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- [00:00]
A
Today's guest gave herself permission to hit pause on her career in her early 30s for an entire year, all while staying on track to reach financial independence by age 44. Today we're exploring what it takes to take a sabbatical without derailing your fire plan. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. My name is with me, gentlemen. My name is with me, Jensen. I don't even know my own name. Oh, my goodness. Okay. My name is Mindy Jensen, and with me as always, is my sunshiny co host, Scott Trench.
- [00:38]
B
Thanks, Mindy. Great to be here with you, Jensen. We are so excited today to be joined by Alex Morales on today's episode. You can find her online as Girl Chasing wealth. As of today, she is a few weeks into her year long sabbatical, which we can't wait to talk about. And we can't wait to talk about the lead up to her making this decision as well. Welcome, Alex.
- [00:56]
C
I'm Mindy. Hi, Scott. Thank you guys so much for having me on the show. I'm really excited to be here and fangirling a little bit. I'm a huge fan of BiggerPockets, so I'm excited to talk to you guys today.
- [01:08]
A
Well, I'm excited to talk to you. I want to know what your job was that you decided to take a break from.
- [01:15]
C
Yeah, absolutely. I have been working in marketing since I graduated undergrad in 2017. So I worked full time in marketing since then. And I was feeling super burned out and kind of ready to take a break. And pursuing a sabbatical was something I always wanted to do. So I decided everything aligned and it was the right time to take that leap.
- [01:40]
B
When you first discovered the concept of fire. But what was your position like in life? How far along were you on this journey in your marketing career and where were your finances?
- [01:50]
C
Yeah, so I remember this specific day. It was back in January 2021, and I was just doom scrolling on TikTok and I came across a video by Katie, aka Millennial Money Honey. And she was talking about how you actually don't have to work until 65 to retire and how retirement is a number, it's not an age. And that was the seed that was sort of planted in my mind. So this was four years ago now and I was 26, so. So pretty early on in my career. But I did all of the research. I kind of did a deep dive on fire. I binged the mad scientist podcast, the Mr. Money Mustache blog, I read all the personal finance books and I Kind of discovered that, hey, early retirement is actually a possibility for me. And I had about $50,000 saved in cash at that point. So I, I think I already had a bit of a start there.
- [02:51]
A
Yeah, you had a huge start there. What were you saving that 50,000 for? Or was it just for the future?
- [02:57]
C
Yeah, it was kind of for the future. Maybe. Do I want to buy a house, put a down payment down on a home and build wealth that way? Growing up, I was kind of taught like, hey, go to college, get a job, buy a house. And so I think that was kind of the savings goal, but really no full intention or plan end there.
- [03:18]
B
Once you kind of came across, stumbled into the fire universe, it sounds like you went down the rabbit hole pretty deeply, probably presumably for years, consuming all that content. What are the things that began to change in the immediate aftermath of this? With that $50,000 saved at your 26, how do, how do you begin to change the trajectory of what you're doing?
- [03:37]
C
Yeah, so from there, I immediately opened my first IRA. I opened a brokerage account. I already had a 401k, but I bumped up the contribution significantly. And then I immediately started tracking my spending so that I could see my savings rate and ultimately project my timeline to fire.
- [04:00]
B
Awesome. You were clearly saving before this because you had the $50,000 saved. But what, what specifically changed about your spending after discovering fire, where you're able to presumably can contribute more to your 401k and begin accumulating wealth outside of it at an even faster rate? What were some of the changes there?
- [04:20]
C
I cut out unnecessary spending. I lowered my food budget a lot. I was someone who was going out to eat many times a week. And I also shopped a lot, so I was buying clothes all the time. So those were two easy things that I could really cut out right away and start saving significantly. I don't think you really realize, you know, how much you're spending on these certain categories until you're really tracking it. And then you start to notice, like, oh my gosh, hundreds of dollars a month are going to this, and for what? Like, why?
