Things can change at any time. It would be much easier to come out of retirement at say 40 than it would at 70.
If FIRE works, why do we have any poverty, why do other Americans struggle on $40,000 or more annual income?
Because it doesn't work if you start from poverty. You can't save and invest if your entire income is going to surviving. You can't pay off a house if you can't afford a down payment after paying rent. Can't buy food in bulk to get it cheaper if you only have enough to afford food for the week. Etc. I'm able to live comfortably on considerably less than $40,000 a year (with two kids still at home) but only because I fully own my house and car (so no rent, no mortgage, no car payment, and no one coming to take them away or throw us on the streets if I hit a rough patch) - that's out of reach for most Americans that aren't in poverty, let alone those that are - and I live in a low cost of living area (moving cost money, I had to have that money and skills that can be done from anywhere as long as I have an internet connection, to be able to move here. Most people have to live near where the jobs they can do are).
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Things can change at any time. It would be much easier to come out of retirement at say 40 than it would at 70.
Because it doesn't work if you start from poverty. You can't save and invest if your entire income is going to surviving. You can't pay off a house if you can't afford a down payment after paying rent. Can't buy food in bulk to get it cheaper if you only have enough to afford food for the week. Etc. I'm able to live comfortably on considerably less than $40,000 a year (with two kids still at home) but only because I fully own my house and car (so no rent, no mortgage, no car payment, and no one coming to take them away or throw us on the streets if I hit a rough patch) - that's out of reach for most Americans that aren't in poverty, let alone those that are - and I live in a low cost of living area (moving cost money, I had to have that money and skills that can be done from anywhere as long as I have an internet connection, to be able to move here. Most people have to live near where the jobs they can do are).Post: Too Frugal for Me
Link to comment from June 9, 2021