“So now you’re trying to save up so that those millions of dollars will last 60 years.”
The financial genius thinks a balanced approach between saving and spending is a better idea.
“Maybe it’s not good for us to spend everything we earn and be broke. Maybe it’s not good for us to live with so little that we live in a scarcity mentality, always in crisis.”
See why a couple with $4.3 million regretted retiring early.
Or how another duo retired at age 30 with just $870,000 — but their money keeps growing.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