- [04:55]
A
Yeah, it's just a dollar. It's just $20. It's just $50. What do I care? It's. It's no big deal, especially when you've got a higher income. But when you start tracking it and you see how fairly easy it is to remove some of these, especially when you go from not tracking to tracking, you're like, I'm spending how much? Like my, my Amazon budget is Cringeworthy for a while because I think, first of all, I think that Amazon prime is like a brilliant thing for Amazon and not so brilliant for somebody trying to get their spending under control. But let's talk real numbers here. What sort of income were you making and how much were you saving versus what, what you cut out? Like how much did you cut out.
- [05:40]
C
Of your budget back in 2021? Like I said early on in my career, I was only bringing in 60,000 a year and like a 4 to 5% bonus there. So I think I'm a really good example of someone who's not a high earner who's pursuing fire. So when I started out, it was, you know, so middle of pandemic. I wasn't traveling much. I wasn't really going out to do things still. And I was able to hit like a really high savings rate, around 55 to 65% each month. As you guys know, on a $60,000 salary, that's not really sustainable. I was living in like extreme frugality. And so over the years I think my spending has transitioned to more of an attentional approach. And so I don't really align with like the extreme frugality anymore. I really think that you have to prioritize enjoying the time now while also planning for the future. So my, my spending has changed a lot. I don't want to say I've fallen into lifestyle creep because I do still keep my living costs low and my transportation and food, but I do allow myself more flexibility with travel, spending and experiences.
- [07:01]
B
So, you know, you're making $60,000 a year with a couple percentage point bonus and you're hitting a 60% savings rate. So surely you are in like Memphis, Tennessee or somewhere in the Midwest with a really low cost of living area, right, Alex?
- [07:15]
C
Absolutely not. I unfortunately live in a high cost of living area in California. So it just came down to keeping the housing costs really low by having roommates and then shopping at discount grocers and just keeping food budget super low. I was fortunate that I paid off my car back in 2020. So when I did discover fire and start pursuing early retirement, my car was already paid off. So I didn't really have that big payment every month over my head.
- [07:47]
B
So I just want to chime in here that it sounds like there was some changes in your food and shopping budget, but I want to call out that the biggest. It's almost impossible to move towards fire in a situation like yours in a high cost of living market if you don't do something special with your housing. In your case, it's as simple as and as scoffed at by many as having roommates. Can you tell us about your housing situation and how you were able to presumably keep it very low to be able to spend $30,000 a year in total?
- [08:18]
C
In California, most people don't want to live with roommates. It's not fun all the time. And of course you want to have your own space. But if building wealth is what you really want, it's crazy not to do so. Just as an example, like to rent a one bedroom by yourself is going to cost around, you know, $2,200 a month.
- [08:42]
B
In what city is that again?
- [08:43]
C
So I'm in Ventura, California. Okay, yeah, so that's a one bedroom. But if you split a two bedroom, you're looking around 2,500. If you get like a three bedroom condo, you can bring your housing costs even lower to about a thousand dollars for a room and living with two other roommates. So I think it's very doable and I think a lot of people just don't want to share their space. And I totally get it, but it's all about the sacrifices that you're willing to make, really.
