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.

They’re spending their retirement travelling the world. Doesn’t sound bad to me!

The thread is about the piece on the BBC site which references thrift methods and specifically FIRE. It doesn’t talk about children, only about thrift as a means to save for goals, one of which is early retirement. others are travel, house buying and having a family.

Its absolutely nothing to do with politics left or right. If you are going to pontificate its worth checking up what thrifting and FIRE is actually about.

I think the biggest issue is that everyone seems to have a different opinion on what “retirement” means.

For some it means giving up work completely and never doing anything ever again. For others, like the Donegan’s it simply means having the freedom to chose whether or not to work. They have stopped work in the traditional sense, but have the ability to pick and chose what they do. That’s why they don’t refer to their investments as their “retirement fund”, but rather as a “freedom fund”. Freedom to chose whether to work or not.

Blog post from them to explain in more detail. If you don’t agree/like what they have to say then you are free to ignore it.

https://rebeldonegans.com/bbc-packed-lunches-retired-at-40/

There must be a great many people dislike their job a great deal to want to retire at 40.

It honestly wouldn't sit well for me retiring at such an age. Working in some capacity allows us to make a meaningful contribution to society.
Whether thats full time or part time,, paid or voluntary. Travelling the world sounds fun for a while, but another 40 years of life spent travelling sounds tedious.
One of my best friends and one of my relatives are both super rich- they both work part time- doing something they love.
I am not rich, but I adore what I do, self employed, work from home, when I wake in the morning I am excited by the thought of work. Retiring at 40 would not be for me at all.

It sounds awful. Just when you want to relax and you spend your years in customs queues.

Really? In your 40s?

One reason too we need to change NI which is on current earners to fund current pensioners and roll it into tax - people like this pair won’t be paying it and no doubt will expect health care too when needed - personally I am of the view that those paying no NI as not working and yet with substantial assets in cash/property or drawing down on private pensions and savings should have to pay in - make it say £30 a week each( much cheaper than it will be if Farage got in and goes ahead with health insurance system) and yes I know people on benefits aren’t contributing either, so yes I would have token payments on that too if they have cash over £600O or property with equity. The way the system works at the moment means people like this get away with just pretty low tax rates and that’s it - In many European countries they’ve sussed this out and hence why taxis much higher - there simply isn’t NI -

It's not about whether you would like to retire at 40 or travel the world. It's about having the money to give you freedom to choose what you want to do with your one wild and precious life.

It's a pity the BBC picked such a silly headline. Hopefully, lots of people will take a look at Rebel Finance School and appreciate what a wonderful resource it is.

I really don't think it's the political right telling people not to have children. The Right is obsessed with birth rates. I also don't think they tell people don't have kids so they have money to invest. I doubt very much that people shun having children just to have more money to invest.

But they will have paid NI surely. Before they retired.

I personally quite like the FIRE movement.

I especially like the fact that there is no one way to do it and it’s not so much about retiring at 40 with 1 million but more about understanding and managing your finances in a way that work for you and help your reach your goals.

I am 30 and I am stunned at the lack of financial education in youth and how much of a difference it would have made (for me and others) and would make still if that was something taught at school.

I think the idea that packed lunches would make you rich is ridiculous but I do think there is truth in looking at where your money goes and realizing how many unnecessary purchases one makes. I earn well but come from a poor background and I am glad I do because I don’t generally let my income influence the way I spend money though obviously my lifestyle has increased a bit in consequence to earning well and I do indulge myself at times. But I live in the same kind of neighborhoods I was born and raised in, I drive a car that’s 20 years old (and I like it enough that I would be tempted to buy the same one from the same year when it does eventually break down), I don’t have the latest IPhone in fact mine is actively dying (so I will probably change it this year but it’s about 4 years old) and I don’t care for brands, traveling is something I enjoy but I have always done it on the cheap and I continue to do so today. Most of my friends though have newer cars on finance, a brand new iPhone that they swap in every 1-2 years, eat out and drink out weekly, anything new that they fancy or see advertised on TikTok or IG is bought immediately and they live in neighborhoods that cost a lot more than mine as more central. Most consider themselves broke and unable to save but while they are low earner they fear more being out of fashion than being in debt and that’s terrifying to me how normalized being in debt for things that are superficial (a nice car/ a nice phone) is normalized and almost expected of you. It’s almost what being in your 20/30’s is about now.

I don’t think the fire movement is about being miserly and not spending a penny (that’s extreme FIRE), but it’s about choosing wisely how you spend and understanding that saving some and investing parts of it can and often do make more sense than being the latest whatever, if young people where taught early how much money they can make by investing X amount a year vs spending it on brands of all kind, a lot would make different choices. Had I know what I know now at 30 at 20 I would have made better choices earlier and would be further financially (though I technically can’t complain).

I don’t think the final goal is necessarily retiring rich but its about giving yourself the knowledge and power to increase your finances early (even if not to a massive amount) and in turn increasing your choices down the line when you need to/want to.

They don’t have kids and are high earners. Enough said.

I think that each person should have a 5y allowance to use between 30-50, instead of mat leave etc. A couple would then have up to 10y to use for family purposes, but everyone could use it to get their fitness, young and elderly care etc covered.

Happily would work longer to have that freedom when you need it!

Taking the piss out of someones name is a new low, even for mumsnet

Yeah, that is a weird comment. I live quite near Wales and know loads of Alans/Aluns in their 30s and 40s.

Yep but as they retired around 40 - that’s an awful lot of extra years to go after then when they will be contributing zilch in NI , expecting full health care and maybe only around 20 -22 years actually contributing .

If the Donnegans want a State pension then they'll have to make annual voluntary NI payments for many years.

Don't you go worrying about them sponging off the State!

I could do it on my current salary. If I spent nothing, and someone bunged me another couple of hundred thousand.
Or I could do it over 30 years (if I could start as a new graduate at a top senior role) and id have 6k to spend a year on, bills, rent, and sandwich filling.

Oh chill out.

This

And they dont have kids.
Our are costing 5k net pm for 2 just in child care.... inc food and clothes etc that's about 250k before compounding for both from 0-5 theres also lost earnings unaccounted for in there

Additionaly they can live in smaller housing.

It also sounds utterly joyless and im not jealous

However I have made packed lunches for years and dont get really get coffee out etc.
I do like FIRE movement in principal

At any age. I hate travel!

But they have paid. They likely won’t qualify for a full pension without the requisite contributing years so that’s moot.

I don’t see the vitriol that people who don’t have to work….don’t work?

They will still pay tax but the NI structure is not their fault.

As for healthcare - assuming they use the NHS - so? It’s not their fault that’s how it’s funded. Access to the NHS has never been based on contribution. That’s the point.

Why does their life sound joyless? Sounds like they are living life on their terms. How is that lacking in joy?

I don’t follow FIRE but reading this seems entirely reasonable. I don’t understand the bitterness and much of what they suggest is being twisted.