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 not retired. They have their own business and this is an advertisement for it.

Not doubting some of the principles at all - aim for a high salary, cut costs, maximize money invested as compounding is a function of time, but no they didn't make 1 m off packed lunches.

FIRE isn't really about retiring in the usual sense for many people but about having the independence to do whatever you want. Rebel Finance may not be money-making at the moment but I suspect they'll sell it for £20m+ within the next decade.

My only objection to the BBC article is that it presents them as two ordinary bods who happen to have made a million rather than what they are- extremely successful finance influencers and educators who cut costs in early life to enable them to focus on building a business (one which is both very successful for them and socially purposive). Appreciate the BBC can't be seen to promote their business but it leaves a massive gap in the story.

These people more likely have more money than the same people thinking like this about them. They will have a lot of income streams, and be building wealth while asleep.

That, plus a global index fund, like Vanguard or MSCI. I got a 63% increase on my investment over the last 3 years. It wasn’t a huge amount to start with, and I came a bit late to the party, so no RE for me, but that’s how it works.

Of course, the market can also collapse at some point.

If you stopped eating food altogether, you will lose weight - not a lot of people know that 🫣.

my partner we have been together ten years was a dog walker, he set up the business after a big factory shut down where he had been for years from school. he is now retired, he is 69. I am 62 and have been on benefits most of my life as i have very complex conditions which are getting worse due to age

I’m no workaholic, but I’d way rather enjoy the occasional cooked breakfast in the work canteen with colleagues over shivering at home alone eating cheese and cucumber sandwiches for the next 50 years while DH rifles the bins and gutters in the Sainsbury’s car park for discarded Nectar vouchers!

Not read full thread yet (or article) but the Donnegans aren't smug or involved with MLM!

I see it's been mentioned but they run a free course - Rebel Finance School - on YouTube every year. No sponsorship or affiliations. They just give up their time and money to teach people about savings, investing, pensions without our money being used up in fees.

Give it a try!

"They just give up their time and money to teach people about savings, investing, pensions without our money being used up in fees"

Give over! You don't think they make money from it? I accept it might be a great product but this is not a 'goodness of their hearts' scheme - they are making excellent money! There is nothing wrong with that, if the product is good (and many of these on line finance are not good products) and they will be making cash from advertising if they do not charge - again fair play, but why is the BBC advertising for them? They don't do this for any other small business?

There’s such unkindness on this thread about two fundamentally great people who give a huge amount back to society. They’ve helped so many people I know personally, and thousands more. The FIRE movement is a movement because it s not for everybody. If it’s not for you, then it’s not for you (it’s not for me) but I don’t feel the need to be so personally unkind to the people that made that choice because it suited them.

I agree - I've also found their free course useful so far despite not agreeing with everything / being in v different circs to them (as I said earlier). This in itself is useful as it makes me assess what I value and think more clearly about money.

All the personal attacks are unpleasant. Reminds me of people complaining that Martin Lewis is rich. It's good that financially successful people are sharing free info with the rest of us.

I think there's a big crowd on MN who just are so envious and bitter when people study hard, work hard and achieve success.

No i earn about 1800 a month from my job and am getting on average 1900 interest from my investments. This money goes back into the investment pot to use compound interest and I do a couple of extra shifts a month to add to it as well.

The Donegans are great! They aren't making money from their course, they've said it actually costs them to do it but because they know they are in a lucky position they share their knowledge and experience.
They have a fab life now and travel the world, they are basically a couple of financial geeks who have worked hard (and obsessed to achieve their goals) and now get to enjoy life. Good luck to them!

I think it's just the disconnect between the idea that anyone can live "hyper frugally" and retire early with piles of cash, when the most salient point is that they were high earners which is what actually made the difference. Not nicking Sainsbo vouchers off the floor.

They certainly seem to have a keen fan club, so I am sure they can cope with a bit of bitter resentment from a MN thread.

Them ‘Enjoying that bacon sarnie are we?’

Me ‘It’s delicious thanks’

Them ‘So you don’t want to retire at 40 then?’

Imagine they can cope fine. Doesn't mean all the gratuitous tearing down on this thread isn't objectionable.

They wouldn't have had editorial control over that BBC article. But they do over their YouTube course, where as I said they seem congruent and to be sharing their approach in good faith. And they do address several of the points raised here.

(Am not their PR, so will step away now!!)

Are you 35 though and looking at living off your pot for 50+ years? Anything that’s in a private pension will only be accessible to them at 55. They will only get the state pension at 67. Even then they will only get the minimum state pension, which is less than £300 a month. For the full state pension you need 35 qualifying years.

Also I assume the £1m is between them? So 500k for 50 years? That’s 10k a year plus any pension when they eventually get it. Not doable in the UK. They could go to Thailand though until they are at pension age. Maybe that’s the plan.

Another “cult member”, I mean Donegan fan here 😜

I’ve followed their Rebel Finance School for a few years (and yes it is totally free to do - they’ve said many times they make about £15,000 per year from the advertising revenue on YouTube but that this doesn’t cover the cost of preparing and staging the course each year)

I think the confusion is around the statement that they are “retired”. A better way to think of it is that they can choose whether or not to work - mostly they don’t, but yes they probably do a few paid bits and pieces here and there.

The RFS course is well worth doing and as others have said they don’t tell people what to do, they simply say “we did this” and you can choose to follow whatever you like. At the very least they do a great job of explaining things that many people don’t understand like the effect of compounding (both on debt and on investments) and the basics of passive investing.

I don’t think that’s the case in this discussion - many of us have done that - the only difference is how you choose to slice the proceeds between today and tomorrow.

Many other people study, work hard and are successful but have very little disposable income and are continually doing their best to get by.

My 4 DC have ‘cost’ me loads nanny’s, childcare, private education, university costs, housing, bills, food etc x6. But I have unconditional love and a deep satisfaction exposing them to amazing experiences and now watching them live balanced enriching lives.

I don’t envy this couples life bouncing around the world in Air BnBs - I love my local friends, children, community events, family etc that’s my prosperity, happiness and ‘wealth’. But I get they love their full filling lives too.

I am criticising the article and to some extent the concept that’s being promoted , not these people themselves as individuals.

Sorry do they have several millions or 1m? If it’s 1m cash savings plus a stack in pension and ISAs that headlines very misleading.

Well I've just finished my packed lunch & caught up😄
In fairness the BBC headline suggests they did it all through packed lunches! Obviously there's more to it than that.
Personally I'd never heard of them before, they're obviously very well known & live a very different life from the average person.
It's not for me though. Savings yes, missing out & being cold, no way!

I’m sorry but you just don’t understand the concept. They will likely never deplete the £1m by very much. Maybe you should look at the course they offer!