- [09:15]
B
All right, we're going to take the first of two mini retirements from the BiggerPockets money podcast. But while we're away, feel free to go over to YouTube and subscribe to our channel. That's YouTube.com biggerpocketsmoney when I evaluate debt funds, I look for things like first position loans, personal guarantees, deep experience by the fund operator, low fund leverage, fast liquidity and consistent returns. These are some of the reasons why I'm excited to partner with Pine Financial Group. Their Fund 6 offers investors exposure to real estate credit, largely for construction and rehab, largely here in Colorado. With loans originated by an experienced originator. With over $1 billion in origination volume, 75% of their borrowers have been repeat customers over 17 years. They offer investors an 8% preferred return paid monthly and a 70.30lpgp split of everything over 10% paid annually. The lockup period is nine months with liquidity available within 90 days. After that nine month commitment, the fund is open to accredited investors only. The fund's minimum investment is typically $100,000, but Pine Financial is able to reduce that minimum for some investors and have agreed to do so for Biggerpockets Money listeners to a minimum of $25,000. Full disclosure. I am personally invested in this fund through my self directed IRA and of course Pine Financial. Is sponsoring this message and our podcast. If you'd like to invest or check out their Prospectus, go to biggerpocketsmoney.com pine today that's biggerpocketsmoney.com pine Please note that returns are not guaranteed and may vary based on fund performance. Lowe's knows how to get you ready for holiday hosting with up to 35% off select home decor and get up to 35% off select major appliances. Plus members get free delivery hallway, basic installation parts and a 2 year Lowe's protection plan. When you spend $2500 or more on select LG major appliances. Valid through 10. One member offer excludes Massachusetts, Maryland, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Florida. Installed by independent contractors. Exclusions apply. See lowe's.com for more details. Mint is still $15 a month for.
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- [11:48]
A
See mintmobile.com welcome back to the show. I love the Dave Ramsey quote. Live like no one else now so you can live like no one else later. You people in your life who are saying, oh nice, but I could never live with roommates. I could never live with roommates. And then in 10 years when you're retired, they'll be like, oh my God, how did you do it? Well, I lived with roommates. I didn't shop at the brand name stores. I willingly made small sacrifices. This you're not eating beans and rice and living in your car. You still have a place to live. You just are sharing it with people. And I think that there's this mentality in America that we have to have everything. I want to have the nicest of everything. Well, sure, but you're not going to retire early. I mean, you got to pick what you want and then once you are retired, you do all the things that you want to do. So I think your approach is better.
- [12:44]
B
One way of putting it is you have a roommate, I presume still right now, right?
- [12:49]
C
Yes.
- [12:49]
B
All your peers have a desk.
- [12:51]
C
Yeah.
- [12:52]
B
Right. So that, that's the difference. It's, it literally Is that simple? In the position that you were in where you were making a reasonable, a pretty good income at $60,000 a year, it's not, it's not crazy in California, but it's good for someone at 26 at that point. And you were able to achieve this outcome, I think in large part because of that single choice, that and the paid off car. Oh my gosh. I mean, you know, there's even additional ways on top of that, like the live in flip or the house hack that can accelerate things, but it's, it's the roommates. And can you tell us about what your situation is with your roommate? Do you have one or multiple?
- [13:22]
C
Yeah, I have one roommate at the moment. You know, it's easy. I, I enjoy it, to be honest. I, I've actually never lived alone and I think I would be a little lonely or a little scared. Like, it's nice to have someone there to connect with at the end of the day.
- [13:38]
A
Scott, having a roommate is just a fancy way to say house hacking or house hacking is just a fancy way to say having a roommate.
- [13:45]
B
You just owned the place in the house hack. But Alex, I also have never lived alone, so I've never. I shared a room with my brother growing up, so having my own room was a huge privilege in there. I didn't have my own room until my senior year of college in there because of the way that the dorms worked at school. So. And then after that, I didn't have. I had a roommate all the way through until when I met my wife. Then we moved in, then I moved out with a place of the roommate and in with her. And I think that's been an enormous, enormous boon to building wealth. There's no way I could, I could have gotten to where I got, or I think I guess you, you could have got to where you got without that choice. So I wanted to call that out because it's, it's the most essential ingredient and it. I, I think in a situation like yours, with your income to being able to move into that next barrier. Do you, do you agree with that? Would you, reflecting on your journey?
- [14:37]
C
Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, like I said, a high cost of living area, if you're able to keep that housing expense down, that's really gonna put you ahead. So I totally agree.
- [14:48]
A
So let's talk investments. What were you doing with this $35,000 a year that you were saving from your $60,000 salary?
