Packed lunch = retired with £1m by 40.

[Allschoolsareartschools]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgdn3qqg7po
AIBU to say I've had a packed lunch for nearly 40 years but I dont have £1m & I'm not retired yet!
Am I doing something wrong?
Seriously how out of touch is this article? Good luck to them but its nothing to do with packed lunches.

I can’t think of anything worse than being retired at 40. I love my job, it’s gives me identity, structure, socialisation and a purpose.

But money, right? That’s the point.They had lots of money. It doesnt matter whether it came from a rich relative or whether they earned it. They clearly had way more money coming in than many people. And taking a packed lunch isn’t ’living like a miser’ nor is putting a jumper on rather than the heating. It’s how many people live their lives.

Good jobs are proven to keep all sorts of health benefits for workers, from dementia proofing your brain to social network strengthening. I don't think either of these was 'down 'pit or in forced labour camps or stressing their body as cleaners or inhaling toxic fumes, which obviously have detrimental effects on health.

It is quite odd at this time when so many struggle to get an entry level job for this to be a relevant news item.

Thing is, even packed lunches these days are expensive

Apparently making for 2 at home daily is cheaper than a meal deal each (as if they were eating those and not Cotes every day on their salaries!)

I think they've said elsewhere that they have more than £1m and that their investments have grown simce they "retired" despite living off them. The plan they share is to pay off debts, save an emergency fund and then build investments. They won't have £1m sat in cash savings but will have more than that spread across pensions, ISAs and general investment accounts as well as a much smaller sum in accessible cash.

Yes..they have it. Why is it a problem?

What ingredients did they use, I wonder? I can't think of any remotely exciting ingredients for two that isn't relatively expensive. Then there's the bread, the sauce, the salad. The drink each. Tin foil. Sod this, just give me the meal deal!

Considering lunch for me is £3.60 with an Advantage Card, you'd be hard pushed to get a sarnie with different fillings daily, snack and bottled drink for less every day of the week.

Katie and Alan have recorded a response to the article.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/katie-donegan_did-packed-lunches-make-us-millionaires-activity-7477805714673938432-9yYY?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAA1Cn0QBQUrpGgFz0usvTS3-xih_CrUcxRw

Before we click, is going to generate them another fortune? 😅

It’s on Katie’s LinkedIn profile and as they don’t pay for things like a Premium subscription I don’t believe they can monetise it 😜

If you don’t want to watch the video. A summary:

I haven’t learned anything that I didn’t already know: spend less than you earn and keep your savings invested. What are these people actually ‘teaching’ us?!

Well they taught me about investing in S&S ISAs, index funds, pensions, compound interest, avoiding high fees.

You can sneer as much as you like but they're decent people who are doing a lot of good. For free.

However, not making money (or much money) now does not mean they are doing it from the goodness of their hearts. Pretty standard model- build the business based on trust then, once you have a good customer base, start monetising with carefully chosen affiliate links etc (being sure not to damage your brand by going in too heavy), then sell up

I don't know why you can't take them at face value. They fund RFS themselves - they're transparent about it. They're not building a brand to sell. They live off their investments and Alan Donnegan has an entirely separate company.

I don't want to retire early but it's about having choice. And learning how to invest so you have a good life and a comfortable retirement.

There are many free resources that explain the basics of investing out there already.

There are many free resources that explain the basics of investing out there already

And?

Yes and Rebel Finance School is one of them! It’s been running for several years (I want to say they started 5 years ago but may be wrong). They update it every year to reflect any changes in tax/pension policy and also to answer questions that commonly come up.

The 2026 edition is running right now - every Monday and Thursday at 8pm live on YouTube or watch later in your own time. Totally free 😜

I think there’s an element of luck in this too - and that you pick a partner in your own image and both remain on the same page - if I had suggested this to my H or nitpicked whenever he spent on something I deemed non necessary I don’t think I would have got beyond a couple of years of marriage to be honest. He had years before I met him of grim flats, very little spare cash and beans on toast dinners so don’t think he would have signed up for more.

They beling to some MLM frugal wealth investment self development word salad group called FIRE which has had some negative reviews.

It’s not a very good MLM then, seeing as it’s 100% free to anyone who wants to follow the RFS course!

In fairness we are about 15 years into people on social media pretending they are uploading content out of the goodness of their hearts while actually charging £0000s for an Instagram post, or using their following to start their own line of expensive (crap) loungewear, or starting a subscription or patreon for their fitness videos, so I understand the scepticism.

There's a US based guy who has a financial auditing podcast and uses this to promote his subscription app.

There are still people who think that all fashion "influencers" get for their time is some free clothing. Baffles me.

They beling to some MLM

They do not.

They may not charge for the course, but it is naive to think they are not earning from it. Their YouTube revenue is probably still quite low, based on their subscribers and views, but this article and others like it are PR pieces for them to increase their following. I read them as just another pair of influencers pitching a pipedream that is far beyond possibility for the vast, vast majority of people, especially those with children.

You have to be earning enough in the first place to be able to save by living so frugally. On a salary of 30k after 40 years, you would have only earned 1.2M before any form of tax or expenditure. Looking at that monthly, it is about 2k after tax. To turn that into a meaningful amount with compounding, you have to be able to save at least 1k a month for at least 15 years. How many people on a £30k salary can save half their net income, raise kids and pay their bills? None of what they are promoting works unless you are a high earner in the first place.