How to Retire Early in Your 40s by Supercharging Your Savings

Summary

BiggerPockets Money Podcast: How to Retire Early in Your 40s by Supercharging Your Savings

Host: Mindy Jensen
Guest: Eric Peterson
Release Date: November 8, 2024

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Introduction to Eric Peterson’s Financial Independence Journey

In this compelling episode of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, host Mindy Jensen welcomes Eric Peterson, a friend and fellow financial independence achiever. Eric shares his inspiring journey to financial independence (FI) and early retirement, detailing how he transitioned from a high-stress corporate job to a fulfilling and financially secure lifestyle within a decade.

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Discovering Financial Independence

[01:05] Eric Peterson:
"I came across an article in Barron's about Mr. Money Mustache, who retired at 29. Reading his blog opened my eyes to the possibility of not working a traditional nine-to-five until 65."

Eric recounts stumbling upon Mr. Money Mustache's blog, which ignited his passion for the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. Inspired by Mustache's lifestyle and strategies, Eric, alongside his wife Shelley, decided to aggressively pursue financial independence. This decision marked the beginning of Eric's transformative financial journey.

[02:12] Mindy Jensen:
"When you have money, you have options."

Mindy highlights a fundamental principle Eric discovered: financial freedom provides unparalleled choice and flexibility in life, allowing individuals to prioritize what truly matters to them.

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Life Before Financial Independence

Before embracing FI, Eric worked in investment management, where he faced significant stress and high-pressure environments. The demanding nature of his corporate role took a toll on his personal life and well-being.

[02:18] Eric Peterson:
"The corporate job was stressful, working with C Suite people, delivering results, and navigating office politics. It impacted my home life because I was constantly thinking about work."

Mindy empathizes with the universal stressors of corporate life, emphasizing how such environments can erode personal relationships and overall happiness.

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Major Changes After Discovering FI

The pivotal change in Eric's life was his approach to savings and investments. Before FI, he saved approximately 17% of his income—a commendable rate. Post-discovery, Eric and Shelley ramped up their savings to an impressive 70% of their income, enabling them to achieve FI by age 44.

[06:51] Eric Peterson:
"We started saving about 70% of our income while maintaining a fulfilling lifestyle. This allowed us to save so much more, so much faster."

This aggressive savings strategy, combined with smart investment choices, laid the foundation for Eric's early retirement.

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Investment Strategies and Financial Management

Eric emphasizes the importance of disciplined saving and strategic investing. He is a staunch advocate for index funds and asset allocation, believing that these elements are critical for long-term financial success.

[12:12] Eric Peterson:
"I'm a huge believer in index funds and asset allocation. 92% of your returns come from your asset allocation, so it's crucial to get that right."

He advises placing higher-risk investments, such as individual stocks, within a Roth IRA to capitalize on tax-free growth. This strategy ensures that any substantial gains remain untaxed, enhancing overall returns.

[13:16] Mindy Jensen:
"Put your risk in your Roth. That's such a great idea because if you're going to put that kind of risk in there with all the rewards, your Roth grows tax-free."

Eric also touches on the significance of tax strategies in wealth accumulation and preservation, highlighting that understanding and leveraging tax laws is as important as building wealth itself.

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Lifestyle Post-Financial Independence

Achieving FI allowed Eric to explore passions and hobbies that were previously sidelined by his corporate responsibilities. Without the constraints of a 9-to-5 job, Eric engaged in various fulfilling activities that enriched his life.

[20:37] Eric Peterson:
"At age 44, I was laid off, which was a catalyst for fully embracing FI. My first year post-retirement was about decompression—fishing, biking, and enjoying life without work stress."

He launched a handyman business, began creating a comic strip about fatherhood, and pursued personal projects like building electric bikes and wooden bicycles. These ventures not only provided additional income but also deepened his sense of purpose and satisfaction.

