What kind of sandwiches would you recommend he eat? I lived way beyond my kindergarten graduation on nothing but peanut butter sandwiches. And I was not being frugal. I was blowing every spare penny I had on food. And as my income grew my eating and especially dining out grew. I never spared a dime for a good meal at a fine restaurant. And my only regret, now that I no longer can eat like I did when I was young is that I didn't spend even more time and money on food than I did.
Living Frugally to Retire By 40? Mental Illness or Smart ? It's smart. Most people are money stupid. Most are living above their means. Most are as worried about how much others are making instead of how much they, themselves are making. You gotta understand something: Your friends and enemies aren't paying your bills. So, it doesn't matter what they say or what they think. Most people can't afford the car they drive (one of the biggest financial burdens Americans find themselves in). Many can't afford the house they are living in. Follow the Dave Ramsey rule: Live like nobody else so that someday you can live like nobody else.
The reality is by the time these low earning churners finally make enough to retire at 40 50 or whatever, they are not going to start "spending" to live like nobody else (ramsey). He is spreading a myth.
The second most valuable thing in life is freedom and if to him freedom is retiring at 40 then it's super smart...
Let's face it, once you hit 40-50, you at halftime show of life, slipping towards days of how you were bought into this world, screaming, dribbling and in diapers. Not like when in your teens of can't wait to become an adult so I can drink legally and forget about life for just awhile. When we were a toddler, straws were fun and you get those cups with screw on lid so you don't spill, as we older, guess what, ROFLMAO, pull my finger....lol. Today I woke up feeling pretty good considering, smuggled two bottles of wine, traded couple hours, out comes the pliers, you know it is a good month of this wineeee. Haven't been this loaded in a while. Everyone likes things they can afford or not afford, I get lost if home too big and actually get stressed out, but I like old cars, hunting down a part in middle of Kentucky field that's been there hundred years. Retiring or quitting from whatever job you have done for twenty years to be able to just exist is a shame, but quitting one job while working at something else you are passionate is not working at all. I think those who put in more than forty hours and have own businesses are smart ones as they know what it takes to overcome other facets of life and to live life fully and not let life run you down
I don't think the below comments have been brought up: 1) dividends can be cut and/or stock prices can crash. this guy might not actually be financially free at 40 yrs old 2) He might like peanut sandwiches