- [14:57]
C
Like I said, opened my IRA right away and I maxed it out Since I did have that big cash savings, I maxed it out for the year before and then the current year, and then I was contributing a large percentage to my 401k, I believe when I first started out, I bumped it to like 29%. So that was huge. And then more recently I started a second brokerage account and started to dollar cost average into Bitcoin every month. So I've been doing that for a few years and just throwing like a hundred bucks in each month to diversify a little bit more. I definitely want to disclose that it's very small percent of my portfolio and I do not think bitcoin is a sound investing strategy to reach early retirement. But I didn't want to miss out on what that could possibly be. And you know, the risk has paid off. It's done really well for me in the last few years. So that's definitely bumped up my, my net worth quite a bit.
- [16:04]
B
Do you use the bitcoin investment to fuel your sabbatical? Are you spending portions of that right now or are you keeping that invested?
- [16:12]
C
No, I'm actually not selling any investments to fund the sab. So I decided I want to, wanted to take my sabbatical back in March. And so since then I lowered my 401k contributions down to just my employer match. And then I've been saving all my cash in my high yield savings account. I really wanted to avoid selling any positions because I know that those are going to continue to grow while I'm no longer contributing over the next year. And so I, I'm very, I think I'm going to be able to do it with just the cash I have. This is the first year I'm actually earning some income from my side business as well. So I'm hoping that any extra income I need, I'll have that as a safety net. But that's definitely not plan A. Plan A is just to use the savings that I've built up.
- [17:06]
A
Did you take an actual sabbatical from your company or did you quit your job completely?
- [17:12]
C
I resigned. So my company doesn't offer sabbaticals. I gave my notice and quit my job. You know, it felt like it was really time for me to move on. And before I decided to take my sabbatical, I was looking for a new job. I was applying to new jobs. I really felt like my salary and my professional growth was kind of stagnating where I was at. So the, the move was to find a new job. And then while doing that I was realizing hey, I'm super burnt out. Like I'm exhausted trying to keep up with a full time job with my side business. I just didn't feel like I could confidently enter a new role and start at a new company at that point. Because when you are moving on to a new company, you know, you want to learn the company you're. I'm in marketing so I would have to learn a completely new brand, potentially a new product. And I just didn't think I could give it my all at that point. So yeah, like I said, it really felt like things sort of fell into place where hey, now feels like the right time to do this because I had been pushing it back year after year and it just felt like everything really aligned at this point.
- [18:25]
B
I'm going to go back a couple of moments here. You know, we started the journey with $50,000 and $60,000 in income. $50,000 in savings, $60,000 in income, presumably a little bit in a 401k on top of that and a paid off car. What, what did your income grow to in the next few years leading up to the sabbatical, which I believe began just a few weeks ago here?
- [18:47]
C
Yeah, you're correct. I am about 10 days into my sabbatical. So when I just left my employer I was at 80,000 per year. So it did grow quite a bit in the last four years. I received a promotion in that time, so I was striving to constantly grow my income there. And I will say I feel like I stayed at this company a little bit too long, but sometimes it's a trade off. I did really love the people I worked with. I loved the other benefits. They also paid for my mba. So I earned my MBA while I was with them and that was completely free to me. So I did stay too long. But I think at the end of the day it was worth it. Can you remind me of the second part of your question?
- [19:37]
B
Just what did your wealth grow from that 50,000 to in the, in the last couple of. Until like lastly last month when you decided it was time to take the sabbatical.
- [19:46]
C
Yeah, yeah. And so since then my net worth just hit 310,000 in August. So I just breached the 300k mark, which is absolutely insane. But I'm not going to get too used to it, fully expecting that to go down as I'm spending some of that cash in my savings account. But like I said, if I'm intentional enough with my business, I'm hoping I can I guess limit that hit.
- [20:15]
B
Let me ask you this, how much cash did you save up and what do you spend in a year? What do you expect to spend in this next year?