[23:08] Mindy Jensen:
"Eric, you've mentioned your comic strip 'Dads Are.' Where can we find this comic?"

[23:14] Eric Peterson:
"It's on Instagram at Dads R A R E and on Facebook under 'Dads Are.' I'm also working towards publishing a book."

Eric's engagement in creative and entrepreneurial activities exemplifies how FI can open doors to personal growth and new opportunities.

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Challenges and Adjustments

Transitioning to FI isn't without its challenges. Eric discusses the emotional and social adjustments required, such as maintaining relationships and redefining personal values.

[07:45] Mindy Jensen:
"What was something you thought would be hard to give up, but ultimately wasn't?"

[07:54] Eric Peterson:
"The biggest thing to give up was work relationships. While you lose daily interactions, you gain new friendships outside the corporate environment."

Moreover, Eric reflects on the shift from obsessively tracking finances to a more relaxed approach post-FI.

[10:29] Eric Peterson:
"I used to obsessively check my net worth daily. Now, I’ve let go of that obsession and trust in our financial strategy."

This transition underscores the mental freedom that FI can bring, allowing individuals to focus on personal well-being rather than constant financial monitoring.

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Advice and Key Takeaways

Eric offers valuable insights for listeners aspiring to achieve FI:

1. Start Saving Aggressively:
   Increasing savings rates significantly accelerates the path to financial independence.

2. Invest Wisely:
   Focus on index funds and proper asset allocation to optimize returns over time.

3. Diversify Income Streams:
   Relying on multiple income sources enhances financial security and flexibility.

4. Embrace Lifestyle Changes:
   Adopting a frugal yet fulfilling lifestyle reduces financial pressure without sacrificing quality of life.

5. Prioritize Personal Values:
   Use the freedom FI provides to explore and align with personal passions and interests.

[06:51] Eric Peterson:
"When you have money, you have options. It’s a beautiful thing to have that time and flexibility."

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Conclusion

Eric Peterson's story is a testament to the transformative power of the FIRE movement. By embracing disciplined savings, strategic investments, and a reevaluation of personal values, Eric and Shelley achieved financial independence and early retirement within a decade. Their journey highlights that with determination and the right strategies, retiring in your 40s is an attainable goal.

Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their financial habits, explore investment opportunities, and consider how financial freedom can reshape their lives, offering more time for what truly matters.

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Notable Quotes:

• Eric Peterson ([01:05]):
  "You can live a little more frugally and save a lot more, and then your age of retirement drops automatically."

• Mindy Jensen ([06:51]):
  "When you have money, you have options."

• Eric Peterson ([12:12]):
  "92% of your returns come from your asset allocation."

• Eric Peterson ([13:00]):
  "Put your risk in your Roth."

• Eric Peterson ([06:51]):
  "We're making decent money, and we were saving about 70% of our income."

---

This detailed recount captures Eric Peterson's journey to early retirement, offering listeners actionable insights and inspiration to pursue their own path to financial independence.

Transcript

[Mindy Jensen]

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Biggerpockets Money podcast. My name is Mindy Jensen and today I have a very special episode for you, my dear listeners. Today we're going to share another episode from the YouTube series on the BiggerPockets Money YouTube channel that I host that features stories of people that are either on their way to or have already achieved fire. Today we're featuring my friend Eric Peterson's financial journey. Eric was able to reach financial independence and retire early in just a decade. After reading Mr. Money Mustache's famous fire blog, Eric quadrupled his savings overnight and started investing all the money he had into those boring investments most Americans don't pay attention to. Don't miss this episode to find out how. Before we get in the show, we want to thank our sponsor. This episode is brought to you by Connect Invest Real Estate investing simplified and within your reach. Now back to the show.

Eric, I am so excited to talk to you today.

[Eric Peterson]

I am super happy to be here.

[Mindy Jensen]

So Eric, how did you discover the concept of financial independence?

