Is Mr Money Mustache Really retired?

[Ways To Build Wealth]

What do you think?  I just started a blog and with social media, writing, reading, replying to comments I can't see how this guy doesn't put in a decent work day every now and then. He is fairly active on his blog and has a consistent social media presence that it seems to me he is working. Does he tell himself he does it for fun and thus he is really retired. I would agree that he is financially independent, but I'll say it kind of irks me to here him spin the retirement story to catch readers attention, especially when he is doing it from a fully monetized blog. It comes off as clickbait a little.

Thoughts?

[Donnie]

 

Ways To Build Wealth wrote:

What do you think?  I just started a blog and with social media, writing, reading, replying to comments I can’t see how this guy doesn’t put in a decent work day every now and then. He is fairly active on his blog and has a consistent social media presence that it seems to me he is working. Does he tell himself he does it for fun and thus he is really retired. I would agree that he is financially independent, but I’ll say it kind of irks me to here him spin the retirement story to catch readers attention, especially when he is doing it from a fully monetized blog. It comes off as clickbait a little.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I don't know much about MMM, but if you are going to start an advice blog, my recommendation would be to carefully proofread your work.  People won't trust advice coming from a person who is not careful with presentation and detail.

[q-school]

he's retired from his first career but not retired imo.

ymmv

 

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

Have you read the Internet Retirement Police post? And I wouldn't say he's all that active with the blog. He's posted on average 2x / month over the last couple years. Compare that to WCI and I who continue to work our normal jobs and post 3 or 4 posts per week.

MMM retired from his "9 to 5" but continues to do the things that interest him, some of which make money. That is true of many early and not-early retirees. I've got an 80-year old uncle who buys furniture at garage sales and resells it at consignment stores, often turning 1000% profit in the process. Yet, I consider him retired.

When I leave my job, I'll consider it a sabbatical, but quite possibly a permanent one. When I know I'm done, I'll say I'm retired from clinical medicine. Tough to poke holes in that statement.

 

 

 

[Peds]

You haven't read his blog then have you? If you are trying to enter the PF arena you should probably read up.

[adventure]

Retired, yeah. I can't wait to retire. For me, retirement does not equate to a lazy boy. If that's retirement, forget it. If retirement means doing whatever, then sign me up. Physics PhD, start a company, help church, help scouts, eat scout cookies, travel, go to the moon, teach, etc.

[VagabondMD]

I would consider MMM to be retired. He does not set an alarm, punch a clock, receive a regular paycheck, or answer to The Man. The fact that he turned his hobby into a very lucrative business does not make him any less retired than my father, who retired from his last job (working for "the county") at age 82.

If I can retire and live a life blogging, riding a bike, traveling, and doing fun projects just for fun, I would consider myself to be retired.

Instead, I am leaving home early tomorrow for a useless 7A meeting. (Ugh, that ain't retirement!)

[VagabondMD]

Actually, I have found this thread to be clickbait, and I am now asking myself the following: is someone aspiring to go to podiatry school really a medical student? Things to ponder...

[DMFA]

Define "retired."

I'll pass on your blog. Good effort, though.

[retinadoc]

[yawn]

[EJ at Dads Dollars and Debts]

He was retired for 5 years. Count it 5 years. From age 30 (i think) to 35. He left his career  as a software engineer when he had a kid. He helped raise his kid. After 5 years he started a website because that's something he wanted to do. I don't think he could have imagined earning almost 400k a year from it. Despite the increase in wealth his annual expenses (which he posts annually) are quite low. Sure they have gone up a little and business expenses cover other parts, but he admits this. For someone making 400k he is not living a 400k lifestyle of keeping up with the joneses. Just food for thought.

[The White Coat Investor]

The Internet Retirement Police strikes again!

Actually, I kind of side with those who say quitting a corporate job in order to blog isn't really retiring.

But the truth is that retirement is squishy.

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/retirement-is-squishy/

[WealthyDoc]

What is your point here?  Is it up to us to determine which label we should apply to Pete?

We may all be better off if we avoid using the R word entirely.  It means different things to different people.  Some of the difference is generational.  MMM is smart and well-respected.  It is fine to criticize him, but realize you better know your facts.  He has been very honest about his income and work.  He doesn't really care what others think.  He is FI for sure.  He does only what he wants to do.  And his blog is not "fully monetized."  He could make A LOT more with even a slight effort.  He would rather spend his time working on his health, strength, friendships, parenting, or talking about environmental issues.

[Hatton]

MMM has had a huge influence over lots of people.  I found that after reading his blog that I reassessed the importance of consumerism in my life.  I still have an iPhone and dogs and spend more than he does.  His writings still influenced me and I think the term retired means different things to different people.

[MochaDoc]

Instead of thinking of retirement as "Retired." think of it as "Retired from...".

Military retirees who start at 18 and retire at 38 with a full pension come to mind. Yes they are retired and financially independent at 38 but very young with a lot of life left so turning a passion into an income-producing job or simply pursuing a second career isn't too far fetched. I'd still consider them retired from their first career.