- [20:21]
C
So I based my goal on my spending for this year and average I was spending about 3, $300 a month. So I needed about 39,000 for the year to take the year off. I actually got close to that. I got to around 30,000 and then I paid myself 10,000 from my business. Like I said, I this is the first year I've been earning income so I was able to kind of bridge that gap for the rest of my sabbatical. I am intending to travel a little bit over the year. Nothing super extensive but take a few trips. So I'm really lucky that I do have that business income in the event that maybe I go overspending. But I'm also going to be at home a lot, so I'm really going to try to regulate my spending while I am home. I'm going to try to eat out less and just limit my spending so that I have that extra buffer when I do want to spend more on a trip here or there over the next year.
- [21:19]
B
All right, this is the second of two little mini retirements that we're taking from this episode. We'll be right back with more after this. When I evaluate debt funds, I look for things like first position loans, personal guarantees, deep experience by the fund operator, low fund leverage, fast liquidity and consistent returns. These are some of the reasons why I'm excited to partner with Pine Financial Group. Their Fund 6 offers investors exposure to real estate credit, largely for construction and rehab, largely here in Colorado. With loans originated by an experienced originator. With over $1 billion in origination volume, 75% of their borrowers have been repeat customers over 17 years. They offer investors an 8% preferred return paid monthly and a 7030 LP GP split of everything over 10% paid annually. The lockup period is nine months with liquidity available within 90 days. After that nine month commitment, the fund is open to accredited investors only. The fund's minimum investment is typically $100,000, but Pine Financial is able to reduce that minimum for some investors and and have agreed to do so for biggerpockets money listeners to a minimum of $25,000. Full disclosure I am personally invested in this fund through my self directed ira and of course Pine Financial is sponsoring this message and our podcast. If you'd like to invest or check out their Prospectus, go to biggerpocketsmoney.com pine today. That's biggerpocketsmoney.com pine Please note that returns are not guaranteed and may vary based on fun performance. Last fall we booked an incredible Airbnb in Scottsdale, Arizona so that we could get a little escape from the Colorado winter. We had a wonderful time taking our two year old to see some of the highlights of Phoenix, trying out some new restaurants, and we even used the beautiful heated pool every day of the trip. I'll never forget it. This trip made me think while we were looking for a little break, someone else was likely looking for that authentic Colorado winter experience and they could have enjoyed our home to do so while we were away if we hosted it on Airbnb. And even though we would be hosting others while on vacation ourselves, it'd be totally doable with Airbnb's co host network. Now you can hire a local co host to be on the ground and to help take care of your guests. It's so great they do the work for you and you could earn a little extra money. Co hosts can create your listing, manage reservations, provide on site support and message guests. They really help make it so easy. It definitely could be a great opportunity for you. Find a co host@airbnb.com Eczema isn't always.
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- [25:17]
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- [25:52]
C
That's such a good question and I think I had that conversation so many times at fincon last week. It is my my Instagram account Girl Chasing Wealth. So I sell digital products there, I partner with brands and do brand deals and then I over the next year would like to build out a coaching program. It's a really tough question to answer if I would or wouldn't take it full time. I think I ultimately my goal is buyer and I don't feel that my net worth is quite high enough to go all in on my business quite yet. So I think eventually if I could replace my income and all of the benefits that come with the nine to five, I would consider that. But at this point I do intend to reenter the workforce and then have my business on the side. That way I can build up a little bit more wealth and maybe make up for taking a year off. But it's not a I never type of thing. I will consider it in the future.
- [26:58]
A
And how old are you right now?
- [27:00]
C
I'm 31.
- [27:01]
A
31. Okay, so I hear some people yelling at their podcast player, well, what about all the time that you're giving up by not putting any money into the stock market right now? How do you reconcile wanting to hit financial independence with taking a whole year off? By the way, I think taking year off is great. I'm just speaking for the people who aren't on this call.