[Eric Peterson]

That's probably like a decade old journey. I was in the investment management side of things, so I made mutual funds in my corporate job. And one day I was just scrolling through doing some research on something and I came across an article. And I want to say it was in Barron's that there's this guy that retired when he was 29 and his name is Mr. Money Mustache. And read the article, I'm like, wow, this guy's got it figured out and he's a similar age to me. So I went to his blog and just started consuming it as much as I could. Like I read it. I think I read his whole blog in like a month or two. He just opened up my eyes. He said, you don't have to do the nine to five. Well, you don't. Nobody does nine to five. You don't have to do that until you're 65. Luckily, I was in a position where I was making decent money and I could start super saving. And before that, I always knew I should save, but he just kind of was like, well, you can live a little more frugally and save a lot more and then your age of retirement drops automatically. Given all that, I was just like, hey, my wife's name is Shelley. I said, shelly, let's, let's go after this and see if we can do it. And she's like, yeah, that sounds like a good idea. And so here we are.

[Mindy Jensen]

What was your life like before you discovered financial independence and before you Started pursuing it.

[Eric Peterson]

I think the key thing is I was stressed out. The corporate job was working with C Suite people. And there's just a lot of pressure behind delivering and getting things done and playing all the politics and all those things that go along with corporate America. And a lot of stress to me. I mean, my wife would say it impacted my home life, too. Because if you're constantly thinking about your job, you're not thinking about the things that are really important, like your family and taking care of yourself and all that stuff. I think it's kind of that typical story of you're living for your job, and then you try to squeeze in fun things to do on the weekend or maybe a show or two at night and just kind of trot along.

[Mindy Jensen]

You know, I don't think we ever really dive into the stress levels that a job takes on you on the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. But when you said that, I was like, yeah, of course. Your life is usually really stressful. Yeah, there's the unicorn person who works in a job they love, and you'll never work a day in your life when you do what you love. And it's still stressful. I mean, there's always something happening at work that you carry home with you. And, you know, it does take a toll. And you remember, oh, I've got to work on that project, or, oh, I hope I, you know, make it into the office on time tomorrow so I get that project done. So it's on my boss's desk or, you know, whatever it is, and your mind isn't fully or at all in the conversation that you're having with your family. Yeah, that's not all the time, but that can happen a lot. And that starts to erode your relationship with your kids. And, you know, it can get really, really, really difficult, especially if you're in a job that you hate or you're in a job where you're making mutual funds and everybody's money is riding on whatever you decide to put inside your fund. And, you know, one bad stock and everybody hates you. I'm assuming. Is that what happens, that when you make. I've never made mutual funds. Clearly.

[Eric Peterson]

Yeah. You know, it's kind of funny because I wasn't running money. I was kind of the research and development guy, and I made this big spreadsheet that evalu own internal stuff. I was known as the Grim Reaper when I came to meetings sometimes because I had the evaluation on, hey, this fund is not doing what it's supposed to be doing. And we need to talk about killing it. That was a me, a big stressor. It's funny like, you're talking about how you don't forget about it, but I remember I was so proud the day that I earned a BlackBerry at work. I was like, oh, this is so cool. And little did I realize I'm like, oh, now I'm tethered to my job 24 7.

[Mindy Jensen]

Yeah, now they can get in touch with you anytime. When you said BlackBerry, I'm like, is that like an award? Like a little berry? Oh, you mean the old school.

[Eric Peterson]

Yeah, that shows how old I am.

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So what was the most significant change that you had to make once you discovered this concept of I don't have to work until I'm 65?

[Eric Peterson]

The most significant was thinking about savings more. Like I said, I was saving at a good rate. And I went back and calculated and it was like before I figured out the fire movement and stuff, it was like 17% a year, which is pretty good for your average American. But once I discovered, hey, there's another way, we basically ratcheted up. We're making decent money, and we were saving about 70% of our income, living on a very fruitful, you know, lifestyle. I think we dialed it into like 44th grand a year for a family of four. And, you know, this is in Midwest, so it was pretty cheap living, but it just allowed us to save so much more, so much faster. We didn't cut back significantly. I mean, we still felt like we're living our lives, but we didn't feel super deprived. Now that we're on the flip side, live in Colorado now, which is awesome. That's part of the whole fire thing, too. There's more to that. It's just a. It's a beautiful thing. When you have money, you have options.

[Mindy Jensen]

I love that quote. When you have money, you have options. What was something you thought thought was going to be hard to give up, but ultimately wasn't in terms of the.

[Eric Peterson]

Biggest thing to give up in that situation? And a lot of people say this, but it's the relationships at work. I mean, you make some good friends, you make neat connections, and when you're no longer there, you don't talk to them as much. And they're still. They're still great people.

[Mindy Jensen]

That is one of the downsides of FI is losing the work connections. Although you then make different friends. At least I have. We live near each other and, you know, I live in Longmont. It's kind of this mecca for fi. And I have a lot of these retired friends in my circle. So it's. It's a different. The transition has been different for me. But, yeah, that can be tough. Have you been able to keep anything in your life that you thought you would have to give up?

[Eric Peterson]

Well, I just bought a really expensive mountain bike. We're. We're kind of the same. I mean, honestly, we're still frugal. We're not like penny pinchers. And full disclosure, my wife still works part time, so there's income coming in that way. And it's. You just dial it in more. And that's. That's one thing, too. I think that's one. A big takeaway from fire is when you kind of do this subculture or you start thinking about it differently. You have to really examine your own values. And it sounds cool. It's like, oh, yeah, what do I really care about? But there's a big responsibility there, too. Am I being true to myself? Am I being true to my values that I've reflected on? And sometimes when you're just working all the time, you don't have time to think about that. It's a bigger responsibility than I thought it would be.

[Mindy Jensen]

Yes. It's so easy to get swept up in other things when you can't focus on yourself. Like when you go for a walk and you have your phone with you, you don't have to be alone with your thoughts. You can, you know, check out, oh, what's on Twitter and who's texting me and maybe I'll take a phone call. When you go for a walk by yourself and you're alone with your thoughts, depending on how long that walk is, you can get into some really deep conversations with yourself. And the same is true when you don't have work distracting you all the time you're thinking about yourself. What do I truly value? Having that conversation with no distractions can be eye opening. It can be eye opening that you don't know what you truly value. You know, it's not necessarily a bad thing that you don't know. That just means you have a homework assignment. Let's go figure out what I want to be when I don't have to work anymore.

[Eric Peterson]

Yeah. Yeah. What do I want to be when I grow up? Because you've had all these inputs from your parents and from culture and from school. It's really truly a point where you're like, okay, I can actually think for myself and I can actually figure out what I truly value.

[Mindy Jensen]

Did you track your spending prior to retirement? Like, did you have a good handle on what you were spending or, like, an amount or where it was going?

[Eric Peterson]

Oh, yeah. So I was kind of, like, thinking back on stuff, preparing for this. I was obsessive. I was to the point where I would check sometimes daily on what my net worth was. And it's so funny because once we hit fire, that all went away. And I remember saying one time, I'm like, I Obsess about money so I don't have to obsess about money. And that's what that was during my working years. And it's funny because I just looked at my net worth this morning, and the last time I updated it was in March of 2022. And then the prior to that was another year. So I'm like, I don't care. I know generally where we're at, but it's a beautiful thing.

[Mindy Jensen]

I should redo that intro of recovering money obsessor.

[Eric Peterson]

Yeah, big time.

[Mindy Jensen]

That's awesome. Can you teach my husband how to not obsess? So do you still track your spending?