- [27:27]
C
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, in our community, we get so focused on that one end goal and, you know, hitting that savings rate and meeting that timeline, and we can sometimes lose sight of what's really important, which I think is money is a tool to help you reach your goals and spend intentionally in on the things that you value. And for me, I value my time and I value my experiences. And I actually was just listening to the Choose Phi podcast and I forget her name, but she's an author and she's writing about many retirements. And that episode really resonated with me because the whole concept is to, yes, pursue early retirement, but also take many retirements throughout your career to test out what retirement looks like and to take advantage of these opportunities during the different seasons of your life because they're not always going to be there. And so I think I'm approaching it more balanced now where if my timeline gets pushed back a few years, that's okay because I'm having all of these breaks in between and all of these experiences in between. And I think ultimately that's really what matters.
- [28:51]
A
Yes. I didn't do it like that, and I wish I would have. So you are. You are correct. I think that it's really important to have these experiences with the mindset of, yeah, I still have this big goal, so I'm going to have some of the experiences. I'm not going to have all of the experiences.
- [29:09]
C
Yeah, totally. And something I'm trying to embrace more is just the abundance mindset and reminding myself that there's always going to be more money. And, you know, I am building a business and I am resourceful. And so I think there's always going to be a way for me to grow my income and make up for the time that I am maybe taking off or not contributing as much as I would like.
- [29:34]
B
So what is the experience that you're, you know, you're two weeks in, but what did you have planned? What have you done the last two weeks, and what. What's coming up in the near future?
- [29:42]
C
Yeah, so actually, in two days, I am taking off to Europe for almost four weeks. I am doing a girls trip for the first half of it. We're going to Greece, we're going to go to Oktoberfest in Munich, and then my mom and my family are flying out and we're going to travel together through southern and western Europe. So I'm really excited for that. And in addition to that, just taking a Few other extended trips. I'm gonna go to Brazil next spring for a month and I want to try out new hobbies. I want to rest and teach myself to rest because I. I feel like I'm always working and if I'm not being productive, I feel bad about that. So I want to embrace, rest and just be okay with it. And yeah, whatever else I get up to, I want to just go to the grocery store on a Wednesday and be one of those people that I always talk about. I always say, like, don't these people have jobs? Like, why are you out on a Tuesday at like 10am? So that's going to be me for a year. I'm really excited.
- [30:49]
A
It's really awesome to be out there shopping when nobody else is shopping. And then every once in a while you'll forget and you go there and you're like, why is everybody at the grocery store? Oh, it's Saturday morning. Crud. I meant to do this yesterday.
- [31:03]
B
What did you do last Tuesday?
- [31:05]
C
I think I was. I was actually working a lot because I was prepping because fincon was the next day and I was leaving to fincon, so I was, you know, prepping content. But I will say, the day after my last day of work was last Saturday and I lounged all day. I just. I kind of like dilly dally, moseyed around. I didn't feel the pressure I normally feel on a weekend to get stuff done because my weekends before looked like me making a long list of everything I needed to do or wanted to accomplish on that weekend so that I could get to Sunday and try to, you know, get a head start on the week. So that was my first day to just kind of not have anything pressing or anything that I needed to do. And it was a really weird feeling, to be honest. But I know I'm going to get used to that and really enjoy it.
- [32:03]
B
Do you watch football all day is what you're saying? Entire day. Start to college football?
- [32:08]
C
Definitely not. No. No sports here. No sports.
- [32:13]
A
Alex, do you have a job lined up yet for when you are ready to return to work?
- [32:18]
C
I do not. And that was one of my biggest fears when considering a sabbatical is going back to work and finding something. Especially because I've heard just how bad the job market is right now. So I don't have anything lined up. But I also firmly believe that everything happens the way it's supposed to. And I believe that the right opportunity is going to be there when I am starting to look and starting to plan on going back, I. In the meantime, I'm just trying to make connections. Fincon was really great. I talked to a lot of people and so, you know, networking and hoping to get my foot in the door somewhere. When I do eventually go back, another part of the plan is trying to get a much higher paying job. Because I was at 80,000 when I left my job, I feel like I was pretty underpaid and I know I can earn more. So I'm really excited to move on, maybe move into fintech or just tech in general, because that's kind of where the higher salaries are at right now. So that's kind of the goal when I do get there.