[Eric Peterson]

No, we've done a lot of the different things. We've done a spreadsheet budget, We've done a cash budget in the past. We've just kind of, like, generally tracked it. And right now we don't. You're kind of like in this area of where you'd know where you're at. If you go over on a month, you just take some from savings and take care of a credit card or whatever. And, you know, if we're going to do, like, a big trip, we'll be like, oh, we're going to take the money from XYZ and do it that way. So we've really cut back on the tracking and all that stuff. And in full disclosure, we're not super wealthy by any means. Like, we're probably right on the cusp of fire between the fu. Money and fire. So we don't have unlimited resources, but we still have a, I would say, fulfilling life.

[Mindy Jensen]

So let's look at your money where it's parked. What are you investing in? Vtsax gets the JL Collins stamp of approval. But where are you putting your money?

[Eric Peterson]

I was in the business. I know how the sausage is made. Ew. And it's kind of insane where everybody gets paid. So I'm a big, huge believer in index funds. I'm a huge believer in asset allocation, and I think that sometimes gets overlooked in terms of 92% of your returns come from your asset allocation. So that means that little 8% really matters on what funds you picked. I do like individual stocks because I do like the possibility of hitting a home run. I'm fine with, you know, the fluctuation and the risk and all that stuff. One little tidbit is I always say, put your risk in your Roth. And the reason why that is is if you do hit a home run in your Roth, the government can't tax it. So if you turn Your, whatever your roth is your 100 grand into 1.2 million. That's a beautiful place to have it.

[Mindy Jensen]

Or your PayPal stock into 5 billion.

[Eric Peterson]

Yeah, well, yeah, yeah. I mean, you can always dream, right?

[Mindy Jensen]

You could always. That's the best story ever.

[Eric Peterson]

Yeah. But it's, it's, it's out there. And so why not take advantage of it?

[Mindy Jensen]

Put your risk in your Roth. I love that. I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that, but that's such a great idea because, yeah, if you're going to put that kind of risk in there with all the rewards, I mean, your Roth is, it grows tax free. You withdraw it paying no taxes because you paid the tax upfront. What a brilliant.

[Eric Peterson]

Why is nobody saying that coin today? And you know, like beneficiary things like it's so well protected. And that's the other thing too. Like I grew up through the whole financial services and I read Ed Slott's book on taxes and like that's only half the game, is accumulating your wealth. The other half, and it may be even more important, is figuring out your tax strategy. That's probably something, and maybe that's another discussion is figuring out how should you spend your money once you are retired and how do you keep the government's fingers out of it as much as possible. All on the up and up, obviously, but there's a lot of loopholes. There's a lot of things.

[Mindy Jensen]

They're not loopholes, they're tax strategies. And yes, you should absolutely pay every dollar of tax that you owe and you should absolutely try to pay as few dollars of tax as possible by taking adv of these tax strategies 100%.

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Eric, you said that you're on the cusp of financial independence. I'm assuming that you used the 4% rule to determine your number.

[Eric Peterson]

I don't know about the 4% rule. I get it. I understand it. I think it's more of the like, let me back up. I want to have diversification in terms of how my income comes in. So as I check these off, then that just makes me feel better. So it's not. We don't live off of our investments at all. We live off of my little income doing handyman stuff and my other projects. And then we live off my wife's income. And those are just sources of income. So in the future, because I'm listening to bigger pockets and whatnot, we'll have a rental. And in the future, my side businesses, my little side hustles, those will produce income. So it's less about the 4% rule. It's more about what does our lifestyle require in terms of income? Kind of answering the question.

[Mindy Jensen]

Okay, so you have a nice nest egg and then you are looking for sources of more passive income.

[Eric Peterson]

Yeah. Then fun income. Fun income.

[Mindy Jensen]

I think fun income.

[Eric Peterson]

It's not passive, but I'm fine with that.

[Mindy Jensen]

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[Eric Peterson]

Yeah, that's a good one. Probably around 34 when I found the article on Mr. Money Mustache. And then it took about a decade. So at age 44, I had a beautiful moment at work, and it was called getting laid off. I was smiling in the whole meeting, and luckily, I prepared prior to that. So that kind of sparked me getting into the true fire thing. And maybe I would have drug it out longer, maybe I wouldn't have. I don't know. But it was a. It was a. It was a good. Perfect. Perfect timing. So my first year, I literally just decompressed. Like, I went fishing. I went biking practically every day and just took in the beauty of not having that job. And it was a lot of, yeah, this is how I thought it would be. But then at some point, I was like, hmm, I should probably start doing something. And year two is when I started to kind of take off and, like, start helping friends with. Because I'm relatively handy, so helping friends with, like, home improvement projects, that kind of stuff. And the word kind of got out, and I was like, oh, well, kind of accidentally started a handyman business. At some point. I was like, well, I should probably charge these people something for it to have some type of value, you know, exchange. And the other thing I did, too, was something I'm really proud of. And I think this is, like, my little. My little legacy. Thing is, I started a comic about being a dad. I've had so much fun with that. And that's. That's one of those things that's a labor of love. I've had a lot of connections because of it, and you can probably see. So my wife did this for me for Father's Day a couple years ago, where she printed out some of my comics. And I've actually started to. I've done those. Like, I have, like, 80 of them out there now. And I've started to ramp it up because these people are Coming back and like, hey, you need to make a book and you need to do this. And I was like, oh geez. Didn't really think I'd go that far with it. But another beauty of being fire, right? Like pursuing something just for the fun of it. And then this might be one of my, you know, semi passive income streams. And then the other thing that I really got to do a lot was just, this is funny because I just got back from a Moab trip, mountain biking, Moab trip. And we were talking about the crazy big lottery of a billion dollars or whatever and people are like, oh, what would you do? You know, that kind of stuff. I'm like, well, I would just build cool stuff. I didn't say stuff, I said something else. And that's kind of what I do too. Like we're talking about bikes. Like I built electric bike. And next week I'm going to do a three day fast. But to keep my mind busy, I'm going to build a bike out of wood. You just don't get those options when you're working nine to five. It's just, it's just a beautiful thing to have that time.

[Mindy Jensen]

Eric, you've mentioned your comic strip Dads Are. Where can we find this comic?

[Eric Peterson]

I love hearing comments of my comics because a lot of them are really good and some of them are really funny. It's on Instagram at Dads R A R E, not that are. And then on Facebook it's just Dads Are. And hopefully someday you see a book published. I've been talking to some people and there's definitely some interest there. So again, you just don't know where you can go when you don't have to do that nine to five and you're stressed out. So one of those cool, cool options.

[Mindy Jensen]

Eric, I love your dad's art comic. They don't all relate to me, but many of them do to me. My husband, my dad and I can see those on T shirts, hats. I've already harassed you about this. I can't wait for the book to come out. And since I have your phone number, I'm going to keep asking until it does.

[Eric Peterson]

Sounds good. I like it. It's good to good to have an accountability buddy.

[Mindy Jensen]

Eric, I really appreciate your time today. This was so much fun. Is there any place else that people can find you online besides your dad's art comics?

[Eric Peterson]

I have a live long, live often website and it's basically just, it's, it's merchandise, but it's like do what you do and do it often. Here. Here's so live long, fish often. Live long. Ride often. Live long, quilt often. Do what you want to do and do it often, because that just makes you happy. So that's another little tangent that I've been able to start up, too, since I don't have to work all the time.

[Mindy Jensen]

Live long, draw often.

[Eric Peterson]

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it's a beautiful one. Yeah.

[Mindy Jensen]

Eric, thank you again for your time. It's always lovely to talk to you.

[Eric Peterson]

Thank you. I appreciate it. And this was great. Awesome time.

[Mindy Jensen]

If you like this video, please click the Thumbs up up. And don't forget to subscribe to this channel for more videos with inspiring fire stories just like Eric's. This is Mindy Jensen signing off.