- [33:23]
A
So you mentioned that your spending is about 39,000 a year. What is your fire number? Have you mapped that out yet?
- [33:32]
C
Yeah, my fire number is 1.75 million. So starting out back in 2021, I chose the fire number of 1 million. But as I realized, very lean, living very frugal, and I realized I wanted to have more flexibility with travel and experiences. So I did bump that up to 70, 70,000 a year or 1.75 million.
- [33:59]
A
Okay, and you're 31 right now with a $310,000 net worth. Now, that 310 does not include the 39 that you're gonna spend this year.
- [34:07]
C
Does, does.
- [34:09]
A
Okay. So I mean, I'm going to look into my crystal ball and say, I think the stock market's going to continue to go up. You will take this time off, spend your 39, and in about a year, your net worth is going to be at least around the 310 that you're at right now. Past performance is not indicative of future gain. And I'm not predicting, but I am predicting. You know what? This is my show. I could say what I want. This is not investment advice. That's the disclaimer I'm trying to find in my Rolodex of disclaimers. This isn't investment advice, but I believe I like I have talked to so many people in this space. Christy and Bryce from Millennial Revolution have been retired for 10 years. And it is a longer timeline, but still they have been pulling their 4% out of their portfolio the entire 10 years and spending it. And they still have more money now than they did when they retired. And they are earning income, but they have all their earned income goes into a separate space and they are only living off of their retirement accounts. And, and that retirement account after withdrawing the 4% is still, has still grown to more money than they had 10 years ago.
- [35:14]
B
I have a different prediction here. I don't know what the stock market's going to do one way or the other. Your net worth is going to be higher, lower, about the same next year. I don't know on that.
- [35:21]
A
Wow. Really going out on a limb, Scott.
- [35:23]
B
But here's my, here's my, My prediction is in this next year you're going to continue basically maintaining your side hustle business and you're going to find path pathways to that because it's going to be just bubbling in your mind in there that are going to make it your. The return to work delayed indefinitely. That's my, that's my prediction that I'll go with. I don't. And I'll bet on that one over whatever the stock market is going to do in the next 12 months.
- [35:47]
A
Ooh, I like that prediction, Scott. Let's mark this in the calendar. What is today? September 15. We are recording this. So let's circle back next year. September 15th. Oh, we'll be at Fincon next year. So it'll be a couple of weeks later. We'll circle back and we'll have another conversation and see how did your, what was your net worth on the end of your sabbatical? Did you go back to work and how did your spending happen? I'm super excited to check in with you in about a year.
- [36:18]
B
Alex. Your position is so perfectly conducive to an entrepreneurial endeavor in the next couple of years because you've been able to consistently accumulate more, spend less than you bring in. You've already got a bit or a taste of the revenue from your business. You've clearly consumed hundreds or thousands of hours of self educational content in the space here and the connections are going to start to I think be made at an increasing or compounding rate in there. And I think you're going to find that that's going to be the case. I just think that this is just a perfect position for folks and I don't, I don't. I think it's going to be less of a sabbatical in the purest sense where there's no income being generated. That'd be, that'd be my guess.
- [37:02]
C
Thank you. I really appreciate that prediction. Um, I think it's definitely something to dream about and I'm really excited where the year is going to take me.
- [37:12]
A
I am excited for you too and I hope that other people see you talking about this. See, Jillian Johnsrude was the one who has the new book out called Retire Often I hope people see others taking sabbaticals and say to themselves, you know what? I am burned out and I do have options. And the reason that I have options is because I have been so intentional with my spending, so intentional with my savings, and so intentional with my investing that I can take a little break and then come back refreshed. If you choose to go back to an employer, they will have such a better experience with you. You'll have such a better experience with them just because you're refreshed. I've been in that burned out space before and it's. It stinks.
- [37:54]
C
Yeah, agreed. I feel really lucky that discovering fire has not only helped me to improve my finances, but to really connect with so many people. And it's allowed me to build a huge platform where, you know, I'm hopefully influencing thousands of people to get better with their money and to pursue early retirement and financial independence and to take a sabbatical. So I feel, yeah, really lucky that I've been able to connect with so many people.
- [38:26]
A
Awesome. Well, Alex, we really appreciate your time today. She is Alex Morales. You can follow her on Instagram at Girl Chasing Wealth. All one word. Okay, Alex, thank you so much for your time today. This was a lot of fun and we will talk to you in a year.
- [38:42]
C
Thank you so much. It was great to be here. I loved talking with you both and I'm very excited to check back in a year and give you guys an update.
- [38:49]
A
I've got a note right now to put it in the calendar so we can circle back and I will see you at fincon in a year.
- [38:54]
B
Me too. I'll be there next year.
- [38:56]
C
Yes.
- [38:56]
B
Alex, before we go, can you tell people where they can find out more about you and follow your journey?
- [39:00]
C
Yeah, absolutely. You can find me on Instagram @GirlChasing wealth and you can also visit my website@GirlChasingWealth.com.
- [39:09]
A
All right, Scott, that was Alex and her story of a sabbatical at 31 while still being able to retire early at age 44. What did you think of her journey?
- [39:19]
B
I think too many of the guests and the folks on BiggerPockets money, as much as I love everything we do, we don't see enough people that are in this stage of their financial journey. And it seems like you got to take 10 years or grind to get to where you want to go. And she's just throwing it all out the window, doing great, making all the right choices, and she's going to have a wonderful year here at age 31 and probably still have a ton of the same opportunities at the end of it. If my prediction holds true at that point, I think a lot of us overthink it and I think it's just, it's just really refreshing to hear a completely different spin on the fire movement and how she's approaching it.
- [39:56]
A
Yeah, I love that she's wanting to enjoy the journey of the entire fi journey. I love that she is taking time for herself. Maybe she gets three months into it and she's like, you know what, I am refreshed and I want to go back to work. And maybe she gets to 12 months and your prediction holds true, Scott. And that would be really awesome for her to be able to craft the life that she wants. I mean that's why we're doing this all in the first place. Instead of just mindlessly trudging to the job every single day, we're crafting the life that we want. And maybe she decides that this 39,000 works for her and she's gonna, she's able to generate that kind of income and continues on. And I just am so excited. I want to fast forward a year and see what happened, but we can't. So we have to wait 365 days.
- [40:41]
B
Absolutely. I do want to call out again that the key to this little story is roommates. Right. I mean there's nothing particularly special about her income generation journey. Not for a suburb of Los Angeles, California on the coast there in Ventura and here it's not, it's a good income, but it's not an incredible one. It's a median income in the Los Angeles metro area for a single person household and they're just a little bit hair above the median by the time she ended up the journey in there. And so it's, it's not nothing crazy on that front. No special investment secret sauces here. It's. I keep expenses low because I have roommates and that is so hard for people. I think it's just a brutal fact of, of, of life for, in getting ahead in America today. But I think if you can do that for five, six, seven, 10 years, you're going to have tons of options that other people aren't going to have.
- [41:31]
A
Live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later. And she is going to live like no one else later. It's going to be awesome.
- [41:37]
B
She's going to live like no one else now.
- [41:39]
A
She's going to do both. Yep.
- [41:40]
B
Her later is now. Right. So yeah, well, I look forward to revisiting in a year or two and seeing which. Which of our predictions come true. That'll be fun.
- [41:48]
A
I do, too. All right, Scott, should we get out of here?
- [41:50]
B
Let's do it.
- [41:51]
A
That wraps up this episode of the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. He has got Trench. I am indeed Jensen saying, gotta go, bro.
- [41:59]
B
And Doug, Limu and I always tell you to customize your car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. But now we want you to feel it. Cue the emu music.
- [42:07]
A
Limu, save your money today. Increase your wealth.
- [42:14]
C
Customize and save.
- [42:16]
A
We save.
- [42:18]
B
That may have been too much feeling. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com. liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty Savings. Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.